Alternate Timeline: Phantom & Angel
by Kenzy-Chan
Summary: Scrapped: Read Authoress note C25
1. Prologue

Danny Phantom: Alternate Timeline – Phantom & Angel  
Genre: Action/Adventure/General  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom (The show belongs to Butch Hartman). DP owns me. ..  
Summary: (Post PP) Danny is on the edge, with his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam, Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)

* * *

**DP: Alternate Timeline**

******Phantom & Angel**

******Prologue**

* * *

Danny wore a heavy scowl on his face as he dodged Skulker's missiles. Paulina was not shutting up anytime soon from below and the Halfa could swear that Sam's glare was burning a hole straight into his back as the pink A List teenager continued her loud, albeit screechy, cheer. The ghost boy gritted his teeth as he drove a fist at the other ghost's head and pummeled the hunting ghost repeated in venting his pent up anger.

Things were not going well for 15-year-old Daniel Fenton, otherwise known as Danny Phantom, his superhero alter-ego. After the disasteroid crisis had passed, his identity had been blown to the entire planet. His home became swamped with reporters on a daily basis, no one would give him the privacy he wanted, the ghosts were still unrelenting in their attacks on Amity Park and his relationship with his best friend and current girlfriend Sam Manson, or whatever was left of it, was surely crumbling into the dust, almost to look as if it never existed. Danny Fenton officially hated his now public life.

Skulker now lay on the ground in a twitching lump and Danny viciously sucked the dazed ghost into the Fenton Thermos and capped it. Immediately as he had done so, pictures were snapped and shouting had ensured. He forced to keep a neutral look on his face while his inside was screaming bloody murder for bystanders who were stupid enough to NOT run while there was a ghost attack. For the love of whatever high deity above, why couldn't they understand the reason why he asked them to run was not because of private matters, but to prevent them from getting hurt during the battle? It didn't help matters that Valerie was still in disbelief that he, Danny Fenton, was Danny Phantom, both the same person. She still shot at him on sight. And a majority of those shots were aimed at his posterior. This was one of those times.

"OW!"

"I've got you now Ghost! You're not taking Danny image anymore!" His patience was beginning to wear thin as the Valerie (under her guise as Red Huntress), charged up her ecto-gun at him again. She would've fired until someone barked out from below.

"That's ENOUGH! Valerie Gray, before I revoke your Ghost Hunting license, you will leave NOW! WITHOUT shooting at Danny!"

Danny could almost cry with relief as his best friend and current Mayor of Amity Park, Tucker Foley came storming through the crowd looking even more pissed then he had ever seen him before. But that alone didn't stop Valerie either.

"You may be Mayor Foley, but I'm not going to let that Ghost use Danny!" Tucker threw her an exasperated look and wrung his hands in the air.

"For the love of…He IS Danny you moron! Make it clear in your head and stop deluding yourself! Phantom equals to Fenton. They are both the same person you nitwit! Now OUT! Before I revoke that license of yours and make sure you'll never hit another ghost again!"

Valerie let loose a string of curses before flying off in a huff. Tucker spun his heel and turned to the rest of the watching populace with an extremely infuriated look splashed across his face.

"Now for the rest of you! Are you brainless enough NOT to run when he tells you to run!? For crying out loud, he's trying to prevent you all from being squashed by ghosts and here you are distracting and pissing the crap out of him by staying put and not caring for your own safety?! Get out! And I'd better NOT see any of this in the front pages tomorrow either. And there is NO autographing session either Paulina Sachetz!"

The Latino teenager pouted and was ready to argue until Danny hovered behind Tucker with his arms crossed against his chest, looking none too pleased with the situation. Immediately the crowd dispersed in a hurry, knowing that it was very rare to see their hero looking upset and positively wary of their presence. Danny faintly heard a chilling laugh from the Thermos and shook it roughly to shake up its occupant inside to be quiet. Days like these were not going to end well. In fact, none of his days were ever ending well nowadays.

He'd thought Sam would understand better enough to let it go sometimes but he would forget a painful point about her. No matter how individualistic, independent and different Sam was, Sam was still a girl. And she was possessive over him.

"I don't believe her! Cheering that stupid cheer in front of these people! Argh! How stupid can she get?!" Danny roughly pinched the bridge of his nose and from a side glance, caught Tucker massaging his temples as Sam continued her tirade. Danny knew she cared, but the awkward popularity that soared within a night was taking its toll on them. They could no longer have private time with each other and it burned her patience down to nothing. Danny found himself at the wrong end of the stick whenever Sam started ranting. He was briefly considering changing his sexuality but thought otherwise with the crazy media attention that was still raining down on him but went into the probability that he will never get another girlfriend so as long as his half life continued and remain a bachelor for the rest of it. It was so much easier to be that way.

"Sam! Cut it out. You're making Danny feel worse here!" Immediately the Goth vegetarian clamped her mouth shut and shot him an apologetic look. Danny just gave her a weak smile in return and allowed the two rings of light to travel in opposite directions of his body to change from the superhero Phantom to the normal average Fenton. Danny gave a loud sigh and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly.

"Looks like it's another cancel Sam…"

"I know…I know…" The despondence in her voice made Danny wince. It hurt that they couldn't spend much time with each other, no matter how much Tucker tried to get them private time, nothing just seemed to be going right anymore. Danny, for one didn't see a point of having Sam even more depressed than her usual self when he wanted her to be happy. He had to make a choice. And he made it after some hesitation.

"Maybe this isn't working out as much as we thought it would…" Sam head shot up, eyes blazing with anger.

"What? You too good for me now?!" Ah crud. She even took it the wrong way! Danny immediately flung his hands out in desperation to explain himself.

"NO! I meant that with all this crazy mofo happening! It's making you even more depressed than your usual gothic self and frankly I'm feeling upset about that too! I want to make you happy Sam, but somehow looking at our relationship right now, I don't really see it working!" The hurt in Sam's eyes didn't leave and Danny couldn't bear it anymore. He ran his hand through his messy raven bangs and scowled at the floor.

"Look, Sam. I really wanted to see it work out. Seriously! But with this…media attention, it's been making you more depressed. And I don't like it when you're depressed…as in, any more from your usual gothic day." He hastily added, knowing that she made it a point to be depressed on a daily basis, being a Goth, "And I really think you deserve better. Much better than this Sam."

Tucker's eyes glanced carefully from one friend to the other. This was one of the very few tense moments the trio ever had in their years of friendship. Sam was staring straight at Danny; her facial expression was unreadable while the Halfa was looking down on the tiled floor, scuffing the toe of his shoe on it.

"…I'm…going to need some time by myself…" Sam finally uttered out before fleeing the scene. Danny gave an extremely pained sigh and looked up to see the sympathetic look on the African-American's face. The blue-eyed boy could not summon enough will to even give him a weak smile as the darker teen took his shoulders and gently pushed him out of the currently trashed Amity Park Mall.

There was going to be hell with the media in the next few days.

* * *

Tucker watched as Danny ungracefully crashed onto the couch of his Mayor office, all the while he had one hand covering his face and the other still held the Thermos tightly. All this crazy media and lack of privacy was really starting to send his best friend to go mad. Tucker quickly took out various possibilities that could help Danny and could only summon one that was the most feasible idea at that moment.

"Danny, I think…no scratch that. You NEED a vacation." The dark skinned teenager stressed the word 'need' at his best friend. The other teen hadn't looking up at him from his position from the couch and didn't look like he was going to respond either. Tucker sighed and turned, clicking his quick dial on the Mayor phone and bringing it to his ear.

"Hey Jazz. No, he's ok. Just very tired and stressed." Tucker paused, allowing the older Fenton sibling to stress out her worries about her brother before calming down to let Tucker continue, "Nah, its ok. You needed that. Anyway, could you pack some stuff for him? No, not ghost hunting stuff. His clothes and regular stuff, like for…2 weeks?" Tucker paused once again to hear Jasmine Fenton give him a skeptic sounding sentence that made him sigh.

"Look Jazz, I'm sending him on a vacation. God knows that he needs it. He broke up with Sam earlier and all this media attention is going to drain him even more. No, I am not sending him to Kansas. I'm leaving it up to him where he wants to go for those 2 weeks as long as he gets some time to wind down. Ghost hunting? Well, despite popular belief that I'm stupid not to know ghost hunting, I know how to use your parents' weapons well enough to protect the town. I'll probably enlist your parents' help too and yours, if your interested."

The conversation continued for a while until Tucker clicked the phone shut. He turned to see that his best friend had yet to move from his position and was still, by all means, stoning at the ceiling. Now he had to take action.

"Danny." No response. Tucker sighed again.

"Daniel." The hand that covered his face slipped off and Tucker found himself getting glared at by those baby-blue eyes that loathed his first name being mentioned. It reminded him too much of the fruit loop known as Vladimir Masters. The dark skinned teenager shrugged.

"That was the only way to get your attention. Now up, you are going home, getting your stuff and going on a 2 week vacation." Tucker pulled Danny up by his underarms and the pale skinned boy had fallen off the couch with a thump.

"Wait a sec! 2 week…vacation? Tucker, school starts in 2 weeks, and there's still protecting the town from the ghosts! Besides, where can I go for a freaking vacation?!"

"That's for you to figure out. Look Danny, it'll keep you out of media attention and give you some time off to blow some steam. I can suggest that you can take your vacation to somewhere quiet in the Ghost Zone, Frostbite? Dora? Wulf maybe? It's not like you have an enemy in ALL ghosts mind you. You really need this time off. And don't worry about the town. Sadly enough, Valerie will be protecting it, but I'll be keeping an eye out for her with your parents and Jazz."

Danny opened his mouth to protest but was cut short by Tucker's own Foley glare going straight at him. Tucker didn't have Sam to back him up then, but Tucker had matured enough to know when it was needed to give an extra punch in whatever he wanted to be known.

"Danny, in all our years, and including our diaper ones, you've called the shots. It's my turn to take over now. You NEED this break. You need to re-energize yourself. These past few weeks are already getting through your skin even worse then that time where we found out about that evil alter-ego of yours of the future." Tucker saw Danny flinch at the mention of his future evil self but continued, "You need to find yourself again Danny, its already worrying us enough as it is about your physical body enduring pain from these attacks, but your sanity is at risk too. We don't want anything else to happen to you. Ok?"

Danny crouched on the floor, mulling over Tucker's words before looking up to give him a weak smile.

"Thanks Tuck…" With a wink, Tucker grinned back at him.

"Don't mention it. You've been the one protecting us all this time; it's our turn to protect you. Besides, seeing that dissolved relationship can give you some time to rethink about it." Danny gave Tucker a grateful nod and finally stood up from the floor. He grasped hands with him briefly before walking out the door in a flash of light; Danny Phantom soared high in the air with the occupied Thermos in hand and flew in the direction of Fenton Works. Tucker could only hope that 2 weeks was enough for Danny to regain his sanity back.

* * *

Danny flew back into his room through the open window where he saw his red-head sister sitting on his bed with a backpack filled with his clothes and other necessities. Changing back to his human form, Danny quietly embraced Jazz in gratitude, of which the older Fenton returned. Jazz had seen how much Danny had changed in the months after the Disasteroid. Dark bags colored the bottom of his eyes and the usually sparkling blue was now dulled down so drastically, she feared that he may have sunk into depression with all that was happening to him.

"I've packed whatever you need for you. Yes brother dearest, including your underwear." She teased as he gave her a look of mock horror that his older sibling had taken to digging into his closet for his underwear, "And only 2 weeks since school starts back in exactly 2 weeks ok? But I have to ask…where will you go?" the teal-eyed girl watched her younger brother curiously as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other while pondering that thought. Tucker had said that it was his decision where he wanted to go and had given him the suggestion of Ghost Zone, since not ALL the ghosts there believed him to be their mortal enemy, beside the fact that he would not hold back on beating them up before sending them back to the Ghost Zone.

"I was…" Jazz looked up from her inner-musings to see the hesitant look in her brother's eyes as he continued,

"I was thinking of visiting Danni…but most probably Clockwork." THAT was a surprise. Danni, she knew was a clone of her brother and he was protective of the younger Halfa, but Clockwork?

"I see…Just take care of yourself ok? Mom and dad will be back later tonight and I can tell them what happened. Tucker said we were going to protect Amity Park with you on vacation. Good thing mom has a better aim right?" The light-hearted attempt to joke was met with a quiet laugh from the younger of the Fenton siblings as he hugged his sister once more.

"Yea. Make sure dad doesn't go near the bazooka again, I'd hate to see the mess that needs to be cleared after that thing is fired." The two siblings chuckled at the thought of it, lightly bantering as they trooped down the stairs to the laboratory basement with Danny holding his backpack and the Thermos. The eerie green glow of the ghost portal was active and Danny promptly stuffed Skulker back into the Ghost Zone roughly before handing the now empty Thermos to Jazz.

"If you need anything, I still have the Fenton Phones ok? 2 weeks…is pretty long with the ghost attacks ya know?" Jazz lightly punched Danny in the shoulder, giving him a brave look.

"And you think we'd cower at them? Hah! I think not, I'm sure we can handle them Danny, most of the ghost that have been appearing aren't your regular ones that love to bust your butt." Danny protested loudly at the statement while Jazz grinned and gave him another hug.

"Take care ok?"

"I will. YOU take care of yourself, mom and dad. As well as the town please."

Jazz gently shoved her brother towards the portal where he waved and transformed into his ghost half before flying into the portal. The older sibling, like Tucker, hoped that 2 weeks was enough rest for Danny.

* * *

Danny tumbled through the portal and immediately set off to Clockwork's tower. He knew it was in a remote area of the Ghost Zone and was hardly noticed by most other ghosts, their eyes tended to slide away from the Master of Time's abode. Danny was hoping that Danni would be there too, it would probably save him time trying to find her lair around the Ghost Zone. The white haired teen wondered if Clockwork would have foreseen him coming to visit him at this point of time. He was after all, the Master of Time, and he practically knew everything.

Danny dodged Kitty and Johnny13 quickly before they could even realize it was him and continued on his way to Clockwork's. He mused slightly over the irony. If he had continued to stay in Amity at this point of time, he would have gone mad and probably would have turned into the evil self that he was trying so hard to suppress. Everything was always connected in some strange ways, not even he could fathom them.

The Halfa found his goal and quickly raced to the gates. He wasn't surprised to see them creak open slightly for him to enter. Swiftly he entered through the gates and through the door that opened after. The constant ticking of various clocks and the creaks of the cogwheels turning was becoming normal to his ears; Danny had become accustomed to hearing these sounds whenever at Clockwork's zone. He had visited Danni many times before and he was almost immune to the noise.

Quietly, he wove his way through the passages of the lair and met with an amused Clockwork at his office, with various screens of alternate timelines showing in the room. Clockwork shifted from his child phase to his middle aged phase and floated over to him.

"Welcome Danny. I had a feeling you would be coming here."

"It was either here, or getting my butt roasted in other parts of Ghost Zone. Besides, I think you knew I was going to come here soon." He joked lightly as the Master of Time chuckled and shifted into his old aged phase. Clockwork tapped his staff and grinned.

"Of course…I know everything." The gentle mirth in the elder ghost's eyes made Danny laugh. Clockwork had become a second father figure to him and he thoroughly enjoyed spending time with him, even though it was limited with his contract of 'meddling' with timelines.

"It is however, unfortunate that I cannot stay with you in the duration of your stay here. Although, I believe Danielle will be visiting very soon. And I suppose you would like to see her again." Danny nodded in understanding, the Observants were always on his case, but knew that even they couldn't control Clockwork too much from preventing disastrous happenings in timelines. The green-eyed teen then pondered. What could he do here…? His eyes swept across the room and eyed the screens.

"Would…it be ok if I watched some of the timelines?" Clockwork gave an all knowing smile and reached out to call upon some of the screens.

"Of course. But I do believe, that these ones, would interest you the most, Danny Phantom. I must leave now and I will be back when the 2 weeks are up. Enjoy your stay here." With a flick of his wrist and a swirl of the hands of the clock, the Master of Time vanished to wherever he was meant to be. Danny floated to the couch that had appeared during their conversation and flumped down on it, setting his backpack to his side.

He eyed one of then screens a little before pointing to one of them, which gently grew in size from its tiny self to the form of a large screen television and allowing the rest to slide to one side for later observance. Danny leaned back against the couch and watched with interest. The scene of the screen was familiar before it clicked. This looked like just after the time he had first battled Skulker with the purple-back gorilla report he had to make and at the point of time that he, Tucker and Sam were at Nasty Burger talking about weekend plans… After Technus had trashed his parents' lab too. But there were subtle differences now. His eyes glued themselves to the screen as he watched the timeline that seemed so far from his own, yet so close at the same time.

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**Authoress' Notes:**

1) Read Profile for warnings  
2) Remember, this is an ALTERNATE TIMELINE of the DP continuity, going back to the first episodes to start off from though PP **HAS** happened (in the Original timeline) and various episodes are changed to suit the plot along with 'new' ones.  
3) Reviews will be loved much. If you wish to critique this work, please make it constructive. Flames will be used to warm myself up in the cold winter freeze  
4) I'm still figuring out the edit/preview system. And I STILL think the format looks wrong D: (Hasn't posted in 4 years :o)  
5) Thanks for reading! :3

****

Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/K.C


	2. The Subtle Differences

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge, with his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam, Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress' beginning notes: Just a quick reminder to readers if you have yet to read my Profile on the fic, There will be an insertation of **3 OCs** in this fanfic. Thanks! **THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN REVISED SLIGHTLY; Just an FYI for readers**

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 1: **

**The Subtle Differences**

* * *

Danny's eyes glued to the screen as the Nasty Burger scene unfolded. Immediately he noticed the addition of two people in the fast food joint and wondered what sort of significance they held for being in that timeline. Most of the people were just spectators; background persons who blended into the shadows once their purpose was done.

He adjusted his rump on the couch before settling down comfortably to watch the timeline like a spectator to a parade; just like how Clockwork had mentioned to him before of how the Observers watched the timelines. Watching it in sequence as it rolled by his eyes; but never to really notice which twists and turns it may, or may not take like the Master of Time. Danny wasn't too sure if he would see those, but the thoughts fled to the back of his mind once he heard his best friend's voice echo from the speakers; signaling the start of a tale from a timeline that was not his.

* * *

"Lending means repay, and repay is out of my reach. Right Danny? Danny? Hello?!" Tucker groaned as his best friend continued to stare as Dash passed out invitations to his party, particularly to one Paulina Sachetz. Jazz had already been invited to the party and here he was gazing at the Latino girl who wouldn't give him a second of the world. Somehow it didn't seem fair. Sam just narrowed and rolled her eyes skyward at his puppy look. Boys.

The chatter at the Nasty Burger was loud and distracting. Danny finally tore his eyes away from the popular crowd and sat back facing Sam and Tucker at their table. The conversation continued to whatever they were planning for the weekend until Sam piped up.

"Any idea who those two are? I don't think I've seen them before." Both Tucker and Danny swerved their heads to another table where two pale skinned blonde girls were sitting. The younger of the two was shaking her head and laughing; her vibrant blond hair was tied up in a high ponytail that whipped around her cheeks as she shook her head. Her fringe fell in messy spikes that fluttered as she moved. Her dark red wrist band pressed against her cheek as she raised her hand to stifle her laughter, while the other hand batted off the other girl's finger that was advancing to poke her cheek.

The slender finger that attempted to poke the cheek of the other girl retracted immediately to avoid the bat, a wide smile spread across the darker blonds' lips. Her loose hair swept across her face as she shook her head with a teasing grin playing on her lips. She rested her elbows on the table top and leaned her head forward, allowing her hair to sweep forward at the movement to tickle her almost bare shoulders.

"Dunno. I think they're the new kids in town. But I heard that there were three of them though. Wonder how the third looks like…? They seem to know each other." Tucker mused, watching the girls with a glazed look splashed across his eyes. Sam rolled her eyes in annoyance and threw one of her vegetables at Tucker, hitting him squarely on the forehead that made him squawk indignantly.

"You fiend! Hitting me with those accursed plants!" He mocked at her but instead, flicked a ball of meat at Danny. But the raven haired teen was staring straight at the door where they were and didn't notice that speck of meat splat across his cheek. Tucker turned to look at the door and Sam turned her body to face it. Now it was Sam's turn to stare and blink. She was almost praying that she had another kindred spirit right in front of her who had entered the Nasty Burger.

The pale skinned boy that had stepped into the restaurant radiated the aura of rebel with a serious attitude. As the door to the Nasty Burger shut, the wind haphazardly blew his spiky fringed pale blond hair forward before it settled back down when the wind subsided.

His white sleeved hands were both stuffed into his jean pockets as his slouched figure straightened and looked up to scan the fast food joint. His lean upper body twisted without his legs shifting from its position on the tiled floor as he searched, creasing his black short sleeved shirt with wispy white spirals decorating the top left and bottom right of the shirt and causing the silver dog tag on his black choker and silver chain around his neck to clink against each other at the movement as he continued to scan the room with piercing cobalt eyes before he found who he was looking for.

As the teen boy strode over towards the two blond girls at the table the trio had spied upon earlier, both spotted and waved to him in greeting. The boy sat down with them and swept his black flame patterned sleeved hand across the table in a strange gesture that made them laugh. The popular crowd was still chattering, only this time with many glances stolen towards the new kids of Amity Park. Dash was allured by both girls but disliked the dark themed boy at first sight. The blond swaggered towards their table and set his hand on the table whilst giving the two girls his most 'dashing' smile.

"Well hello there ladies. I see you're new in town? Why not come over to my party on Saturday night so I could introduce you to the crowd?" Sam covered her mouth in an attempt to hide her laughter as she saw the almost Goth teen behind Dash making gagging faces. He then proceeded to pretend to stick his finger in his throat to further emphasize his point. The younger girl looked repulsed at the so-called 'dashing' smile, twisting her face into an odd expression. The darker blond had straightened her posture and swept the invisible dust off her dark blue sleeve before she looked up to face Dash with a disinterested look.

"Well if you invite us, you might as well invite our brother too." Dash spluttered and pointed to the other teenager who was now resting his left elbow on the table, his cheek in hand and looking extremely bored.

"This gothic nitwit is your brother?!" The reaction was instantaneous. One single burning glare from the younger of the two was sent straight at Dash making him stumble backwards. The girl had leapt up, her black red flamed bell bottomed jeans flaring before settling down when she landed on her feet to jab her finger at his chest. Her sapphire eyes blazed with anger whilst the other girl's crimson eyes narrowed and looked unimpressed by his actions and words.

"Listen jockwad. You call my brother any more names and I'll kick you where the sun doesn't shine. Get the picture? All three or none of us go to your stupid party." Her eyes glared daggers at the popular boy before turning her heel and strode back to the table. Dash looked positively livid. No one ever told him off. No one! He stomped over to grab her shoulder only to find himself pinned against the trash bin by the other boy's pale hand. The icy cold glare that shot straight at him from those cobalt eyes was frightening to say the least.

"You touch my sisters, and I'll give you worse than hell. Scram jockwad." Dash was unceremoniously thrown to the side as the black tipped blond stormed back to the table. His black shoes thumped against the tiled floor in time with the clinking of the two chains that were attached to the belt holes of his jeans. The two items orchestrated a strange symphony that bounced off the walls of the Nasty Burger.

The older girl who had remained at the table shook her head in amusement and exasperation. Her braided sideburns gently smacked against her cheeks at the shake. Dash took off like a bat from hell with an extremely terrified look plastered on his face, forgetting his promise to the older Fenton that he would invite her brother to his party to cement her own invitation. The trio sat at their table, stunned that the new kids had shown that they were not interested in popularity. Paulina looked very intrigued by the boy though. A surge of jealousy ran through Danny but he held it down. The kid didn't know about the status quo of Casper High. Probably they would by tomorrow.

"Whoa." It seemed that they had earned some of Tucker's respect earned for standing up to Dash. Sam was grinning like a Cheshire cat at the turn of events.

"About time someone gave Dash a taste of his own medicine." She quietly cheered, so that no one else could hear her except her two friends. The three new kids chattered quietly before standing up and walking out of the fast food joint. The breeze that entered the fast food joint played with their hair and loose articles of clothing. Sam, Tucker and Danny watched as the three strode out the door. Not caring about the whispers and loud assumptions that were being made of them by the Casper High students that populated the Nasty Burger. Danny blinked as he found himself staring at the blue clad girl's back and shook his head hard. There were other pressing matters at hand, like what they were going to do for the weekend. The chatter resumed to normal and the new kids were almost forgotten just quickly as they had come.

* * *

Dash's big party hadn't been forgotten when the trio of outcasts walked to school. Danny was still moping over the fact that his sister had been invited and he wouldn't have a chance with Paulina at the party. He did however; catch the infuriated look that painted Jazz's face when she had heard that he hadn't received an invitation. He did tell her that he wasn't popular enough for Dash to even consider inviting to his A List party.

The entire school was still talking about the rumors of the new kids in town. Ironically, some believed that the boy was a demon from the underworld, being so morbid and all. The girls' descriptions varied with each conversation, it went on from angels to things as ridiculous as prison wardens. Sam scoffed while Tucker and Danny laughed at the rumors. Really, who came up with that stuff?

"I'm telling you! That kid is a fricking demon! But I was the bravest to confront them!" Ah, so it was Dash Baxter. No surprise since he had been the 'tortured' one who had gone up to face them up close. Sam held back a snigger.

"Yea, and lost his masculinity in the process." Tucker no longer restrained himself and howled in laughter. Danny clutched his stomach and covered his mouth in his attempt to muffle his own laughs. Baleful glares were sent to the trio's way by Dash and his cronies which the three ignored and continued towards their lockers.

The three chattered about their plans for the coming weekend as they reached their lockers and took out their books for class. Just as they were reaching their homeroom with Mr. Lancer, they spotted the three new kids from the day before at Nasty Burger walking down the school halls in search of the Principal's office. Gentle clicks echoed from the darker blonds' brown ankle boots meeting the floor. The other girl's red and white sneakers bounced with every silent step she took.

"Brilliant, no map of the mofo school. How the heck are we going to find the Principal's office?" The boy muttered, only to get elbowed by the youngest looking of the three.

"Duh, ask other students?" Her rhetorical question was met with a snort.

"All we've passed are petty bimbos and jockwads. And I don't mean just the blondes and not to be stereotypical because we're blonds too. Stupid air heads."

"I take it that you've met the A List crowd." Sam piped up as they passed. The three stopped and turned to look at her. The pony-tailed girl's blinked and tilted her head sideways as they faced the trio.

"A List? So that's what they call the popular crowd here?" The boy had raised his eyebrow at the name and rolled his eyes.

"That is so lame. Even back in Gotham they don't come up with stupid names like that." This time, he was elbowed by the other sibling who sent him a look that meant 'behave' before turning back to the three outcasts.

"I'm sorry, but can you direct us to the Principal's office? We've got no clue where we're going in the halls." She asked politely with a sheepish smile as she quietly adjusted the turquoise sweater that was tied around her hips. Danny gave her a polite smile in return.

"You're pretty close actually. Just down here and turn left. It should be the second door to the right after you turn." Just as Danny said so, the bell had rung for class to begin. Both groups bade each other thanks and see ya's before heading to wherever they needed to be.

"I see you have decided to eventually join us for a fun filled day of learning Mr. Fenton, Ms Manson and Mr. Foley." Lancer droned on with a bored look on his face as the trio streaked into their homeroom class in the nick of time before the late bell.

Ten minutes into the homeroom period, a rapt knock was heard on the door of their classroom and Lancer gave an extremely displeased look.

"Tardy students?" He called through the door and immediately heard a retort.

"If that's how you treat new students, I'd hate to see how you'd treat new staff members." Immediately, Lancer's face had turned red and called them in. The pony-tailed sibling was elbowing her brother for his unnecessary retort to the teacher while the other girl was sighing and rubbing her temples. The three had walked up to Lancer's desk and handed him hall passes with notes from the Principal. Lancer read the note and muttered something about smart mouthed teens before clearing his throat to catch the attention of the rest of the class.

"Class, we will be having three new students starting with us today. Please introduce yourselves." The youngest looking blonde bounced up and raised her hand.

"Hi! I'm Cassandra Angeles, but I'm usually called Casse, and that's with an 'e' and not with an 'ie'; don't call me Sassy Casse as a nickname 'cause I'll punch your lights out if you do. Oh, and I'm the youngest of the three of us." Immediately many mouths open to ask the daunting question when the boy raised his hand which caused all those mouths to clamp shut to let him talk.

"We're triplets. Bradley Angeles, usually called Brad, I 'supposively' have middle child syndrome and I have five things to say to you all. One, I am not vaguely interested with anything associated to happy besides Casse. Two, if you do anything to hurt my sisters, I will give you an even worse definition of hell. Three, I am in no way interested in 'popular', spoiled and petty girls who wear the color I abhor the most which is pink. Four, I cannot and will not stand swooning girls throwing themselves at my feet either, you will be ignored. Five, I will not stand any preaching of status quo of the school or whatever class statement you have because frankly, I do not care." Casse covered her mouth to control her giggles as most of the girls in the room deflated at his words. She did notice however, that one girl who almost had the same gothic look Brad had was looking extremely pleased.

"How can you NOT care?! It's…the norm!" Paulina cried out, utterly horrified that the beau she wanted had made himself way 'under' and out of her league. A disinterested glare was sent her way.

"Because I just can. I don't care. Zip. Nada. No way in hell. Don't give a damn." Brad folded his arms across his chest and looked away again.

"Brad, language please." The only un-introduced sibling groaned as the middle sibling offered her a shrug but his eyes gleamed with mischievous but playful defiance. Those crimson eyes rolled skyward before facing the class with her hand resting on her jean hip.

"Amilee Angeles. Been nick-named Lee since forever and I'm the oldest of the triplets." Immediately they were bombarded with questions until Lancer bellowed for them to be silent and to raise their hands if they had any questions. In that instant, Sam's hand was up.

"So where did you guys come from?"

"We come from Gotham City, home of the Dark Knight." Casse grinned from her older sister's side before she slid over to squeeze between her two siblings.

"Why'd you move here to Amity Park?" Valerie Gray, A List member asked, growing curious about the triplets.

"Heard of Wayne Enterprise? Our dad's heading the new branch here that's starting up." Brad hated first days of new schools. He found introductions and questions stupid.

"What hobbies do you guys have?"

"That's for us to know and for you to find out." Brad rolled his eyes. "Can we go sit down now?" Lancer motioned for the three to pick their seats. Casse immediately raced to the seat next to the window while Brad made his way to the corner seat that was more shadowed. Lee on the other hand, took the seat just in front of Danny and gave him a small wave before turning to the front of the class.

A wad of paper found its way to his cheek as Danny picked it up and opened it to read a note from Sam.

'_The new kids are cool XD'_

He rolled his eyes and tossed it towards Tucker who caught it and grinned in agreement to Sam's statement. The school year was going to be very interesting from that point of time on.

* * *

By lunch, the news had spread about the new triplets to the entire school. And Paulina Sachetz was on a mission. To convert Brad Angeles into one of the A List and date him. Unfortunately, her efforts were beginning to look extremely futile but had been doomed way before she had even started. Brad was in no way paying any attention to her and that would not do. She was the princess of the school! Paulina Sachetz would not tolerate not being fawned upon by any member of the opposite sex and doubled her efforts to sway him.

The triplets were currently in-line to get food from the cafeteria and just as Brad got his, Paulina had sidled to his side and tried to tug him to the A List table.

"Come on! We have a seat for you Brad!" From behind Brad, Casse was sticking her tongue out and made the gagging motion which earned her a tiny knock on the back of her head, courtesy of Lee. Brad looked repulsed at the idea.

"Didn't you even listen to the five things I've said in homeroom? The third was, 'I am in no way interested in 'popular', spoiled and petty girls who wear the color I abhor the most which is pink'. You fit the bill very nicely to that. Now leave me alone." Paulina pouted, finally giving up and pointed at him.

"Humph! You'll come crawling back! Every boy wants to date me in Casper High and everybody knows my name!" She tossed her raven locks back. The blonde teen raised his eyebrow in question.

"So, exactly WHO are you?" The cafeteria had gone eerily quiet after he said that. Paulina gaped at the neutral faced teen who was beginning to look very bored while tapping his foot.

"Well?" His two siblings behind him chorused, both also not knowing what the entire fuss was about. So what if they didn't know her name?

"I am Paulina Sachetz! The most popular girl and princess of Casper High! Be good to remember that!" She hissed angrily, feeling the embarrassment heat up her cheeks as Brad looked at her with a bored look in his eyes.

"Oh, just a princess? Where's the queen?" The Hispanic girl gritted her teeth and viciously jabbed his chest.

"I put the ruling of the school! A List, nerds, outcasts…! The popular teens, outcasts, nerds, punks…the lot of them! They all want me! I am the most desirable female of the school!" Brad just swatted her hand away and gave her a leveled look.

"Well, sadly for you, I am not one of them. To me, you are one of the most ugliest creatures I've ever met. So I am in no way sorry for NOT wanting such a sad and disgusting creature such as you, _Pauline_."

"It's Paulina! Paulina!!!" The A List girl screamed at the middle Angeles' back as he followed his sisters to find a table to sit at for lunch. As if to infuriate her more, Brad picked at his ear a little and muttered,

"Petty pink phooney."

"Maybe we should call her the P girl, all that starts with P, including her name." Casse chirped up from his right. Paulina screamed in frustration and stomped off to the A List table, on the verge of shrieking angrily at her being rejected by the new kid.

Sam had burst into laughter while Tucker and Danny stared at him incredulously. He just rejected Paulina, the most popular girl of the school and didn't even flinch. Had it been either of them, they would have jumped at the chance of dating her. But this guy…whoa. Sam hopped out of her seat and trotted towards the triplets.

All the tables seemed to be filled and just as Casse was about to suggest going outside, Sam tapped her shoulder and they all turned to see her.

"Hey, we got some space if you guys want. It's usually quiet at our area." Brad's eyes perked up slightly. But it went back to his disinterested sort of look in the next instant before a smirk played at his lips.

"Quiet, I like. Lead the way." Sam grinned and the female Goth lead the way to the table where Danny and Tucker were. Both boys were still giving Brad incredulous looks. The Goth boy raised an eyebrow at their looks.

"What? I got something funky on my face?"

"Nope…just in shock that you rejected the most popular girl in school…Because dude, that's a first to ever happen!" Brad rolled his eyes at Tucker's words as he sat next to Sam while Lee sat down on Sam's other side and Casse sat down to the empty seat next to Danny.

"So, I take it you two have a crush on her."

"Dude, all the guys do. Except maybe you." Brad waved his hand dismissively as Casse giggled and Lee just shook her head in amusement.

"She is totally not worth it. She's almost practically brainless except her explicit need for attention and to be fawned over. She reminds me of one of Batman's enemies, what was that sorceress' name again?"

"Morgaine le Fey. She steals youth, not attention and she's more of Etrigan the Demon's enemy than of Batman's Brad." Lee chided, taking a taste from the cafeteria food. Casse was already making a skeptic face at the food while poking it with her fork.

"Are these things even edible? They look radioactive."

"It's edible…though the taste leaves much to be desired." The oldest sibling said with a small frown, "I take it you guys will start to want me to pack lunches from tomorrow onwards aren't you?" Two simultaneous nods from the remaining two thirds of the triplets was her answer which made her laugh. Finally, Sam smacked her forehead and groaned.

"Oh gah, we haven't introduced ourselves yet! I'm Sam Manson, resident ultra-recyclo-vegetarian Goth girl." She then pointed to Tucker who winked.

"Tucker Foley, techno-geek and meat eater extraordinaire." Tucker grinned and gave a mocking bow to the table while tipping his red beret off for the moment before slapping it back on. Danny chuckled before he introduced himself.

"Danny Fenton, outcast number three, son of two genius ghost hunters but didn't received much of their intelligence…well, not that it's surfaced to our knowledge that is. Welcome to Ghost Town Amity Park." He joked, earning laughs around the table. Their conversation topics ranged between school work and local news of Amity. Somehow, Danny and Brad had gotten into a debate of whether Batman could kick Superman's butt. Typical boys. When looking at Tucker to break the tie, the African-American boy gave an impish grin and retorted that Wonder Woman owned both heroes' butts. Their retaliation to this statement was to fling balls of meat from their spoons at him, making the three girls laugh uncontrollably.

The day skipped by fairly quickly, until an unhappy Dash Baxter strode over to Danny's locker and glared at him venomously. Danny swore that if his life was an animation, he'd be sweat-dropping at Dash's current bull-like appearance.

"Uh…what can I do for you Dash?"

"Listen Fen-turd, the only reason why I'm giving you this invitation is because your sister wouldn't come unless I invited you too." He turned to look at both Tucker and Sam who were batting their eyelashes at him. The jock scowled darkly. "And only you. So be there Fen-turd."

Sam and Tucker watched as Dash stalked off whilst Danny looked at the invitation and spared a glance over to Paulina who fluttered her eyelashes at him. He then hugged the invitation close to his chest. This was COOL.

"You're not serious." Sam deadpanned, breaking Danny out of his temporary state of euphoria. The raven haired teen turned to look at both his best friends with a clueless expression slapped over his face.

"What?" Both Goth and Techno-geek spared a look at each other before breathing out sighs at their eternally clueless friend.

"You are so clueless Danny."

"Why's Danny clueless?" Sam turned to see Lee standing behind her. Brad was shifting through his locker that was nearby to Danny's own.

"I'll tell you in a bit. Where's Casse?" Lee jerked her head and pointed her thumb to the girls' toilet behind them. Sam nodded, understanding that the youngest sibling was there. A clink was heard and all heads turned to see Brad shutting the door of his locker at the same time Casse totted out of the toilet straightening out her black and red shirt. Tucker raised an eyebrow questioningly before three simultaneous replies came his way.

"Triplet ESP." That got a laugh from five of them at how synchronized the triplets were. Brad simply rolled his eyes at their harmonization.

"So…why is Danny clueless?" Lee prodded the Goth girl who rolled her eyes and pointed straight at the said teen with an accusing finger.

"He just got invited to Dash's party because his sister, Jazz wouldn't go. And I have a feeling that he will be going to try wooing Paulina, who has absolutely zero interest in him."

"Woo that petty pink phooney Pauline?" Tucker choked and coughed. Sam's grin, if possible, grew even wider while Brad's two sisters rolled their eyes at his skeptic look. Danny scowled a little at Brad.

"Sorry if I'm not like you Brad." He muttered heatedly before walking off. Brad's cobalt eyes were trained on his retreating back as Danny weaved through the crowd and disappeared. Tucker sighed.

"Well, there goes our weekend plans." Casse blinked and poked Tucker's shoulder gently.

"What were your plans?"

"Actually it was to hang out at my place and watch movies. Even if Danny doesn't want to come…you guys wanna come?" Casse eagerly nodded her head while Brad offered Sam a shrug which almost meant 'Ok'. But Lee on the other hand, shook her head.

"Sorry Sam, I gotta decline. I promised our dad I'd help him out on Saturday. Don't worry, have fun without me ok?" Casse looked put out by her sister's response and scoffed lightly.

"Why bother? He's never at home, why should you help him out? Some dad." Sam looked at the youngest sibling curiously.

"Never at home? What about your mom?"

"Mom's been dead for almost 14 years." Brad replied back stonily and the atmosphere surrounding the five grew dark. Sam and Tucker both looked mortified when Brad had said that and Sam immediately apologized for sounding insensitive. Lee shook her head with a sigh and tapped their shoulders.

"It's fine…its just that well, our dad really isn't home often. Uncle Bruce says that after our mom died giving birth to Casse, he made himself a recluse. Always busying himself with work and all so…we've probably learnt to take care of ourselves since we're left alone most of the time. Brad and Casse resent dad for that. BUT," both younger siblings of Lee blinked as their sister placed her hands on her hips and turned her head to glare at them slightly, "they only started resenting him four years ago."

"Resent is an understatement sis, and so what if it only started four years ago?" Lee huffed a little and gently poked her brother's shoulder.

"Well, even if the both of you resent him, it doesn't change the fact that he's been the one who's working to keep a roof over our heads, clothes on our skin and food on the table. As well as the other materialistic things we have in the house like your electric guitar. Besides, you do remember that Uncle Bruce was the one who insisted on the house; dad would've been plenty satisfied with an apartment. So, I'll be helping him out on Saturday while you two just have fun ok?" Brad rolled his eyes and swatted his sister's hand away before cheekily replying her.

"Yes mommy Lee." Her hand swiftly swooshed in the air and hit its mark at the back of Brad's head. The middle Angeles rubbed the sore spot and looked up to see a scowl on his sister's lips. But her eyes were dancing with mirth, knowing that he really didn't make her angry at all. Casse let out a sigh and accepted her sister's reasoning before hopping onto Lee's back, making the oldest Angeles yelp in shock while trying to maintain her equilibrium with the sudden weight attached to her back that was her sister.

As the other three watched in amusement as the older blonde adjusted her weight around to accommodate for the extra on her back, Sam turned to Brad with a raised eyebrow.

"Electric guitar?"

"Need a few tunes?"

"Awesome." Tucker just laughed at their conversation. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship… now just to get Danny back with them for it to fully bloom.

* * *

Danny bit his lip hard as he went through what Dash had told him earlier. It had been the day before that Dash had told him he was invited to his party by the request of his sister and today had been hell. He had been forced to avoid Sam, Tucker and the triplets for the entire duration of school and to make matters worse; he couldn't find them after school hours. AND the Box Ghost had turned up during school hours again, causing him to dash out of the classroom in a hurry to swap to his superhero alter-ego to bust the annoying ghost's chops, sucking him into the Fenton Thermos. But someone must have been smiling at him from above since he wasn't dished out a detention for the wild dash out of the classroom upon his return. AND Dash had given him 'criteria' to fulfill before coming to the party. If he wanted to come to that party, he needed to look cool. But Jazz was insisting that he go as himself, not as somebody else. He was having second doubts about the entire thing. He listed down the things that were racing through his mind.

He was missing out on their plans for the weekend; his, Tuck's and Sam's.

He was invited to one of the biggest parties ever by the A List group, even if it was courtesy of his sister.

He knew that Sam would have probably invited the triplets to join in on their weekend plans to get to know them better.

It was his chance to finally score points with Paulina at the party.

But he was also interested in getting to know the triplets better, even if he and Brad did get into that scuffle the day before about Paulina.

But it was also his chance to be popular…or was there an ulterior motive for Dash to invite him other than being threatened by his sister?

He groaned and felt like smacking his head onto the nearest flat surface and knock himself unconscious. He was running in circles and was getting back to square one every time he made the oppositional points. Danny was coming to a dead end of his internal point making when he walked smack straight into someone coming from the opposite direction.

Dual yelps of shock echoed off the scene, followed by the thumps of two rears and clatter of some books landing on the ground. Danny groaned holding his sore posterior before looking up to see the eldest Angeles sibling nursing her own bruised rump with the scatter of books splayed across the floor.

"Aw man…! Sorry about that Lee, I was…kinda thinking of something and didn't watch where I was going." The raven haired Fenton apologized, helping the blonde up and picked up a few of the books that were on the ground. The crimson-eyed teen waved it off as she too, bent down to pick up the remaining books.

"Nah, it's ok. I mean, I did have too many books with me and I didn't see where I was going either." Danny gave her a tiny smile and noticed that she had been carrying three sets of textbooks and raised an enquiring eyebrow.

"Been buying the textbooks for Brad, Casse and yourself AND you pick them up alone? Geez, not even Jazz would do that for me, but then again, I do just get her hand-me-down books since the school hasn't changed the texts yet." Lee gave a laugh, hauling one set of the books up and bent down to reach another when Danny picked it up instead to carry two sets of the books.

"Methinks you need help carrying these back home." Lee rolled her eyes, poked his shoulder and filled her next sentence with teasing sarcasm.

"My hero." Danny laughed, bowed his head mockingly and jerked his head for the blonde to lead the way to her place.

"So…where are Brad and Casse? I had this initial impression that the three of you were practically joined to the hip." Danny asked curiously as the two trotted alongside each other towards… wherever the Angeles household was. Lee snickered and turned her head to look at him, her two braided side burns tossing in the air with her wavy bangs blowing to the side with the wind.

"Contrary to belief, we are not joined to the hip or anywhere else. They just decided to go on a tour around Amity with Tucker and Sam as their guides after school. I think they just forgot that we had to pick up the books today too. That's what big sisters are for, picking up whatever is left behind and forgotten." She joked lightly, turned her head back front to the pavement ahead of them. The ruby gem that was embedded on the middle of her black choker reflected the light from the overhead sun as they walked down the pavement.

"So…what happened to you today? Didn't see you around much except for in classes." Danny groaned at the question and muttered something intelligible for awhile that made Lee turn her head back to look at him oddly.

"What was that? It sounded like gibberish. Could you translate it to English for me?" She teased gently while Danny sent her a mock scowl and pretended to make a kicking motion with his left foot at her. Nimbly, she dodged the swinging foot and laughed before going back in step with him. Danny knew that she wanted an answer, and he really couldn't lie about it. But of course, he was going to leave out his ghost hunting activities.

"Remember Sam told you guys I got invited to Dash's big party yesterday? Well, he cornered me before school started and told me to avoid slash ignore you guys. I didn't have time to react when he put his fist down and stuffed me into my locker. Didn't even have a chance to tell Sam or Tucker about it since Dash was hovering around me the entire day and the only way I could get that pit-bull to stop sniffing my scent was to really avoid you guys. And to make it worse, he said I'd need to 'wear something cool' to his party, which to his brain, is that new and super expensive outfit that came out recently at the stores at the mall. I'm having second doubts but I'm going around in circles just thinking about it."

Lee silently listened to Danny's explanation and gave him a curious look at the end of it.

"Is being popular very important to you? Like… is it really something that is necessary to be a part of society? To give up what you have now just to be known to many others who just want the recognition that could be the wrong sort?" Danny opened then closed his mouth, unsure of what to answer. Yes, in a sense, being popular would be nice, but was it such a necessity in that perspective? Sam and Tucker were like him, outcasts. Sam didn't believe in buying friends and Tucker was basically his best friend since diaper years, both of them stuck together like glue. He mulled over her words until her next questions struck a cord in him.

"Is it…worth giving up friends that are basically for life now for friends who will abandon you at the drop of a pin if you become unpopular? Is it worth it to be a person who not the real you?" As he was thinking, he didn't realize when Lee had stopped her steps at some point. He continued trotting down the pavement until he heard her give a loud cough.

"Uh, Danny. My house is right here." He stopped, blinked and turned around to see her pointing at the newly built two-storey house on the street with large empty spaces beside it, being that no one had bought the plots of land to build anything on them yet. He blushed heavily and back stepped towards the giggling girl, giving her a playful scowl.

"Gee, thanks for the late warning. So…this place? Wow, I knew the plot of land had been sold and all, but this is huge! Looks way bigger then my place."

"Big place, yes indeed. Dad thought it'd be nice if we had this old styled interior, wooden floorboards, stairs and all. Looks pretty cool though. Wanna come in?" Danny gave her a half-hearted shrug in return.

"Sure, why not? Not like I have anything else better to do today." Lee nodded and fished out a wad of keys from her right jean pocket. After inserting the right one into the keyhole, the clinking of the keys clicked open the door, allowing Lee and Danny entrance to the Angeles home.

Danny, for the lack of words, gawked, as he entered the triplets' home. For a large house, the interior looked very humble; the shadows covered the corners and various parts of the house that made it look like it was shrouded in mystery and the wood of the floor even creaked the slightest, giving it the old house vibe too. None of the furniture of the house looked new either, although, shifting of furniture from Gotham to Amity could have been much cheaper than buying new ones in Amity. The house looked as if it had been occupied for years with the homey warmth that enveloped it. To his surprise, Danny felt a slight chilling vibe from the house as well, but wasn't very sure what that vibe meant.

"Up here Danny. Brad's room is the second door on the right hand side, so you can put his books on his table. I'll take Casse's books to hers as soon as I just put mine down in my own room." The wooden stairs were right in front of the front entrance, so it wasn't hard for Danny to figure out the rooms. The first door when up the stairs was Lee's room, connected to Casse's through the bathroom on the side and her room was the first door to the right from the stairs. Lee had dropped her books on her bed before stepping out of her room to take one stack of the books from Danny's arms and entered Casse's room.

Danny noted that both girls' rooms were slightly dark themed, although Casse did have some dull yellow mixed with red splashed around while Lee's room had a dark blue hue to it. The Halfa boy trotted over to the second door and cautiously opened it to reveal Brad's room. It was fairly neat for a teenage boy, Danny almost felt bad that his room was forever in a disarray while Brad's was neat and tidy. He placed the books on Brad's desk and took one careful look around. Sitting by the window still on a stand was a white flame designed electric guitar, with the base color being black. Brad's room was surprisingly, blank to say the least. Even if it was black, Danny could see some white and yellow star-like dots filling the ceiling.

"Those are glow-in-the-dark spots. Casse said it would stop making Brad overly morbid and all since his room was painted black. I personally think it was a good idea since he can blend into the shadows pretty well. It's a good thing those glow-in-the-dark spots let us at least have some light so see where he is."

Danny almost leapt up in fright when Lee suddenly spoke up from behind him. Geez! The girl had such silent steps that it was almost fathomable that she could be levitating instead of walking! The sapphire-blue-eyed boy clutched at his racing heart and gave the other teen a half-hearted glare.

"I swear if it isn't the ghost attacks that are running around Amity Park that kill me; I'll probably die of a cardiac arrest with you sneaking up on me so much!" The sound that came out of Lee's throat was a cross between a snort and giggle.

"I wouldn't be the one to give you that cardiac arrest. Brad can be silent when he wants to and can totally freak people out by appearing out of nowhere." Danny rolled his eyes.

"Oh, brilliant. Two people with soundless feet that can give people heart attacks. Wonderful. Should I get my funeral ready?" A bark of laughter echoed from Lee's mouth as she playfully shoved and guided him out of Brad's room before closing the room doors. The two teenagers trooped down the stairs and Danny curiously looked around at the walls, noticing something blank about them.

"It's a little strange though…most houses well, have photographs hanging around. Heck, even mine does but… I don't see any on your walls. Not even your rooms from where I could see them." Lee gave him a helpless shrug in response to his query.

"Dad doesn't hang pictures up, it hurts him that mom died after she gave birth to Casse I guess. That and the fact that both my younger siblings don't even bother asking him stuff which made them drift apart all these years are basically killing the family in a sense." Danny winced at the despondent tone in her voice and gently patted her shoulder.

"Why doesn't your dad tell them…whatever it is that he needs to explain?" Lee paused for a moment to look Danny straight in the eyes.

"What I tell you now, you don't tell them ok? Or anyone else for that matter. Promise?" The youngest Fenton crossed his heart in his promising before the eldest Angeles spoke.

"Dad says there is no point in forcing them to listen to him. He wants them to ask for themselves, or else it will just be a piece of useless information to them and if he did force them, they'd believe that he would be lying to them. Dad believes that there will be a time when they would be ready to ask and understand his reasons for basically our entire lives. My only problem of his statements are when IS that time? What if they don't ask at all and don't care about him in the future? What if they continue to be on bad grounds with each other that would possibly break up the family? What if…"

"Uh… Lee? Lee!" Immediately, the crimson-eyed girl shut her mouth from saying anything further on the triplets' family life and gave Danny a sheepish look.

"Sorry about that. I mean… I do get carried away sometimes, but it's really starting to take its toll and all… Dad doesn't stay home much to give Brad and Casse space; but the both of them think that he's just one plain old workaholic man who doesn't give a care for his three kids." Lee blew her wavy bangs from her right eye outwards and sighed.

"I guess all I can do is hope and believe as much as my dad does in my siblings." It was at that point, Danny could see that not everything was a bed of roses for the Angeles siblings. He'd already seen a much despondent side of the eldest, from that kind, cheery, maternal instinctive teenager to one who had many worries of her family breaking into pieces. He gently patted her shoulder again, causing the other to look up at him and smile weakly.

"Sorry again. I mean… argh… I'm spewing out this stuff to you and we're still probably strangers to each other since we've only officially met yesterday and all…" The girl straightened her posture and flicked at the front of her midriff revealing top absentmindedly, still muttering all the while doing so.

"No." Lee stopped her little monologue to look back up at Danny who gave her a kind smile and gently squeezed her shoulder.

"I think we made ourselves friends the moment we did our introductions yesterday during lunch. So, it's no big. That's what friends are for right? To lend a listening ear to each other in their times of need, to help one another in dire times." Another weak yet grateful smile was sent his way and it brightened him to see her eyes light up a little as she tilted her head to one side while looking at him.

"You really think so?" A nod and stronger smile was sent her way.

"Yea. I know so."

* * *

"Man! What was Danny aiming at for today? He totally skipped out on us during lunch and in-between periods! Ugh, I swear that boy must have been pushed into doing something." Sam complained as the four teenagers walked to the downtown of Amity Park. Danny had successfully avoided the group during school hours and they hadn't been able to find him after school either and it was driving Sam mad. Brad raised an eyebrow at her.

"Is he that submissive?"

"Nah, he's more passive in a sense. He really doesn't like physical confrontation like Dash does; he does more of the back-stage revenge stuff like stuffing Dash's locker full of pink ribbons once." Tucker backed up his best friend who was currently not there with them. Some wordings from Brad he didn't like, but he guessed it would have to do something with his morbid and gothic personality. He wondered just how the slightly perkier Casse could stand him even though he was her brother and all. Shouldn't it be clashing forces?

"That and I suppose he's also easily swayed. His sister's in the popular crowd isn't she?" Casse asked curiously, as she hopped from one foot to the other while looking at the sights around them. The sunshine rays flashed down on them, making Casse's sapphire gem that was embedded on the middle of her black choker, glint merrily.

"Yea, Jazz is part of the A List because she's smart, pretty and all. She did try to bring Danny into the crowd too, but personally, I don't see him mixing around with them well." Sam replied back a little darkly. One could tell that the gothic girl did not like the older Fenton one bit with that said but tolerated her for the sake of her friend.

The four continued their walk around Amity until an hour later. Brad smacked the palm of his hand to his forehead and groaned.

"Oh…shoot. We were supposed to pick up our textbooks today at the store after school Casse!" The blonde girl squeaked at the recently surfaced memory and the older of the two quickly flipped open his cell phone and speed-dialed a number. Sam and Tucker raised an eyebrow at this questioningly. Casse sheepishly turned to look at them.

"Ah…We didn't get our textbooks early, so the store said they'd put it out for us today to pick up after school…we…sorta forgot to pick them up…" Two 'o' shaped lips a second later showed the clear understanding of that. Ouch.

"Hey sis, I…" Brad stopped and listened to the speaker on the other end before releasing a grateful sigh.

"Thanks Lee. I'm really sorry about that. It totally slipped our minds earlier today." Another pause and his face twisted into a wince with a sheepish twitch playing on his lips. It looked like a strange sort of smile but wasn't really good enough to be classified as one at all.

"I'm sorry! Really…three sets of books, yea its our fault for forgetting but our blessing that our older sis gets them for us…Sorry, sorry! Need anything bought for dinner?" The attempt to change the topic to appease the other sibling on the other side of the phone had been unsuccessful, though he did get a short list of items. He apologized again and clicked the phone shut with a sigh.

"Casse, we so owe Lee for this. She hauled all three sets of our books back to the house today." Casse winced slightly.

"Ouch…no easy feat, even for sis. How'd she manage?" Brad gave her a light shrug in response.

"Said she bumped into Danny on her way home and took a tumble. Danny helped her to bring the books back home after that bump."

"So…that could explain where Danny went after school today? He could've seen her struggling with the books and helped her out." Tucker pointed out while Brad blinked and tapped his right index finger on his chin with a thoughtful look on his face.

"No…She said she bumped into him on the way home. So that means he must've been somewhere else…probably back at his own home?"

"Well hello~? I heard you asking her if she needed anything from the store and I do see a list in your hands. What does she need?" Sam poked the blonde boy's cheek teasingly and the other sibling did the same, poking the opposite cheek with a cheeky grin plastered on her face. The Goth boy rolled his eyes skyward and looked at the list.

"Well, veggie of our choice, which means between you and me, she said she didn't really mind any sort that we pick; a few bulbs of onions and bunches of garlic, either pork or beef steaks…" Sam immediately made a face at the mention of the meat products and Brad gave her an apologetic look that was expressed through his eyes while his lips stayed as a thin line.

"Sorry, forgot you were the uh… what sort of vegetarian was it again?"

"Ultra-recyclo-vegetarian. The strictest vegan diet ever." Tucker grinned, patting Sam's shoulder in mock comfort. Casse though, had a question to raise from this discussion.

"Well, basically Sam's a complete herbivore and Tucker's an absolute carnivore… how do you two actually fit in as friends like this? Aren't you two like… at odds with each other on what you eat?" Sam and Tucker both looked at each other and burst out laughing at the same time. This caused both Angeles siblings to look at them with strange looks until the laughter subsided for them to explain.

"Well, we do argue during mealtimes whenever we do spend them together which is very often. Sadly enough, Danny becomes our mediator when it comes to our food fights. We try to get him to 'side' once in a while to see his reaction and all he gives us is his wounded puppy look whenever we do and just balances his meal to appease the both of us." Tucker laughed out, recalling a certain memory of himself and Sam cornering the poor Fenton boy who ultimately took both sets of products just to make his friends' glares go away. It had been hilarious.

"You know… I have no trouble imagining that." Casse grinned while Brad snorted and draped a casual arm around Sam's shoulder.

"So… lead the way to the store please?"

"Sure. How about after we hit Main Street? I know a pretty good store near-by there."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Danny had hoped that the following day would be better. However, it seemed that fate was rioting against him lately. He had to ditch two classes to chase Skulker and Box Ghost from creating havoc in the school, earned a detention for the missing of those two classes and still had pit-bull Dash sniffing at his rear that he wasn't near his group of friends. Yep. Fate definitely had a riot against him, and he was beginning to hate it.

All the more worse was that Dash had been bugging him if he had bought the outfit yet to go to his party after his detention. Danny simply didn't have the money to buy it in the first place and was just ready to decline the invitation but with one glance at the batting eyelashes Paulina made him hesitate.

Dang. Lee had been right. He WAS a pushover when it came to girls. Danny had been extremely indignant when the darker blonde girl had pointed out that fact the day before when they hung out at her place in the afternoon before the other two thirds of the triplets came back from their town tour. Danny, by all means, could be steamrolled, pushed, shoved and be absolutely smitten by any pretty looking girl or any girl for that matter into doing anything. He so wanted to prove her wrong but found himself unable to do so with Paulina's flirtatious ways being directed at him at that moment.

Dash was becoming more and more persistent that he should wear the 'cool' outfit to come but Jazz had refuted back saying that he should go as his own person and not as what people want to change him into. Stuck in-between his sister and the A List jock was beginning to give him a headache. He soon realized however, that Jazz was right behind him in hearing Dash continually pestering him on the outfit. Frankly, it was one of the first times he'd seen her absolutely livid, other than the pointed looks she would give their parents whenever they talked about ghosts.

"Dash Baxter! I told you to invite my brother but NOT bully him into doing something like buying that ridiculously expensive and tacky outfit to wear to your party! You know what; I think it's better if we both didn't go to your party." Dash had frozen at the ice cold edge the older Fenton sibling's words had taken as she gently took Danny by the shoulder and guided him away from Dash. Well, problem solved?

"I… Thanks Jazz. I didn't think I would've been able to handle anymore of him bugging me…" Jasmine Fenton sighed and looked down at her shorter brother as they walked out of the school.

"When I asked him to invite you, I didn't think he'd be forcing you to buy that tacky thing to wear to his party. You didn't buy it did you?"

"No way! I don't even have a sixth of that kind of money to buy those sweats! Besides, where would I get that money?"

"I don't know. You could've done a garage sale of mom and dad's old stuff that had been totaled like… two, three days ago?" Danny raised an eyebrow at his sister. Contrary to belief, even if he DOES call her a conceited snob, Jazz was still his sister and was still on fairly good terms with her. Even if they were on the polar opposite sides of the society status quo.

"Somehow I doubt anyone would've wanted to buy ecto-infused machinery seeing that our parents are the 'crazy ghost hunters'." He mused lightly. Jazz rolled her eyes skyward at her little brother.

"'Crazy' is right. Ghosts don't exist for crying out loud. Keep out of trouble you hear? And we're BOTH not going to Dash's party on Saturday. Fair enough?" Cheekily, the younger Fenton rolled his eyes back in retaliation at her.

"Fair enough. Now scat you."

"You know, saying that almost means that you...."

"YOU FINK!" As soon as Jazz had opened her mouth to typically analyze his words, Danny had exploded before turning his heel to face opposite direction and walked away from his older sister with a dark cloud raining over him. Talk about a 180 degree turn of mood in an instant. Jazz gave a disappointed look at his direction before turning the other way and walked in that direction.

Danny fumed on his way back home. He should've known that she'd try to psycho-analyze him again. She always did! That tone of hers completely blew it off too. That conceited snob! Just when they were beginning to have a normal conversation, she psycho-analyzes his words. ARGH! He unconsciously gritted his teeth and once again, didn't see where he was going. He walked straight into someone again and found his rear kissing the cemented pavement for the second time of the week.

"Ow…"

"Ugh, ow is right. We have got to stop meeting like this Danny." Danny looked up to see Brad and Casse helping their older sister up while Tucker and Sam looked vaguely amused at the exchange.

"Oh great. I think fate's like, screwing with me this whole week. Sorry about that Lee."

"No problem Mr. head-in-the-clouds-for-eternity." Danny shot the darker blonde a glare before hoisting himself up with the assistance of Sam and Tucker, "So, what's made you go into a bad mood today?"

"A whole variety of things that have happened to me during this entire week that is driving me nuts." He replied with a sarcastic deadpan, causing the group to snicker at him. He patted the dust off his jeans before looking back up to the group and straightening up.

"So…the weekend plans still on?" Sam and Tucker both looked surprised at question before prodding him.

"Uh, weren't you going to Dash's big party on Saturday?" Danny shook his head as a no and explained the reasons.

"Well, Dash was actually still hounding me today to get that very expensive outfit that came out at the mall recently. You know that white and green lined sweats?" Tucker instantly took out a flyer from his backpack with the said garments plastered all over it, "Yea, those. He's been doing it since yesterday, which made me avoid you guys since he was being a bull-dog trailing me all over the place. He cornered me again after detention and Jazz caught him trying to 'persuade me' to get that outfit. She declined both our invitations and just as we were having a normal conversation, she tries to psycho-analyze me again. Of which, that too is partly why I'm in a bad mood."

"Whoa! Jazz declined both your invites? Man, the school's going to be buzzing about it after the weekend! Everyone knows that Dash is like, crazy in love with your sister and all. To have her decline the invitation is… big." Tucker blabbered out in a sort of explanation for the triplets' knowledge so that they wouldn't be left in the dark.

"Your sister is that red head right? With the blue headband?" Danny nodded to confirm Casse's query that was directed to him. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at their little group.

"So…still on for crashing at Sam's for a movie?"

"They are, but I'm going to be busy on Saturday so I'm the only one out." Lee laughed, patting Danny on the shoulder lightly.

The group then continued to walk down the sidewalk while chattering about the weekend. Sam was insistent on watching another horror film while Brad was wondering if any gory ones had been released recently. Much to Danny's amusement, Casse was cheekily suggesting a _happy_ film to them, making the female Goth give her an incredulous stare while her brother pretended to headlock her but ruffled her hair instead of rubbing his knuckles on her skull as a noogie. Tucker had howled, sent into fits of laughter at the display while Lee was rolling her eyes in non-existent annoyance as she unhooked her brother's arm from their younger sister and neatened the other sibling's hair out. Casse had taken out her hair ribbon to re-tie her hair and staked her revenge on her brother by pulling the back hairs that were nestled at the nape of his neck. Brad yelped out in pain at the retaliation but a stern and slightly exasperated look from his older sister stopped him from paying her back again.

Danny noticed that their little group was heading towards the Angeles household and gathered that they were most likely going to hang out there for the afternoon. Lee had unlocked the door and allowed the group inside where Brad and Casse immediately trotted up to their rooms to set their stuff down before heading back to the living/dining room to the left of the entrance door. The door to the right of the entrance was closed and Danny knew that it was their father's study; but it hadn't been opened yet nor had the man been seen at home to his knowledge.

It was Sam and Tucker's first time inside so they were awed at the simplicity and humble tone of the home. Tucker had set his bag down on the ground and leaned against the dull colored wall next to the door that lead into the room while Danny opted to sit on one of the solid wooden chairs at the rectangular dining table as Sam tumbled onto one of the squashy cushions on the floor and grinned while looking around the room.

"This place is so cool! How'd you make a huge place like this look so dreary but warm at the same time? Heck, I'm willing to bet that you guys would just gawk at my place when you see it on Saturday." Casse had hopped onto another cushion on the floor while Brad had sunk onto one of the lazy-boy chairs in the corner and shrugged.

"None of us did the designing. Guess he must've gotten someone to do it."

"No, he did the designing himself. Anyway, I'm going to grab a few stuffs at the store. Forgot about them yesterday. You guys need anything?" Everyone look up to see Lee hopping down the stairs and looking at them from the doorway. Brad had shaken his head but Casse piqued up.

"Um…could you get me some art pencils? And a sketch pad. I totally ran out of them last night."

"Sure thing Pixie. I needed to grab some pencils for designing and pens for writing too. But my artistic skills are almost non-existent in comparison to yours." Lee laughed and spoke up before Casse could refute back otherwise, "If that's all, then I'm off ok? I'll be back to cook dinner and don't create any trouble Dwarf."

"Yes Fairy. I won't." Brad teased with a deadpan expression as the older sibling rolled her eyes and walked out the front doorway. He turned back to see curious looks on the trios' faces at the strange nicknames.

"Pixie? Dwarf? Fairy? I smell a story. Or plural ones. Now spill!" Brad's lips had split into a devilishly wide smirk as Casse blinked for a moment before a look of horror spread across her face and she frantically waved her arms in protest at her brother.

"No, no, no!! Tell Lee's first! Not mine!!"

"I'm thinking we all know the fairy tale, Peter Pan? And I mean that Disney spin-off where Tinker-Bell is known as a pixie?" Brad ignored his younger sister's whining wails, his smirk growing wider as the remaining three in the room nodded their heads.

"Well, good ol' Pixie here thought it would have been cool to fly… and spread 'pixie dust' all over the apartment back in Gotham. All the while singing 'You can fly!' as she threw the 'pixie dust' around." Brad carefully inserted quotation marks when saying 'pixie dust', which made Casse grab her cushion and buried her face in it to muffle her scream of horror as he continued the story.

"Well, that 'pixie dust', was actually yellow and silver sparkles… that could stick onto anything. Alfred didn't look too pleased when he came over with Uncle Bruce to see the place and all three of us covered in sparkles as well as getting 'pixie-dusted' in the face with the then 7 year old Casse dancing around with it, all the while still singing 'You can fly!'." Tucker, Sam and Danny broke into fits of laughter while Casse pointed an accusing finger at her snickering brother.

"I was only seven back then! How was I suppose to know Uncle Bruce and Alfred were going to come over that day?!"

"Can I interrupt?" Sam raised her hand and choked back her laughs, "Who's this Uncle Bruce and Alfred?" Brad gave her a non-committal shrug in return.

"Uncle Bruce is… well, Bruce Wayne of Wayne Enterprise. He's more of our godfather then anything else. Alfred's his personal butler." The laughter had ceased from that point and Tucker had almost sunk to the ground in shock.

"THE Bruce Wayne is your uncle slash godfather?! That's so awesome!"

"Not really, but he's pretty close friends with him I guess." Danny had hurriedly sent both Sam and Tucker a look to make them stop asking about their family life when that sentence of Brad's came out darkly. Sam had gotten the hint (and made Tucker shut up by heeling his foot down hard so that he couldn't blab out more) and Danny turned back to Casse and Brad with a wicked looking gleam in his eyes.

"So…what about Dwarf?" Now it was Casse's turn to look like the cat which ate the canary while Brad's face had paled considerably and twisted into a mortified look.

"It's so funny! It all started with…"

* * *

In all, Danny concluded that the day had ended on a good note as he trotted back home for dinner alongside with Sam and Tucker. After the embarrassing tales of the origins of the nicknames the triplets' had been told, they had all begun pondering about the movie for the weekend and the food that would go with it. Sam insisted that she had the food and grounds covered, all else that needed to be decided on was the movie.

Danny had also counted his lucky stars when the three didn't ask him further about his two period disappearance. Fun and interesting as they were, the Halfa wasn't too keen on letting them into their little secret of him being a half ghost. Heck, they hadn't even met his eccentric parents yet for that matter and he was planning to make sure that it was an extremely good day before he let them get introduced. Just as he walked towards his home, Danny found the junk that had been 'ecto-ed' by that strange Technus ghost a few days prior being sold on the grounds of a garage sale. Now, Danny knew his dad was spontaneous, but he also knew that his father surely wasn't THAT stupid to sell that junk of machinery to other people with consequences.

True to that, he saw a sign on the side of the garage saying: 'If the item begins to show paranormal activity, please return it and you will be refunded immediately.' He took it back, his dad WAS stupid. But it was only on spontaneous occasions, he tried to repeat that mantra in his head so as to not insult his father's intelligence. Both his best friends looked vaguely amused at this.

"A garage sale? Danny, why didn't you tell us they were going to have one?"

"As if I knew in the first place." Danny retorted back, trotting over to the Fenton Works front and looked at his dad suspiciously.

"Dad? Why are you selling the ecto-ed stuff? Thought you were going to 'disintegrate' them?" Jack's eyes had taken into looking very oddly. More… profoundly… wicked. Very unlike him, since there was usually a childish gleam in his eyes and loud boastful sounds that echoed out of his mouth… but this was extremely eerie to have him look on the borderline of clownish and evil… ish.

"Thought it might be of use to others, so why not?" Alright, enter the twilight zone. That did not sound remotely like his dad in any way possible. Was he being overshadowed? If so, then why wasn't his ghost sense ticking off? He was also surprised to the fact that Dash Baxter was actually looking to purchase the ecto-ed PC that was on display. Now that, you don't see very often, especially when Dash plus technology always equals to trouble and chaos. Mr. Lancer was taking a… shaver? He was about to give his dad a talk through when he spotted Sam lurking around the tables, looking at the 'merchandise' intently.

"Sam!" She looked up and blinked innocently in his direction, paying no heed to his incensed look.

"What? I was thinking of snagging the remote control, that's all." Tucker stifled his laughter as Danny gave her an incredulous look before throwing his hands up in the air in an exaggerated gesture of 'I give up!' before stalking to the door of his home.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow at your place Sam!"

"Just don't freak out when you get there!"

"With our town being ghost central, what could possibly be in your house that would freak me out Sam?"

"Everything."

* * *

Danny forced his mouth to stay sealed shut as he, Tucker, Brad and Casse entered the Manson household. No, by all means, he is not freaking out. No. Not one bit. He was just stunned to the point that he was sure he became fully dead in an instant before being resuscitated back to his half life the next. If the outside of Sam's house looked spanking enough, the interior was just… lavish. Very expensively lavish.

"I hope you have the food ready, cause I'm starved!" Tucker joked out, thinking that only the front room to the entrance was lavish and the rest of the house would be a typical normal house. At the same instant he had said that, the doorbell chimed and Sam gleefully opened the door to reveal the pizza boy Nate.

"Here are the pizzas Sam."

"Thanks Nate." She quickly handed him a tip which made the pizza boy's eyes gleam happily.

"Wow! A ten! Thanks Sam!" Just as Sam closed the door and turned, she met with the flabbergasted looks from her friends (Brad's eyebrow had shot upwards instead) who had been listening.

"You tipped him a ten?" Casse squeaked out in surprise. Sam blinked for a moment before looking sheepish.

"Oops! Thought it was a one. Uh well… come on. We're watching movies downstairs." The group followed the Goth girl down to her basement and all promptly stopped short at the sight of the private high classed cinema that decorated it.

"THIS is your downstairs?!" Danny managed to squawk out in shock. Sam placed the pizzas on the table before turning to look back at them with a quirked eyebrow.

"Uh… what? Too much?"

"Uh-huh." Four simultaneous drone-like replies were the response to her query. Tucker had un-slung his bag from his shoulders and went to explore the basement cinema while Danny and Brad continued looking around it from where they were standing at the entrance to it. Casse simply pounced on one of the chairs with her excited eyes flitting around the room.

"Well, ok. Maybe I should've told Danny and Tucker this sooner but, my family's sorta… filthy rich. Weird huh?" Tucker's bag promptly dropped from his hand as he jerked up and pointed back at Sam while the other three looked at her curiously.

"Wait, time out. Your loaded?"

"My great-grandad Izzy was an inventor… He invented that machine that twirls cellophane on deli toothpicks."

"Oh… the cellophane deli toothpick heiress. I see…" Brad drawled out his last word, but didn't seem very interested in that fact or with her lavish settings.

"Well… if you guys are uncomfortable with this… we could always do something else."

"Brad and I are still game for anything. Besides, it sorta resembles Uncle Bruce's back at Gotham… only smaller." Casse chirped from the squashy red chair, giggling as she bounced on it while her brother nodded in confirmation to her statement.

"Freaky as it is with you and your wealth… I'm going to have to follow them on this. I'm still game for the movie, even if this is kinda taking it too far with a cinema as a downstairs." Danny joked, turning his head to look at Sam to give her a cheery wink of which she returned with a grateful smile.

"I'm sorry if I'm going to sound like an idiot, but I do want to ask you more questions about this Sam. But at the same time, I'm still game for the movie too." Tucker laughed, joining Casse's glee in bouncing on the squashy red chairs that were situated around the floor.

"Well, let's all just get comfortable first then you can fire away Tucker. But I am foreseeing some of your already formed questions in that geeky brain of yours."

"I think we'd all like to know why you've kept your wealth under wraps. Well, me and Tuck actually, Brad and Casse haven't been in Casper as long as we have. You could have easily topped the A List with all this." Danny's statement was met with Tucker's nod while Sam blew a stubborn lock of hair from her forehead before falling back on another one of the chairs in the room.

"Bah, why have fake friends who are only interested in that stupid bling? I don't want to 'buy' friends, I want to know and earn them." Danny emitted a tiny chuckle after she said that and the Manson heiress raised an eyebrow at him in questioning.

"Oh, Lee said something similar when I talked to her like… two days ago, but it was more based on popularity wise then of wealth." Casse grinned impishly, hopping out of her chair to sidle up to Danny's side and promptly poked him in the shoulder.

"Ok, so what did you talk with her about then? She was cluttering around in the kitchen so we couldn't make out what she was saying last night." A laugh burst from Danny's throat as he playfully shoved the youngest Angeles away while rubbing his abused and bruised shoulder from the poking.

"Nah, just some food for a thought really. I didn't exactly answer her either."

Sam then showed them the bowling alley that was hidden behind the large screen, which actually made Danny and Tucker's mouths drop wide open while the two siblings blinked (Casse had to rub her eyes to see if she was dreaming, especially when Sam's grandma Ida had spontaneously come wheeling in, throwing one of the bowling balls and striking).

"Nice strike grandma!" Sam cheered before clicking the panel to make the cinema screen fold back down.

"That was… strange. To say the least." Brad finally spoke up from his seat closest to the doorway. But Tucker did have to snigger one thing out:

"You've got one funky grandma Sam." Sam rolled her eyes, elbowing Tucker as she walked past him, making him feign fatal injury at the jab and fake collapsed on the ground with strategic twitches of his limbs. The rest burst into gales of laughter (again Brad hid his snickers from the back of his hand) at his display of comedy. Danny's trained eye had caught onto something that was on the table near to the pizzas, frowned and then groaned out when he realized what it was.

"Sam!" His exasperated cry made Sam blink at him innocently when he pointed to the ecto-ed remote control that she had bought from the spontaneous 'garage sale' his dad had the day before.

"What? Not like anything's going to happen with it. It's just a remote." Casse said, obviously not knowing that the device could most probably do much harm after being touched by a being made out of ectoplasm.

"Not when that's from his house. Remember his parents are ghost hunters? Any device from that house can be lethal." Tucker pointed out while Danny slapped his palm over his eyes and groaned.

"Sam, I'm pretty sure you know what Murphy's Law is. 'If anything can go wrong, it will'."

"Only if you say that and jinx it. I'm sure it's perfectly…" Sam stopped short when the remote control started floating in the air, "harmless…" She trailed off and stared at the sight of the levitating remote in front of her.

At Mr. Lancer's, the shaver he purchased shredded his clothes before flying off into the distance.

All around Amity Park, machinery parts of every sort went flying towards the vicinity of the Baxter household, where the computer Dash had taken booted up; trashing the room before flying outside the window where the machine parts connected with each other to create a giant black and green glowing robot. All the while the party at the jock's house continued in full swing until crashes and explosions were heard, causing the teens to run screaming into the distance while Dash could only watch as his newly purchased PC sit on top of the robot, shot his room to pieces (and raining stuffed teddy bears in the process) and lumber off before he passed out from the shock.

Danny's ghost sense ticked and a wisp of blue air escaped his lips. Uh oh.

The remote glowed and raced out of Sam's basement and through the window, leaving four flabbergasted and one blinking teenagers at its wake.

"…Now THAT is definitely something you don't see everyday." Brad deadpanned.

"Dude, better get used to it. This IS ghost central." Tucker pointed out while Danny searched frantically in his backpack only to realize that he had left the Fenton Thermos at home.

"Oh crud. I'll go home and check whether any of the stuff somehow went flying back into my place or you guys could follow that… stray remote or something. I'll catch up!" Immediately, Danny fled the room and out the door in a hurry to the alleyway next to Sam's 'mansion', transformed into his ghostly alter-ego and flew at top speed to his house not only to grab the Thermos, but to check up on his parents just in case.

"This happens everyday?" Casse blinked out while Sam shrugged and tugged both Angeles' up from their seats, pulling them along with her outside.

"Yea, and as Tuck said, you'd better get used to it. We're the crazy teens who go after these stuffs."

"Follow that ecto-remote!" Tucker struck a silly pose before the four ran after the said device towards the Baxter residence.

"Well this definitely would take the normal out of life if this was in Gotham. I'm starting to think that I'd rather go up against the Harley Quinn than these… weird glowing stuff." Brad mused as they continued to run, seeing many more machine parts flying alongside the remote in the sky.

"Only the Harley Quinn?" Casse teased her older brother who rolled his eyes back at her.

"So, once you guys actually find this thing… or whatever it is. What do you do then?"

"Uh well, usually, we wait for Danny Phantom to come up to kick the guy's butt." Tucker split out in a hurry, running out of breath from the running. Whatever Brad was going to say next was cut off when a bang was heard and they saw the black clad, white haired teenage ghost boy fly over their heads and smack straight into a wall with a sickening crack to his back. The Thermos he had been holding clattered to the ground as he groaned in pain.

"Ouch! Oh, hi guys." Danny knew he had to keep up the act of being two different people with both Brad and Casse around. He wasn't going to be ready to be telling them his secret identity as of yet or anytime soon. Unless he fouled up somehow, but he'd have to think about that later.

The four teenagers found themselves standing in the shadow of a very large robotic machine that was spouting out a lot of words.

"I, Technus am the Master of all Technology and of all things electronic and beeping! Conqueror of worlds! I will…"

"Is it me, or does this guy have introductory issues?" Casse whispered to Sam who was blinking at the still raving ghost machine which was now making over exaggerating gestures with its robotic limbs and emoticon like face.

"I think he does."

"There's a ghost in there. He's been hiding in the machinery that the Fentons had sold the day before. I can't penetrate through the metal because he's inside." Danny griped out, picking up the Thermos and glared at the still ranting ghost machine.

"Any more info on it? I mean, we do help you when we can." Tucker flipped out his PDA in an instant when Danny had mentioned that a ghost was in the machine.

"Well, I'll distract him and you can try hacking into him Tucker."

"Leave that… contraption here then, by the looks of things, you're gonna need both hands." Danny blinked at Brad's suggestion but nodded in affirmation, tossing the Thermos to Tucker and flew back upwards to distract and try to leek out information on Technus. Sam eyed Brad from the side.

"You warm up pretty fast."

"I do not. We can't do much either being pin sized compared to this giant tin-can. It's called being rational."

"Wish everyone had your rationality then. The Fentons actually shoot on him sight even when he's fighting the bad ghosts. Tuck, have you gotten anything yet?"

"Nothing! I need to know what program or software that ghost is using as a firewall against my PDA!"

"Hey, isn't that a PC at the back of his head?" The grounded teens looked up to where Casse was pointing and saw the box like screen from the back of the machine's head when it clicked in Tucker's head.

"That's it! Danny's folk's PC! They use Portals XL, but I'm not sure which version. I'm going to try hacking into it." The other three huddled to watch Tucker poking his PDA with codes while Danny Phantom was being pummeled by Technus.

"Uh…guys? Got anything? Because, even for a blabber mouth like him, he's not spilling whatever he's using!"

"I'm trying! Keep up at distracting him!"

"I am so in for serious back pains when this is over…" Danny groaned when the claw from the robot's midsection clamped onto him and slammed him repeatedly into the wall behind him.

"Where's Danny? I mean, Danny as in Fenton, didn't he say he'd catch up with us?" Casse looked around the alleyway worriedly, with the raven haired boy nowhere in sight. Sam quickly glanced up in the air for an excuse.

"There isn't anymore machine stuff flying around. He might've lost track of where they've flown if it wasn't his place." Brad's eyebrow had raised at her excuse, but had his lips sealed shut when Tucker groaned in frustration. All eyes went to the beret wearing teen.

"Tuck, what's wrong?"

"I can't bypass it! That ghost must have upgraded the security of Portals XL!"

"What can we do now?"

"We need the latest version of Portals XL to override the old one so that I can hack back in. But how the heck are we going to get the latest technology at this point of night?" He could hear Danny's yelps of pain from behind him, wincing at every slam the mechanical clamp had thrown. Sam grabbed her cell phone and gave a devilish grin in response.

"Leave it to me." She quickly dialed a number on the phone and chattered hurriedly on it. Another forceful slam from the clamp made Danny grunt in excruciating pain as he managed to crack open his glowing green eyes to look down at the group.

"Uh…guys…? I hate to sound unappreciative but…can you please hurry up?!"

"Doing our best here old man." Brad shot back while the rest tapped their foot, waiting for whoever Sam had just called. Danny shot Brad a fish eye look when he was slammed against the wall again before retorting.

"I am NOT an old man!"

"The white hair says otherwise."

The sound of scooter tires was heard and a pretty young woman stopped the scooter right in front of Sam. She handed Sam a small disc while Sam in turn, paid her money.

"Here you go Sam."

"Thanks Tracey! Sorry for the late call!"

"Bye!" Casse could only blink at the exchange before looking at the disappearing scooter in the distance.

"How can she just ride in here and not even glance at that giant robotic thing that's moving on its own creating havoc?"

"A mystery we'll never know… I need to plug my PDA to the PC at the top of the head…"

"Tucker, how are we going to even defy the laws of gravity to get up there? And you actually have the cords?"

"Always do Brad. I'm the Techno-geek remember? Dang, if only we could get Danny out of that clamp so that he could hook it up… or you, Brad could just climb up the drain pipe up there while Sam and or Casse distract him so that he stops hurting Danny and give you a clearing to plug that thing in! And also give me some time to boot this baby up." Casse and Sam both nodded, running forward to meet the gloating robot while Brad assisted Tucker in hooking up the cords as the Techno-geek did his technology magic. The blond boy grabbed one end of the cords and carefully climbed up the drainage pipes to the height of the robot's head waiting for the cue.

"Hey, we're Sam and Casse! I don't think we caught your name properly sir!" Technus ceased his beatings, much to Danny's relief, and looked down at the two 'innocently' smiling girls while turning his emoticon face into a 'sinister' grin.

"Why yes! I am Technus! Ghost master of science and electrical technology! Soon to be Ruler of the planet! Then the Universe!" Both girls gave each other knowing grins while Brad hastily plugged the cord to the back of Technus' mechanical suit when the ghost lurched backwards in his exaggerated introduction, slid down the pipe easily to plug the other end of the cord to Tucker's PDA from behind them.

"Go on… isn't there more you'd like to tell us?"

"Oh yes! I am also the Master of all tech…ology…" The emoticon face fizzled and the sound blared from the speakers roughed up while the body of the suit started to jerk about awkwardly.

"Uh… ok, fill me in on what you did please?" Danny blinked, looking downwards to see Tucker shoot an accomplished grin up to his direction with the big words of 'SHUT DOWN' plastered all over his PDA screen.

"Portals XL just happened. Everybody knows that every new version of Portals XL has a gigantic hole in its security system."

"What?! Noo!!!" Technus screamed out as the software in the machine's system inhaled the viruses that Tucker had inserted. The viruses disrupted Technus' control over the robot, causing the clamp to unhook Danny and letting the Halfa go.

"Yes!" Danny grinned back down at the team appreciatively before grabbing the clamp and stuffing it up into one of the entry-ways in the front of the ghosted machine, "Process this!"

"Wait!! That doesn't go there!!" The Technology ghost wailed out as the robot finally short circuited and hung, its limbs hanging limply at its side while Tucker flipped out the Thermos from his bag.

"And for the final trick!" The Thermos was promptly thrown to Danny, who caught it tightly in his hands before uncapping the device and allowing the blue suction to start up to suck out Technus with the said ghost wailing long screams of 'No' before being capped up and sealed. After the ghost was caught, the machine immediately fell apart and scattered on the ground in pieces, all the while with the screen which had served as its face blinking with an error message.

"Nice going Tuck." Sam grinned while looking at the debris of the left-over robot while Tucker shook his head and looked to the two thirds of the triplets and Danny.

"Don't thank me. Thank lousy software." They laughed (Brad just snorted) as he waved the latest version of Portals XL from his fingers. Casse stopped as she saw a figure lying on the ground at one of the damaged houses and blinked.

"Hey…isn't that jockwad?" Sure enough, Dash Baxter was lying on the ground, still blessedly unconscious from the action surrounded by stuffed teddy bears. Tucker held back his laugher while tapping his PDA hurriedly and snapping a photograph.

"Now this is good blackmail. Dash keeps stuffed teddy bears! But why the heck is he wearing a shirt similar to Danny's? I mean… my best friend since forever, not you." Danny chuckled at Tucker's evil grin of blackmail and looked back at Dash's attire. True enough, the jock was wearing clothes that were similar to his own normal daily attire and was secretly glad that he hadn't succumbed to temptation of earning money through desperate ways and buying the tacky sweats; so THIS had been Dash's ulterior motive. Danny shook his head; glad that he had side-stepped the embarrassment if he had accepted the invitation and turned to look at the remains of the ghost robot. The half ghost boy was sure that his parents would be heading over soon. He had been 'stationed' back home to check if any of the devices would come flying back while his parents ripped the RV around the town to find the source of disturbance. Danny tossed the Thermos to Sam who managed to catch it with both hands.

"Here, hand it over to the Fentons, they should be here any moment to 'tear' some poor ghost apart 'molecule by molecule' and I certainly don't want that ghost to be me."

"So… you called Inviso-bill or Danny Phantom?" Danny face-palmed at Brad's question.

"Oh geez, wherever you guys from, they actually call me Inviso-bill? Argh…" Brad's eyebrow raised and looked marginally amused.

"Nope your not in the news nor have you been heard about in Gotham. Just that Tucker called you Danny Phantom and I've heard some random people talking about an 'Inviso-bill'."

"Phantom. Danny Phantom. Please by all means do not call me that horrendous name of Inviso-bill. I will most likely ignore you for that."

"Even if we're warning you of impending danger that could most likely cause you to disappear from the face of existence?"

"Ha, ha and ha. Very funny little missy. So, Sam, Tucker, new friends?" The duo knew that they needed to play along with this introduction and nodded.

"Yea. Danny, meet the new kids in town, well at least two of them."

"Brad."

"I'm Casse!"

"Pleasure to meet you both. I'm surprised you have gone screaming the other way at the first sight of me." Casse blew a raspberry at him as Brad smirked from his position.

"When you live in Gotham City where everyone fears the clown face of the Joker, you certainly resemble an angel in comparison to that mofo."

"Gee, thanks I think. Being compared to a psychotic super villain isn't very assuring." The squealing of tires entered their ears, making the group turn to see the Fenton RV racing towards them. "Well, I'll be off then. Have a good night and stay out of trouble!" Danny gave them a mock salute before turning himself invisible and intangible, flying back to his home where his parents believed him to be.

The Fenton RV shrieked into a stop in front of them and the two adult Fentons clambered out of the said vehicle with their artillery charged and ready to fire. Both had blinked and set the weapons down when facing the four teenagers in front of them with the fizzled remains of machinery piled to the side. Both their eyes glanced back and forth between the teenagers and the robotic remnants.

"Where did the ghost go?" Casse just couldn't help but grin at her brother with an excited twinkle in her eye before blurting out

"I can't wait to tell Lee about this! She so missed all the fun!" Brad looked in front of them to where Sam and Tucker were explaining the situation to the Fentons, turned his head to look at the remnants of the gigantic robot that had been looming over them just moments ago and tilted his head up to look in the direction to where Danny Phantom had been before with Casse following his gaze up into the night sky.

"Yea. Looks like life's gotten more interesting in moving here from Gotham, Pixie. Way more interesting."

* * *

"So what's the damage report? We didn't get a lot out of your parents and that you didn't give us a call after you sprinted back home." Tucker questioned his best friend as they, being the trio and the triplets, walked down the hallways of the school.

"I heard it was quite a fight with a… gigantic tin can?" Lee raised an elegant eyebrow at her two siblings for confirmation. Casse giggled and nodded while Brad raised his eyebrow back at her jokingly with his smirk in place. Danny shrugged at the questions.

"Well, my parents told me to stay at home and see if any of the stuff would 'fly' back to our place. Couldn't call since they had actually unplugged the electricity." Danny rolled his eyes when saying that, it wasn't a complete lie, his parents had unknowingly short circuited the house before they left, "Then mom and dad lugged all that stuff back to the shed and dad's been checking them over a few times in case there's any government surveillance devices attached to them."

"Wow, doesn't you dad remember that he was the one selling the stuff? By the way, what about the money that he did collect?"

"Strangely enough, he's got this huge gap in his memory. He can't remember the afternoon when the stuff was sold. But all the money was refunded back to the people who bought the stuff so no worries there." Danny was still pondering why his dad had that memory gap. So he HAD been overshadowed, it was just finding out whom or what had been overshadowing him. His ghost sense hadn't alerted him back then when the garage sale had been in progress and it was likely that it could have been another entity.

"Did you hear that Dash has been calling Danny 'loser weenie' because of the PC and stuff that crashed his Prep Party?" Casse looked at Danny curiously to see his reaction. The impish gleam in his eyes was catchy as he whistled mysteriously.

"Have you heard that someone's trash can be another one's revenge?" As if on cue, behind the group, Dash had opened his locker and out tumbled a number of brightly colored stuffed teddy bears that piled out on the front of the jock's locker.

"FENTON!"

"I'll commit that to memory now Danny. It will be passed on for centuries." Brad grinned impishly, causing the group to laugh and continued walking to their homeroom.

* * *

**Authoress' End Notes:**

IMPT: There has been changes to some parts of the chapter :)

1) Episodes in the DP series will be swapped around (I think?); although I will be trying to so call keep them at 'Season 1' and 'Season 2' so on so forth.  
2) Sketch work on the 3 OCs can be found here: (http: / /kenzeryuu. deviantart. com/ gallery/ #DP-AT-Sketch-Dump) remove the brackets and the spaces between the words. Feel free to comment on them  
3) Thank you to **Adran06**, **TPCrazy** and **Valek** for reviewing the Prologue. Hopefully this chapter was up to standard that you perceived it to be.  
4) To **TPCrazy**: Valerie was made 'crazy' because I don't believe that she'd warm up to Danny that fast after the exposure of his identity as Ghost Boy, she'd relatively still be in denial (for a long period of time) over that fact and would still continue to hunt him :D (butt shots anyone?)  
5) Just to note: Jack being overshadowed (and looking like an evil clown) will be explained in a few chapters (possibly Chp 4?)  
6) I thoroughly believe that Tucker is not just for comedy relief and that he has his own in-depth self that may possibly never have been shown in the show.  
7) Thank you again for reading! Please drop a review and do stay tuned for the next chapter!

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	3. One's own Philosophy

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge, with his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam, Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress' beginning notes: Thank you guys for the alerts! And thanks very much to **amelia-tomashi** for pointing out some stuff on my first chapter. The first chapter has been slightly revised and edited. So if you have any confusion, please do state what it is in your review (if you do drop one) so that I can make the changes. :)

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 2****: **

**One's own Philosophy**

* * *

Danny was in a fit of giggles when the scene on the screen faded to black. He had to admit that it was funny and thought invoking at the same time. He mused over the fact that in that timeline, he had avoided the embarrassment of dressing up and made more friends. Even Tucker was different in the timeline; Danny had half expected him to start flirting with the two girls at first sight but had been pleasantly surprised when no such thing happened. So, the triplets did have a significant impact to his life (or rather alternate life).

He looked up to see the screen flicker back to life with a different setting but immediately knew that it was a continuation of the timeline. The other thing he noticed that it had jumped forward in a period of time. Danny thought that watching the timeline was similar to watching a cartoon; the incidents were shown in episodes and left periodic gaps between the events that would make him wonder how those other events took place.

Danny's butt was comfortable enough on the couch as the image warped into the next scene for him to watch. And thus his timeline viewing continued.

* * *

"You got attacked by the Wisconsin Ghost at your parents' college reunion? That has to suck."

Danny nodded his head to Lee's statement, feeling absurdly drained for some strange reason. For the past four weeks, other than keeping his secret a secret from the triplets, the new ghosts that kept on popping up always seemed to have high chances of jeopardizing his identity to them; but by sheer dumb luck he was able to get covered by Sam and Tucker for it. It didn't help much that Tucker himself had been the cause for one of the incidents where he had wished for ghost powers like Danny and that had been the closest to having his cover blown.

He was just plain lucky that Lee had reprimanded Tucker after on such things like power; that having powers weren't a bed of roses and left it unclear on what Tucker had been talking about on wanting ghost powers like his best friend. The raven haired teen had this strange inkling that Brad was catching onto him, but he couldn't really tell. If the blond teen did know, then he definitely didn't show any indication of acknowledgement.

Danny took his time in reviewing the last four weeks in his mind while leaning against the backrest of the chair with his head tilted upwards to gaze at the ceiling above him.

Before the incident of Desiree granting Tucker's wish to have ghost powers, Sidney Pointdexter had attempted to take over his appearance as Danny Fenton in light of his perceived bullying incidents (Up until now, Casse was still trying to get him to them how he managed to stuff twelve frogs down Dash's pants). Danny later found out from Sam that Lee had actually voiced some worries, thinking that 'Danny' was sick in the duration of time Sidney had been in his body (Sam had questioned him to why on earth he would be kicking the behind legs of Lee's chair during every class after the incident. His sheepish answer was that it was simply just a bad habit of his to do whenever he stretched out his legs; which he does so during every period).

After another series of events that led to him capping the said ghost in the Thermos, he was formally introduced to the oldest Angeles triplet as Phantom at that point of time. He then got questioned on where he, as in Danny Fenton, was. He could see that worry was palpable in her eyes and internally mused over that Lee, was definitely maternal material and could rival his mom when worrying over him. Of course he had eased her worries and told her that he (Fenton) was fine and would appear back in the school pretty soon before saluting, turning both invisible and intangible to fly into the school to hide the Thermos in his locker and re-emerged as a dazed Danny Fenton from the bathroom.

He later found himself being mothered over by her as the other girl strode over to him to check for any injuries that he might have gotten in the ordeal. The rest had been highly amused to see Danny with his back pinned against the lockers looking strangely meek and getting one heck of a lecture from Lee for getting into trouble; it was only after the lecture that Brad had informed him that once Lee's 'mom' mode was on in regards to friends and family, there was no stopping her. He even casually mentioned that their billionaire playboy uncle stood no chance of standing up to her whenever she got into that 'mom' mode. Danny had rolled his eyes in slight annoyance, playfully punching Brad's shoulder for not telling him earlier and earned a smirk in retaliation from the middle sibling.

Currently, the youngest Fenton was lounging in the Angeles' living room with the eldest Angeles sibling for company. He had been retelling his tale of the week stay in Wisconsin to the two females of the triplets, carefully leaving out the fact that Vladimir Masters was the Wisconsin ghost and of the other ghost sightings. He had already told Sam and Tucker about the disastrous visit (without the careful edits) the day before when he got back from Wisconsin.

Brad was up in his room since Danny could hear the tunes of the electric guitar playing softly in the background while Casse had been raiding the kitchen for snacks while listening to the conversation in the living room. Speaking of the youngest Angeles, she popped back into the living room with sodas and chips in her hands just as his train of thought stopped. She tossed a bag of chips over to Danny and dropped the drinks on the table where they were sitting.

"Yea, it's a real good thing mom has a better aim than my dad and I don't like Vlad Masters either. He's one crazed up frootloop and it would be as sure as heck that I'd never want you guys to meet him at all." With a hiss and a pop, Casse opened her soda can and sipped it before shrugging at Danny's direction.

"I think Uncle Bruce has mentioned him before. Don't worry; I don't think a lot of people like Masters either. Well, probably except your dad though from the stuff we've heard from you." Danny nodded his head vigorously to the lighter blonds' statement; his dad was way too 'innocent', naïve, extremely trusting and a very forgiving person. But that was why Jack Fenton was a model citizen in terms of personality wise, including his enthusiasm but not for his profession. Lee checked the clock that hung up on the wall with a slight frown.

"Sam and Tucker are late. We were all supposed to finish our homework today and help you out with yours, since you had almost the week off for that college reunion that you had to go for with your parents."

Now if there was anything that Danny had to be thankful for, it would be for Lee's penchant for finishing up work early and claim that there would be plenty time to have fun after the work was done. With the eldest Angeles on everyone's back to finish their work, he found that he relatively stayed out of trouble with his teachers now in regards to his usually late and slip-shot homework. Even if he still got into some trouble for his tardiness and pop quizzes. It was even better when she would organize study-sessions over at their place to look over the work and correct any mistakes that might have been done. This was only the second session but Danny knew it wasn't like Tucker and Sam to be late at the same time.

"Maybe they got caught up with something," Casse shrugged from her cushion, still sipping her soda and started attacking the chip bag at the same time, "By the way, I think Lancer was saying something about meeting the parents next week or something. I wasn't really listening because he had been droning about Shakespeare earlier before the announcement." Lee had rolled her eyes and gently flicked her sister's ear from the side, earning a squeak and mock glare in return; which in turn got a laugh from the darker blond.

"In other words, you were sleeping or day dreaming. Yea, family day when the parents are supposed to come down to mingle together and check up on their children's progress."

"Not like our parent will be coming." All three heads turned to the door where Brad soundlessly walked in, dropping his done homework on the dining table before heading to the kitchen to grab his own soda. Danny swore that if the triplets' ever kept up their soundless footsteps, they would surely cause someone to die of a cardiac arrest. And that likely someone was going to be him (Even the bouncing loving _Casse_ could do soundless footsteps, geez). Casse had nodded her head vigorously to his exclamation while Lee just sighed in exasperation and shook her head in a way of saying 'I'm not having this argument spark up'.

"Not like it's been confirmed yet anyway. Lancer did say that it was being pended by the Principal and we'll be told tomorrow if it does come up."

"Like I said, not like our parent will be coming." If Danny hadn't known that Lee had a very long fuse, he would be absolutely certain that an argument would have lit and would have been totally fired up by now. She was certainly a very patient person when dealing with her two siblings and he'd hate to see her when she blew up; it wouldn't be a very pretty sight indeed. Just as she shook her head again, the doorbell rang shrilly. That prompted her to get up from her cushion and silently walk to the door to see who it was; although the Halfa was certain that it would be both Sam and Tucker at the door. Brad was now sitting at the dining table, drinking his soda deeply while Casse now remained quiet, her munching of the chips being the only audible sound in the living room.

"Hey Sam, Tucker. What happened to the both of you?" Tucker's laughter from the hallway sounded as footsteps echoed through the Angeles home with Sam's antagonized sounding voice rising above Tucker's laughter to answer Lee's question.

"My _mother_ was chasing me around trying to get me to wear a frilly 50s _PINK_ dress and I bumped into Tucker when I was trying to escape her and _stop laughing Tucker_! I had to hide in the dumpster to get her off my track even though she snubbed at Tucker which, by the way, sorry for that Tucker, and I had to race back home to take a shower to get that awful smell off me. Why the heck wasn't that dumpster cleared?!"

"Because (laugh) Monday is when the dumpsters get cleared, (snicker) not Sunday!" Tucker wheezed out before calming his body to stop his laughter in an attempt to look serious as the three walked into the living room.

"Oh and it's no big deal about your mom snubbing me Sam, it's not the first time remember?" Sam groaned and rubbed her temples.

"Still! She snubbed you when we were back in 2nd grade and I was frankly surprised that you didn't lash back at her now. Gods, I think I'm actually thankful for you being so carefree and relaxed for once Tuck." From his seat on the floor, Danny frowned at the exchange.

"Wait a minute, back up. Tuck, Sam's mom snubbed you _again_?!" The African American teenager waved it off and set his bag down before flopping onto the cushion next to his best friend since diaper years.

"Don't get pissed about it Danny. It's no big deal. She's been doing it since we both met Sam back in 2nd grade and to be honest, those comments don't phase me at all. Really!" Everyone had gone to looking straight at Tucker; Lee had surprise written all over her face while Brad had a tiny twinkle of respect in his eye. Casse then tossed a chip at Tucker's forehead (of which he tried to catch solely with his mouth but failed, but managed to catch the chip with his hands to pop it into his mouth) to catch his attention and raise another question.

"So…What exactly did she say?" The livid look on Sam's face didn't dissipate but further twisted into if possible, an even more furious look as she spat out.

"She called him a dirty floor wiping_ nigger_." Immediately the rest had flinched at the word and now it was Danny's turn to look livid.

"_What_?" There was no mistaking the anger that laced in his voice as he forced himself to calm down. Even if this was Sam's mother, she had no right to call his best friend that. Of all the snubs that she had used previously, this had to be the worst one yet. And by all means, he wasn't about to let this go. Tucker could only sigh in annoyance and gripped Danny's shoulder firmly.

"Danny, let it go. I don't care what Sam's mom snubs me with and neither do my folks. Like I said, I'm used to the insults and puh-lease, lord knows that it hasn't been the first time I've been called a nigger in public. The only reason why Dash hasn't done so is because there are other A List preps that are African American like Valerie Gray and the threat of suspension if anyone calls us that in school. Just let it go guys and let's get to the study session shall we?"

Tucker effectively cut off all threads holding that topic and succeeded in ending the conversation on that note. Even though both Danny and Sam were not pleased with it, they let it go for his sake and all six of them proceeded to check through their homework together and help Danny on doing his own. The snub and the previously mentioned prospect of family day still lingered at the back of Danny's mind but were banished for the rest of the duration of the session when Sam had gently smacked the top of his head with the book that he was supposed to do a report on courtesy of Lancer. The pesky thoughts were locked in the furthest recesses of his mind and he forced himself to carry on to finish his homework before dinner.

* * *

The bell rang to signal for class to begin and Danny was eternally grateful that the Box Ghost hadn't popped up prior or any other ghosts for that matter so that he wasn't late for Homeroom with Lancer and succeeded in not getting a detention in the start of the day. The six of them quickly slid to their seats having met at their lockers earlier before the commencement of class as Lancer cleared his throat from the front of the class.

"Well, welcome back Mr. Fenton. I have this belief that you have yet to complete the assignments from the earlier week…" As if to prove Lancer wrong, Danny fished out the completed assignments from his backpack and waved it up in the air in triumph, grinning from ear to ear. This caused his friends to snicker from their seats and Lancer allowed a smile to grace his lips while his eyes shot open in surprise. Dash sulked in his seat for the loss of the prospect of jeering at Danny if he really hadn't finished his homework.

"And you have proven me wrong. Good. Now, please hand in your book reports and I will do the announcements in a while…" The jock of Casper High then snatched the paper from the person sitting next to him as Lancer droned on and giving them his 'if you don't give me your report I'll beat you up' glare and was about to change the name of the student until Brad's stoic voice echoed through the classroom.

"Sir, ya know, I see jockwad stealing someone else's work, trying to make it his own and get them into trouble at the same time. Isn't that plagiarism and deserves one of the biggest punishments in the author slash writer profession?"

Tucker immediately covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. Brad knew that it was a high point for Lancer who abhorred plagiarism with his love for books and getting Dash into trouble was one of Brad's best points for the group who enjoyed watching the said jock squirm whenever Brad caught him doing something that the teachers didn't like. An example would be one that happened two weeks ago, the week before Danny had left for Wisconsin.

The math teacher Mr. Falluca never did have the chance to ever reprimand Dash before, but was finally given the said chance of doing so when the quarter back of the football team hadn't bothered to do his math questions in class and tried stealing off another one's answers. His most unfortunate problem was that he attempted to steal Casse's work under the guise that he had 'forgotten' his textbook. Mr. Falluca finally gave him a good hounding and satisfying detention for his troubles after Brad had boomed out that Dashiel Baxter had resorted to stealing homework from _girls_ and even _threatening_ them to worm his way out of trouble.

He later called the jock a walking talking sissy boy who had no masculinity whatsoever for his desperation of bullying girls to meet his ends. The whole school had gossiped for days on and Dash had lost much face from that incident. Now the blond swore to not only find a way of discrediting the middle Angeles sibling but to also make sure that whoever he stole homework from then on was a guy.

"What's this I hear? Stealing homework from a classmate Mr. Baxter?" Lancer's current intimidating gaze shot through Dash as if a bucket of ice cold water had been doused over his entire body. The females of the triplets and the original trio of outcasts watched in much amusement when Dash tried to cover up.

"Me? Steal homework sir? No way," the blond jock glared at the male Angeles who lounged in his seat in the shadowy corner of the classroom, faking a whistle just to incense him further, "I was just… comparing. Yea. Comparing work!"

"Really then, Mr. Baxter? Then why isn't there another paper with your name on it? I see Mr. Jordan's paper on your table and your pen ready to scratch his name out." Now he was at a loss for words and could only garble out an incomprehensible sentence while Lancer took the paper from his hands and nodded to the student who's work was now handed in to him.

"Here's my disciplinary action for you, detention Mr. Baxter. And I expect that report tomorrow, with double the word count." Tucker, Danny and Brad exchanged secret high-fives from under their tables, with Brad smirking in triumph while the girls hid their smiles behind their hands.

Dash sent a baleful glare in their direction and Brad casually flipped his hands upwards and for a split second, shot the finger back at him in retaliation before folding his hands behind his head to make it look like his normal self lying back against his chair in his lazy looking manner. The teen received a tiny flick of an eraser at him, knowing that it was from his older sibling who had seen the rude gesture and was annoyed by it.

He causally shrugged his shoulders at her; eyes dancing with mirth that made her shake her head from the desk in front of Danny and roll her eyes skyward. The baby-blue eyed Fenton snickered from behind his hand because he too had caught the rude gesture and he hastily tried making it sound like a very weak cough before straightening his face in an attempt to be serious, although his eyes were dancing with laughter. That caused the blond in front of him to toss her pen at him, which he expertly caught with one hand and reached forward to stick it at the top of her left ear.

Once the book reports had been handed in (with Dash being the sole exception to this), Lancer cleared his throat once more before commencing to the announcements for the day.

"Now, I'm sure you all remember that I mentioned last Friday that there might be a Family Day where your parents will come down to the school to check up on your progresses and mingle with the other parents. Principal Ishiyama has allowed this Family Day to go on. Each day will be one grade per day so that it will be easier to identify the families of the students of each grade. No, there will be no fun and games. For your grade, the freshman, it will be in two days time which is this Wednesday."

Immediately the room erupted into whispers, Danny wasn't looking forward to the Family Day and knew that the rest of his friends weren't too happy about it either, particularly Sam, Brad and Casse and even some looks of slight apprehension was spread across both Tucker and Lee's own faces. Lancer then raised his hand for the class to lapse back into silence to let him speak again.

"Now, letters were sent to all your parents during the weekend and the Principal had highly recommended their presence for the Family Day. I'm sure I'll be looking forward to meeting all of your parents on Wednesday."

"And what if our parent can't come because of business?" Lancer looked up Brad's spoken out loud question and frowned at his lack of respect for at least putting up his hand to ask the question.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that your parents should be able to free some time for one single day for Family Day. I'm sure you as their children are very important to them."

"Who said anything about parents in plural when I just said parent in singular? And who are YOU to judge the parent or parents to say that their children very important to them?" Now Lancer's eyebrow shot upwards at the scathing sounding questions and found Bradley Angeles glaring back at him, as if daring him to answer those questions that he had just raised. This was the first time in four weeks since their move to Amity Park that Brad was showing outright defiance towards the teacher in the classroom and speaking of which; the entire class had quieted into a tensed silence, waiting for Lancer to give his reply to Brad.

Lee had the torn look of either wanting to NOT be in the classroom at that point of time or to bang her head on the table heavily in defeat while Casse's eyes glanced back and forth between Brad and Lancer nervously. All Danny could do was to gently nudge the space between the back rest and the seat of Lee's chair (which meant he had to nudge her rear) in an attempt to calm her down, Sam had sent him a withering glare for nudging the eldest sibling's bottom but he had weakly pointed out that he WAS trying to get her attention in the tensed atmosphere; even if it did seem quite perverted and unorthodox to hit a girl's rump and not actually kick the back legs of the chair instead.

"Well, that is in general speech then Mr. Angeles. Now, we have received a positive response from your parents and we have also gotten the response of which parents are coming of which, Mr. Angeles, all the parents of the freshmen grade will be coming for Family Day, though some will have either mother or father coming or even both."

Before Brad could open his mouth to retort back, both Lee and Casse had outright chucked wads of paper balls at him in highly tensed exasperation for him to close his mouth and stay quiet (Casse had strangely a very good aim from the other end of the classroom, with her wad of paper smacking Brad straight in the forehead. Perhaps she was just really concentrating on hitting that single spot). He sent them both annoyed looking glares of which were returned ten-fold by his two sisters back at him. He muttered under his breath before folding his arms across his chest and glared to the front of the classroom as Lancer continued on slightly, "And detention for that outburst Mr. Angeles.".

The silence that followed after in the room was deafening and Dash Baxter smirked, having thought that he had finally gained upper hand at his 'revolution' of the Angeles siblings. He was going to humiliate that Goth boy on Family Day and Dashiel could hardly wait for Wednesday to come.

* * *

"Lancer and Ishiyama suck." Brad deadpanned during lunch as the triplets waited for Danny, Sam and Tucker to get their food from the lunch queue at their usual 'outcast' table. Casse casually poked her brother's forehead with her index finger and gave him a glare (although it was an ineffective sort of glare as Brad rolled his eyes at her attempt to look serious).

"Well if you had just let it go, I think we wouldn't have to feel so morbid for the rest of the day! This time I gotta side with Fairy that you probably crossed the line today." The boy Angeles snorted and rested his cheek on his palm with his elbow propped up on the table.

"And like I said yesterday and I'll repeat it again. Not like our parent will be coming."

"Look, we both don't like him because of his work, and I'm just as equally resentful of him like you are but blurting that out to the general gossipy public is not what I would do because frankly, I wouldn't want these crazed mumbo jumbos talking about him like that." Brad snorted and closed his eyes back in response to Casse's statement which only served to infuriate her further.

"Since when did you start to care about his reputation?"

"And time! Ok, what's the argument about? This has got to be the first time that I've seen the both of you go at it. Usually you two team up against Lee but those aren't exactly arguments either." Sam effectively cut through, stopping the possibly biting remark that might have flown out of Casse's mouth. The trio had watched from the lunch line how the two younger siblings were exchanging heated words while the eldest was surprisingly quiet throughout the whole exchange and thus sped up their picking of the cafeteria food to halt the impending heated quarrel.

Both Brad and Casse exchanged sparking glares at each other and Danny really wondered that if their lives were animated, he could have sworn that Lee would be sighing out mushroom shaped puffs of breath. As the trio sat down at the table, Tucker noticed that the crimson-eyed girl was in no way, looking to separate her two younger siblings from their squabble; in fact she wasn't actually paying attention to the spat that was happening right beside and in front of her. It was as if she had drifted far away into the ocean on a little raft and needed to get hauled back to shore. She hadn't even touched her food yet either during the whole time the triplets had been seated.

"Lee?"

Five pairs of eyes turned to look at the currently dazed teen who was, by all means, still not responding to them in any way. From her right, Tucker grasped her shoulder and gently shook the girl, hopefully out of her reverie. It took a total of one minute and twenty-eight seconds for her to react to the shaking (Tucker had timed it); Lee blinked owlishly at the five pairs of eyes that were staring at her and couldn't help but feel a little creeped out at the intensity of the stares.

"Uh… yes? What was the question again?"

"Lee, you've been staring into space for the past ten minutes and didn't even answer me when I called you. Are you ok?" Forest green eyes peered at her kindly from the right and she couldn't help but just have her lips twitch into a weak smile to assure the rest seated at the table that she was fine.

"Yea, sorry. I was just really deep in my thoughts. I guessed I must've creeped you guys out looking like a zombie huh?" The light hearted attempt to joke was successful, since Danny had covered his mouth to stifle the snickers that were emerging from his throat while Sam grinned and nodding back at her with a tilt of her head.

"It was a little creepy, since we've never really seen you zombie-fied before." With an understanding wink sent to the eldest Angeles from the Goth girl, Lee felt marginally better, although she did know that Brad and Casse weren't fully assured just yet.

"I think you zombie-d out too long. Think you're having a relapse Fairy?" From the front opposite of Casse, Brad reached across the table to feel his older sister's forehead to check her temperature only to have it gently swatted away by the said girl who shook her head in response to his question.

"Nah, it's not. I really was just spacing out Dwarf. There's nothing to worry about, seriously." Three questioning eyebrows rose at the sudden shift of conversation with the previous topic of the on-coming Family Day flying off into the gusts of winds in the instant the attention had been brought to the darker blond triplet. Tucker's hand was still gently gripping Lee's shoulder and he squeezed it again to catch her attention.

"What relapse? Is it some sort of sickness that you've had before? Is it very serious?" A small quiet laugh sounded from the back of Lee's throat as she patted Tucker's hand on her shoulder before giving it a thankful squeeze for his worry and pried it off her shoulder soon after. A simple shake of her head said that she wasn't about to spill any details while Brad frowned from his position opposite from Casse. The youngest sibling griped her eldest sibling's left upper forearm a little tightly before looking at her straight in the eye.

"Are you really, really, REALLY, 100% positively sure that you're not having a relapse?" Another laugh bubbled from her lips as she pried Casse's miniature death grip from her forearm and ruffled her mop of messy blond bangs. The grin that played on Lee's lips was enough answer for the youngest Angeles to drop the matter and return to attacking her lunch, prompting the rest to return to their food and chatter aimlessly about other topics.

To lighten the still tensed mood a little more, Tucker attempted to steal some of Casse's meat food from across Lee, resulting in a mini-war between the two with the oldest triplet stuck in-between the two opposing sides. Bits of mashed potatoes splattered around the table and sauces were flicked at each other, causing the three on the opposite side to duck for cover when the mess started to spread. Unfortunately, Danny had a huge splatter of gravy smacked on his face before he could dive for cover and glared at both Tucker and Casse with an evil glint twinkling in his eyes. Both his assailants had eep'ed in fright when the Halfa had grabbed Sam's salad dressing from his left and sprayed it all over the both of them. Unfortunately for Lee who was sitting in between the two warring ones, she was dished the same punishment with a healthy dose French Salad dressing splattering in her scrunched up face in her attempt to make sure none of the said liquid got into her eyes.

A pointed glare was sent straight back at Danny as well as a single well aimed flying ball of mashed potato the size of golf ball that smacked him right in the middle of his face, spreading almost all of it its mushy starchy glory across his face from the point of impact that was his nose. He thought that he'd probably deserved that since he did spray salad dressing at her even though she was an innocent but that didn't mean the war was over. Besides, the evil twinkles in the four messed up teens' eyes started to raise eyebrows from the two clean Goths at their table. The reaction was immediate when the plan was figured out; both Brad and Sam tried to dodge their way out of the onslaught of foodstuffs being thrown at their direction but to no avail and were consequently 'food-trounced' by the grinning four.

Their little war turned into a full fledge food fight in the cafeteria with the A List girls running for cover to 'save their make-up and outfits' while the jocks found themselves getting targeted by the three boys who had evil looking smirks dancing on their lips as they pelted them with handfuls of mashed potatoes (one of which smacked the back of Dash's neck with the gravy leaking down into his shirt and sticking it to his back courtesy of Danny). Shrieks from the running A List girls who weren't able to hide in time and got 'food-trounced' by the other students echoed off the cafeteria walls, although it wasn't loud enough to go above the maniac laughter of the rest of the student population that were enjoying the food fight that even the lunch workers tossed a few food items in from behind the counter to randomly smack a student jokingly.

Of course, Principal Ishiyama and Lancer had been less then pleased to find the entire cafeteria and its occupants all covered in food splatters but the laughter that echoed through the vicinity of the lunch room was quite lulling despite the slight maniacal tone to it. But, the role of teachers was to cut off the fun for the students, hence…

"LORD OF THE FLIES! Who started this mess?!" All hands immediately pointed to the six outcasts who were still, even though they were being stared intensely at, laughing like carefree children (Brad was as per norm just smirking from his position) and all the while jokingly throwing what leftover food they had on their trays at each other; not caring if they were covered in potato, gravy and other assorted foodstuffs that were served for lunch that day. Just as Lancer was about to open his mouth, Brad raised his hand and looked towards the Principal and Vice-Principal in a motion of 'hold on, I know what you're going to say'.

"Yea, yea. We'll clean up the cafeteria already." A stalk of celery planted itself on his cheek and he mock glared at his younger sister who was slapping a triumphant high-five with their slightly exasperated but nevertheless grinning older sister. Mirth was still dancing in their eyes as the six got up and first cleared their trays while still chattering with each other. Tucker was exaggerating the expressions of the A List girls whom hadn't been spared the onslaught from the food fight, causing the girls to laugh uncontrollably while Danny jokingly smacked the back of his friend's beret wearing head, wearing a wide grin that was plastered over his face at the over exaggeration his best friend was making the A List girls' reactions to be.

As the students trooped out of the war zone that had been the cafeteria and to the showers to clean up for their next classes, Sam, Danny and Tucker showed the triplets to the Janitor's room where they all picked up assorted cleaning items and set off to work of cleaning the disaster zone. Danny and Brad set to work on cleaning up the ceiling with the mops, being the tallest of the six while Tucker and Casse worked on the walls. Sam and Lee took on the task of clearing and wiping the tables as well as sweeping and mopping the floor.

As they worked in their pairs, their chatter hadn't really ceased; with Casse thoroughly blaming Tucker for stealing her food and jokingly poked his nose with the suggestion that he should persuade Lee into making him lunch if he enjoyed eating their home cooked meals so much. From his corner looking over to the eldest triplet who had her eyebrow raised at the suggestion, the Techno-geek did some fake batting of his eyelashes at her with a somewhat puppy look glinting in his eyes; although it looked more clownish than it was to be pleading. Lee just laughed and pointed back at his direction with the top of the broom stating that he wasn't going to get free cooking service from her. The African American teenager faked a stab to his heart and with an exaggerated 'Aw nuts!'; causing four of the occupants of the room fell into pearls of laughter at his antics while Brad shook his head in amusement with his smirk still in place.

'Ah, the fun of getting into trouble with your friends.' Danny grinned and continued to reach upwards to wipe the gravy stains off the ceiling while chatting a random topic with the Gothic triplet; he had been right four weeks prior. The school year definitely got even more interesting since the triplets came to Amity Park.

* * *

"Man that food fight was so worth it!"

"That's only because you finally got a shot at smothering mashed potatoes in Dash's face after Brad obscured his view with gravy all over his eyes Tuck."

The day of school had finally ended, although with some ghosts appearing right after the group had showered from their clean up of the cafeteria. Danny counted himself lucky that with all the commotion of running and screaming students, he was able to slip off and change into Phantom to send the ghost packing; and even slipped back to his friends who hadn't noticed his disappearance (except for Sam and Tucker who had seen him flying around as his ghostly alter-ego). Casse mused that daily ghost attacks were starting to feel normal since their move; and that in comparison to the super villains of Gotham, they (the ghosts) didn't seem as scary as everyone else made them to be.

"So, you guys up for coming over to my place tomorrow after school? I'm starting to think that I'd better introduce the three of you to my eccentric parents first before you meet them at Family Day. It's going to be one heck of a shock because my parents are pretty weird." Danny tilted his head to get the reactions of his friends to his suggestion. Three nods were given to him by the triplets while Sam raised her eyebrow at him and Tucker had given him a winning grin.

"One heck of a shock is an understatement. Better make sure your dad isn't around that malfunctioning bazooka before they come over Danny. Remember the last time Sam and I went over?" Three blond eyebrows raised as Sam burst into giggles at the rhetorical question. Danny groaned and pretended to squat on the floor to 'emo' with dark rainy clouds storming over his crouched figure.

"Ugh. How could I forget? It started to shoot out re-animated dead stuffed turkeys, of which by the way, I still have no idea how our last thanksgiving turkey got in there and managed to get itself multiplied to get shot out of the bazooka." Both Lee and Casse joined Sam in her giggles while Brad's eyebrow shot further up his forehead.

"Re-animated turkey? When the dead animals come back alive to haunt you." The giggles turned into full blown laughter at Brad's sarcastic comment as he held both his hands out and twiddled his fingers in a 'scary' manner. Tucker and Danny joined in the laughter and Sam triumphantly raised her hand and pointed it straight at the Fenton boy.

"See! That's why you should be a vegetarian! That way, you won't have those animals haunting you!" Danny could only roll his eyes in a vague mixture of amusement and annoyance at Sam's declaration and attempt to convert him to vegetarianism.

The six trotted towards their lockers, chattering about the homework that had been assigned to them earlier on by the teachers. Lee spared a quick glance to her phone screen with the clock display before stuffing it back into her pocket and turned to the group.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna skip out on the after school plans for today, but I'll definitely be at your place tomorrow after school to meet your folks Danny." A frown creased itself on Casse's forehead while Sam, Tucker and Danny blinked at her before nodding their heads. Brad however, wasn't even facing her and was looking at the opposite direction instead when she turned around and started to walk off before he spoke up.

"You're going to see him right?" Lee's footsteps faltered and tilted her head backwards with a tiny sad smile playing on her lips.

"And if I am?" The dark blond received silence as a response from the other sibling before she shook her head and waved her hand at the group before trotting off out of the school's entrance and in the opposite direction from the residential area. Tucker watched her retreating back for a moment before turning back to his friends with a wink.

"You guys go on ahead. I might catch up later ya know?" He broke off from the group with a wave of his hand and hurried ran down the pavement to catch up with Lee. The three of the remaining four of the group blinked in the direction where the two had gone off to.

"I gotta go head over to detention before Lancer decides to have a cow about being tardy. Catch you guys later." Without turning around to speak at the remaining three, Brad walked down the corridor and disappeared when he turned at the corner. Danny, Sam and Casse stood there for a moment before they finished taking what they needed from their lockers and headed out of the school.

Tucker huffed slightly as he finally caught up with Lee. He was in no way physically fit since most of his time was spent on the computer playing DOOM and doing tech stuff. He was much better at sitting down and tinkering with programming and mechanical stuff, so much his forte than to that of running like the jocks of the school did in the sports clubs. He wasn't like Dash who could run after a ball covered in pig-skin in a long stretch of distance and not be out of breath.

"Hey Lee! Wait up!" Instantly the other teen had halted in her steps and turned to see him jogging up towards her, panting heavily. The beret wearing boy rested his hands on his knees and breathed deeply to catch his breath as the pale skinned girl rested her hand on his shoulder gently. Dang, he didn't know she had walked that far from them so quickly.

"Tucker! You ok?" The bespectacled boy nodded and waved his hand in a gesture of 'fine, just let me catch my breath'. After a moment, the slightly sweaty teenager threw his hands up and stretched his limbs a little before allowing his hands to fall back limply to his sides to look back to the mystified face of his friend.

"Now, I'm all better. Where you headed off to?" Lee raised her eyebrow at him and placed her hands on her hips with an amused expression etched across her face.

"Tucker Foley, are you attempting to stalk me?" Tucker laughed and bowed his head mockingly at her before striking a silly pose in response.

"Yes! Stalk I shall of the pretty lady before thee~! Besides, I'm going to give a wild guess that the 'him' Brad was talking about would be your dad?"

"Uh huh. Going to his office to check whether if he's really coming for that Family Day on Wednesday. It's a little silly but I'd rather hear it from him that he's coming than from Lancer in class." Tucker nodded in understanding to her statement as she turned her head to look back at him again, "So I take it you want to come along too?"

"Yea, why not? Even though I've heard some stuff about your dad from Brad and Casse, I'd rather meet him in person to see how he is. 'Believe in half of what you see and none of what you hear'."

Lee's laugh echoed in the air as she gently punched Tucker's shoulder and motioned for him to follow her. The two teenagers chattered about random topics and Tucker declared that he had to get her to start playing DOOM with the rest of the gang; he had almost been mortified to find out that she hadn't played the popular online game although she had watched her two siblings play their role-playing games on the PlayStation 2. The dark skinned boy had taken her hand and exaggerated every one of his next actions to the point of total drama that sent her into fits of laughter; causing her to clutch her stomach in near pain at the sheer extremity of her laughs.

She was still trying to recover from her stitches as they reached the new Wayne Enterprise office building in the business sector of Amity Park; the dark skinned security guard had the look of bemusement when the two teens had showed up at the entrance and she was still clutching her sides wheezing in laughter while Tucker pumped his fists in the air and crowed in absolute glee that he was King of laughs.

"Good afternoon Ms Lee, I don't think we were expecting you today." Lee had finally wiped her tears of laughter from her eyes, hiccupping a little with a playful glare sent in Tucker's direction before she dug into her gray duffle bag for her I.D pass.

"Good afternoon Mr. Jermal! Yea, it was sort of an impromptu decision after school. This is my friend Tucker Foley from school." Tucker tipped his beret and posed a funny bow in greeting to the said security guard who chuckled and tipped his own security hat back at him in response.

"A very funny friend indeed. Remember to go to the front desk to get him a visitor's pass; I believe that Mr. Angeles is attempting to finish up his paperwork in his main office, but you'll have to check with Eri on that." The teenager nodded and gave a tiny crow of triumph when she had fished out her I.D pass and clipped it onto her duffle bag strap. The glass doors of the building slid open and the security guard tipped his hat at them once again before returning to his post. Lee tugged Tucker's sleeve towards the front desk where a brunette woman was clattering on the keyboard. She reached over the counter to tap the older woman's shoulder; on catching her attention, she stopped her typing and looked up at them with a smile.

"Hello there Lee! Now this is a surprise; you usually stick appointments or we'd have been notified if you were coming. Something come up?"

"Yea, something like that. Think you could toss up a visitor's pass for my friend Tucker?"

"Sure thing hun. Eri's over at her office, but I'm not sure where your father is though; he's been drifting back and forth between his main office and his lab today." The front desk lady cheerfully typed up the visitation records and handed Tucker a visitor's pass; of which he attempted to clip it to the tip of his beret only to have it slip off and clatter back into his hands when he reached up and caught it before it had totally dropped off. This earned him a tiny smack on the shoulder from the amused girl beside him as he finally just clipped the pass on his backpack strap and followed her to the lift; but not before his head swerved around the building to drink in the sights.

"Wow, it's really nice in here. What's this branch of Wayne Enterprise suppose to be specializing on?"

"Biochemical studies of current poisons and super villain created toxins mostly; and minor upgrading of computer systems. Dad says the 'MasterSoft' systems haven't been properly upgraded in like, 3 to 4 years; so Uncle Bruce got the original OS from the original Microsoft Company and have been improving it as much as possible. I think they might have already made it way better than the current MasterSoft ones." The two teenagers chattered quietly in the lift as it reached the fourth floor of the office building, walked out of the said lift and bumped straight into the very woman they were looking for.

"Ah! I'm sorry… Lee? What are you doing here? Did something happen?" Lee had choked back a tiny laugh when chocolate colored eyes swept over them in worry while Tucker wore a slightly dazed look at the presence of the pretty brunette woman. He broke out of his daze when Lee's elbow jabbed to his side to catch his attention; which caused him to pout and give her a wounded look in return while rubbing his bruised side. A teasing pinch of his cheeks from the blond girl later gave him enough reason to retaliate by tugging one of her braided sideburns; the woman watched in vague amusement at their exchange with a raised eyebrow.

"You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend Lee." Immediately the two had stopped their bantering exchange, faced her with heavy blushes spread across both their faces with a look of pure horror to top it off. In the next instant, she was bombarded with indignant cries and spluttering 'what?!'s from the teenagers.

"Eri! Tucker is NOT my boyfriend!"

"Ah, one of your friends in school that you've talked about then; I see. Hello Tucker, I'm Eri, Lee's father's secretary. Pleasure to meet you."

"No madam. The pleasure's all mine!" Tucker managed to squeak out, shake the offered hand in front of him and return the smile to her; still thoroughly embarrassed that the older woman had thought that they had been dating. For the love of any high deity, why did adults always think that whenever a boy and a girl hung out together and assume that they were dating? Both of them managed to suppress their blushes while Lee cleared her throat and looked up at Eri.

"Hey Eri, is my dad in his main office? I sorta want to talk with him about something."

"Actually no. He's over in his lab right now, but I was going to go down to inform him about something. I could tell him to come up to his main office to see you; besides, you're not allowed down at the labs." With a nod and quick thanks to the secretary, the two teenagers parted ways to let her through to the lift and Lee jerked her head in a direction to Tucker.

"Over here, my dad's main office is this way."

When they reached the office and with a single glance around the said office, Tucker had commented that he could kind of perceive Lee's dad to be a very simple man. The furniture wasn't lavishly expensive like what he would expect the usual higher operations of huge companies had in their own offices but the room still held that authoritative vibe. Careful of not to let his itchy fingers touch anything in the room, Tucker quietly slid across the room to the large desk (noting that the name tag on the table read 'Tobias Angeles') and peered over at the two wooden frames on the side.

One held the captured picture of the smiling triplets (although Tucker was wondering if Brad had ever really smiled rather than smirk) that had been taken in front of the gate of the distinctive Wayne Manor at Gotham city and the picture looked about to be a year old. With Casse's cheerful grin was playing over her lips with the look of pure elation written all over her face with her arms thrown around her two older siblings' shoulders while flashing the 'victory' sign from her fingers. Lee had one of her eyes closed to avoid it getting covered in Casse's messy bangs, but the smile that spread from her lips was gentle and laughing. Brad had been casually leaning his back against the youngest Angeles' shoulder, though his eyes twinkled in slight merriment. Tucker could have mistaken fully that they were a completely worry-free family if it hadn't been for the fact that the past four weeks of knowing them spelled otherwise.

His eyes traveled to the next picture that looked old and frayed. The picture itself looked ready to fall apart, but the frame seemed to be sticking it all in place. Before he could try identifying the three persons in the picture, the door clicked open and in walked the triplets' father.

Tucker's first thought that entered his mind when at first sight of him was that Brad almost totally took after his father personality wise and was also pretty sure that the middle child would have denied all claims of such; but he was finding it difficult to perceive otherwise. His mouth was a thin line and his eyes held a cool gaze; his face wore no expression and it had been instantaneous to compare Brad to him. But Brad did actually show some expressions on his face in comparison. The next thing that struck him was the mixed aura of authoritativeness and gentle demeanor that radiated off the older man. Tucker could almost tell that he was a very passive kind of person like Danny, although he seemed to be much more quiet and could possibly more dangerous if highly provoked.

Already the African American teenager could see that both Brad and Casse had inherited his messy spiked bangs and Lee had his cool crimson eyes; and he had to admit that it would have been interesting if the three had inherited his tanned skin. He already gathered that the blond hair, pale skin and blue eyes (for both the younger siblings) were all inherited from their mother. The bespectacled man had taken off his lab coat from his lean frame and hung it at the coat rack by the door before closing the said door behind him.

"Hi dad. Sorry to keep you out of work," Tobias Angeles had simply nodded his head at Lee's apology and silently walked over to his desk, "This is Tucker Foley, one of our friends in school."

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Angeles." Tucker greeted politely, steering himself away from the two pictures that stood on the table and offered his hand to the older man. The brunette nodded his head and accepted the offered hand to shake.

"Likewise." The softness of his baritone voice washed over him like a wave of soothing winds that had gusted over his body. Tucker felt at ease with the man and the initial intimidation of meeting his female friend's parents (or rather parent and this case father) had swept away. Tobias had released Tucker's hand, sat on his chair at his desk and his calm neutral eyes looked over to his eldest daughter.

"Eri said that you have something to discuss with me?" Tucker noticed that Lee was fidgeting slightly before she mustered up her voice to speak.

"Well… uh… Are you really coming for that Family Day at school this Wednesday? I mean… Lancer said that all parents were coming earlier in class today, but I kinda wanted to hear it from you." It took Tucker a little bit of time to decipher what she had said because Lee had spit out her words in such a rapid pace that her words had almost melded together; surprisingly her father didn't seem to have any trouble understanding.

"Yes, I will be coming for the Family Day event on Wednesday." Short and to the point. The bespectacled teenager had raised his eyebrow while the blond girl had breath a small sigh; whether if it was of relief or some another expression, Tucker couldn't tell. "Is there anything else you need?"

When receiving no response from the two teenagers, Tobias leaned back against his chair; almost making his black long sleeved turtle neck shirt seem like it was clung onto his skin as a second layer, as silence reigned over the office before Tucker finally gathered up his courage to pipe up.

"Uh, may I ask something about you Mr. Angeles?" The man nodded his head to his direction and from the corner of Tucker's eye; he could see that Lee was eying him in both warily and in curiosity. He carefully chose his next words before speaking.

"Um, it's just that I've been wondering, how come Brad and Casse don't seem to know as much as Lee about you in general? I mean… if it's not too prying and all but, it's kinda been nagging at the back of my head." That cool gaze was settled down at him and Tucker felt the intimidation creep up against his spine once more. It was until the man closed his eyes and tapped his fingers against each other as he leaned further backwards against his chair that the intimidation wore off.

"It is rather simple; it is because they have never asked." A look of surprise flashed through his eyes as he blinked at the older man's response and turned to face Lee with a flabbergasted look painted over his facial features. He became increasingly hesitant in forming his next question, hoping that he wasn't prying too much into their personal lives. Tucker had been surprised when Lee simply gave him an encouraging look to allow him to carry on.

"So… Can I ask on why they have to ask first? I mean, usually parents just tell us, their kids, everything. Well, most things anyway and sometimes forcefully. Family, daily life and all…" A quiet sigh emitted from the older Angeles as he answered to the question.

"To me, children need to ask. If their curiosity piques up enough, they will ask. If they ask questions, then the information given to them will be helpful or good for informing them; and if they do not ask, I see no point in telling them such things if it will be deemed as useless information to them. And if told forcefully they could perceive it as lies and deceit. I do not believe in forcing such things down on to my children; if they wish to know more and when they ask, they will be told everything. If not, I will just remain silent. It is the same with everyone else around me. If they do not ask anything, they will get no answer."

"So… it's something like, 'ask and you will receive' sort of thing sir?"

"Yes."

Tucker's mouth split open to form a large Cheshire cat grin at Tobias' philosophy and looked like a very pleased cat that ate several canaries at one go. Lee looked exasperatedly at him while rolling her eyes skyward; already having the gut feeling of what Tucker was going to ask next.

"So… think I could take a peek at the new computer OS system that Wayne Enterprise is upgrading?"

* * *

The remaining three had trotted down the pavement in silence once Tucker had left the group to follow Lee to wherever she had been going. Casse was hopping from one foot to the other with Sam and Danny watching her reaction carefully. The walk was silent until Sam tried striking conversation with a question.

"Say…what was it about the relapse thing during lunch today? If it's ok for me to ask that is." Danny and Sam saw Casse give a light shrug in their direction with a helpless expression crossing her face.

"I don't know the full details about it, but it's kinda like some weird hereditary disease or something; All three of us have it. It's kinda like a dormant one that's buried in our DNA and sometimes it'll flare up, but not very often though. Fairy doesn't get the relapses as much as Dwarf and I do; but when she does it's pretty big." Both Danny and Sam flinched at the explanation and could only look at Casse in shock.

"How bad is it?" Danny asked quietly, placing his hand on Casse's shoulder in a comforting gesture. Casse quietly mumbled something around the lines of 'Dwarf is going to kill me for this…' before she managed to speak up.

"Pretty bad for sis… Dwarf and I usually just get really sick for about three days but we bounce back up after that. Last time Fairy had a relapse, she was bed-ridden for two weeks." Her statement elicited gasps from her two friends whose faces drained of color in shock. Nervously, Casse flapped her arms wildly from her sides in an attempt to pacify them both.

"But uh… she was fine after that! So uh… it's no big! Um… uh… pleasedonttelldwarforfairythatitoldyoubecausetheydontliketotalkaboutit!!" Her sentence strung out in such a rapid pace that Danny wasn't so sure he managed to understand what the blond said. Both he and Sam blinked at the spluttering girl who was still spitting out her words at an alarmingly fast and undecipherable speed; pleading them to not tell her siblings that she told them about their relapses. Danny and Sam quickly grabbed a shoulder each to calm her down (Casse was close to hyperventilating at that point of time) and the Goth girl managed to cut through the blonds' rambling.

"Well, how about we all hang out at my place? Or we could go crash at the arcade; I heard that there's a new game there." The youngest Angeles stopped in mid-splutter and nodded her head enthusiastically, glad for a change in subject. As the three walked down the path towards the Amity Mall with a change in topic, Sam frowned and tapped her index finger on her chin in thought of something that nagged her at when they left the school. Both Danny and Casse had looked at her weirdly when she spoke up from her very random thoughts.

"You know… if I didn't know any better… I actually think Tucker was trying to score points with Lee earlier today."

* * *

The next school day had passed by fairly quickly even with three separate occurrences of ghosts during school hours. The last of the ghosts had appeared inside the GIRLS locker room, causing much mayhem and distress for the females who had been in the locker room at that point of time and poor Danny had been torn between letting himself have some good service (he IS a guy after all) or closing his eyes and going both invisible and intangible to randomly drag the ghost out of the locker room and proceed to beat him up somewhere else. His self-righteousness won over with the inclusion of the single little fact that Sam, Lee and Casse were in the locker room at that point of time (he definitely knew that Sam would have beaten him up afterwards if she had found out that he had gone with the former of his two decisions), by sheer dumb luck did he manage to tackle the ghost from behind and sent them spiraling to the gym next door; it was then did he thoroughly pummeled the said ghost and capped him up in the Thermos with the two previously caught ghosts from the first two occurrences.

But the six had caught Dash giving Brad evil glances whenever they walked past or if they were in his sight. Sam muttered that the jock was up to no good and that they had better be kept on their toes just in case he wanted to strike them at the time they were unprepared. Brad had waved it off saying that the blond jock-weed-head couldn't strike them even if he tried. His ideas were just plain stupid and Brad commented that even monkeys could think of better pranks than Dash ever could.

The triplets had gone back to their home to drop their bags off but Danny had forewarned them to bring extra sets of clothing due to the fact that he hadn't been able to locate a certain malfunctioning bazooka and various other potentially dangerous weapons lying around the vicinity of his home that his dad had access to. Right now, Sam, Tucker and Danny were lounging in his room waiting for the said triplets to arrive.

"Say Tuck, you weren't online last night even after my nighttime patrol. What gives?" Tucker just gave his two best friends an enormous grin and fished out his PDA, waving it in his hands in utmost glee.

"Well, despite what Brad and Casse say about their dad, I think he's pretty cool. He let me upgrade my PDA operating system at the Wayne Enterprise office yesterday and boy; I was almost out of my wits trying to hack the system last night using one of my back up PDAs. The security of the new system is awesome!"

"Wait a sec, you went there, got your PDA upgraded and you spent your entire night trying to hack the system? Are you sure he let you do that?" Sam was pretty skeptic about it, after seeing the exceptionally dark looks both the younger Angeles' would give when their father was mentioned. Tucker nodded his head and leaned against the wall in Danny's room before he spoke up again.

"You'd have to meet him yourself and I'll even give you one huge hint. Ask him stuff. The only reason why Brad and Casse are so resentful of him is because they don't ask him stuff." Danny's eyebrow shot up as Tucker said this and thoughtfully tapped his chin with his index finger.

"That's strange, that's what Lee said like, four weeks ago the day I hung out with her at their place when you guys were giving Brad and Casse a tour around town." Tucker nodded his head once again and pointed at Danny triumphantly,

"See? That's why Lee is more understanding and not resentful of him; because she asks him questions and he answers her. But since the other two don't ask him questions, he can't give them any answers right? Besides, it's his philosophy, ask and you will get a response or have a higher chance of receiving."

"A pretty strange philosophy to me but if it's his, I can't say anything until I meet him in person." Sam then turned her head to look at their resident ghost boy, "So Danny, what was that new ghost that appeared last night?" Danny had moaned and stuffed his head underneath his pillows; muffling his response to his friends who looked at him in bemusement.

"Huh? What was that?" Tucker pried the pillow off his best friend's face, earning an exasperated look as the ghost boy sat up from his lying position on his bed.

"Yea, some ghost that called itself Discipline Master or D.M for short. His freaking cane hurts; big time! Last night he said that I had such a bad discipline record and needed to be 'punished'; and his punishment was not only smacking my butt with his absurdly painful cane. It included blasting at my legs and back with his ecto-blasts!" Sam and Tucker could only flinch and cringe at the imagined pain that had been inflicted on their best friend the night before. The Halfa fell back against his mattress and closed his eyes.

"Can we talk about something else? Hopefully that crazed D.M won't come back for a while after he dished his 'punishment' at me last night."

"So, your dad down in the lab again Danny?" The pale skinned teenager groaned at mention of his dad and nodded his head; not fully happy with the new topic that Tucker had brought up but since he asked…

"Yea, he's finishing up his 'final' touches of the newest Fenton gadget. I just hope Brad, Casse and Lee don't get the biggest shock of their lives if dad attacks them with it."

"How bad can it be?" Casse wondered as she trotted in stride with her two older siblings of whom both had shrugged their shoulders back at her, unsure of what to expect from the eccentric parents of one Danny Fenton. They (the triplets) threw different ideas on how they (Jack and Maddie Fenton) would usually act though skillfully avoiding the topic of their own father getting added to the mix.

Lee by all means did not want another fight to break out between her two siblings like the night before where almost all hell broke loose in the house when a simple exchange of words because a full blown hissy argument that resulted in various objects (but luckily it was mostly just the cushions getting thrown around) being thrown at each other while their shouting match increased in volume with every strike back. However, before it could escalate into even more chaos, their father had entered the house and purposely closed the door noisily to catch their attention. He only neutrally mentioned that the neighbors were wondering about what the commotion was all about and that their voices could be heard from down the street. Brad had abruptly gotten to his feet and stormed back up to his room while Casse turned her head away and mumbled a quiet apology.

The trio had found the awkward and very noticeable neon signboard of 'Fenton Works' from down the street and blinked at the sight of the said home.

"Huh, how'd we miss this joint when we first came here?" Brad commented stoically, eying the huge circular-spaceship-like Ops center hovering on the roof of Fenton Works.

"I think a better question would be how on earth they could have that huge thing balancing on the roof of their place and not cave the entire street down to the sewers." Lee blinked, slightly intimidated at the sight of the giant saucer on top of their friend's home. How DID Danny live here anyway…? Casse tilted her head up to see in her brother and sister's line of sight and grinned impishly.

"I dunno, but it looks really cool. Like a total rip off from Star Wars or from some really old space themed game." After a little round of guessing, the three trooped up to the entrance and rang the bell. A female voice echoed through the doorway (which they thought it to be Danny' mother), told them that the door was open for them to come in. Just as they did though, a loud alarm blared through the entire house followed by an excited shout of 'GHOSTS!' echoing along with it.

The thundering footsteps alerted the three that the situation was about to turn ugly as the large lumbering figure of Jack Fenton appeared from the basement carrying a device that strangely resembled to that certain malfunctioning bazooka that Danny had previously mentioned and subsequently, covered them in a spray of sticky greenish liquid from head to toe the next instant. Two blinking girls and one glaring boy stared back at Jack Fenton from the doorway and Brad couldn't help but raise his voice when he spoke.

"When Danny said his folks were weird, I take it as a seriously damned understatement." The next moment heard more thundering footsteps from the top of the stairs and the original trio of outcasts appeared by the stairway and the said son of the Fentons smacked his forehead with his palm and released an exasperated groan.

"Dad! I told you that my three other friends were coming over today and I almost got down on my knees to beg you to not use any of your weird devices on them last night! MOM!!!" Some tinkering was heard from the kitchen before Maddie Fenton walked out to assess the damage. She rested her cheek on her palm with a frown creasing on her forehead and looked at the currently 'foamed' triplets who were still standing at the doorway.

"I guess we'll have to fix that ghost alarm. It's been going off at odd times even when Jazz comes home… I'm sorry about that. Jack, put the Fenton Foamer away; those three aren't ghosts." ('Aw fudge bucket!') "I'm Maddie and this is my husband Jack; the three of you must be the triplets that recently moved into town!"

"Uh…yea, no problem? I'm Lee, that's my brother Brad and our younger sister Casse." Lee introduced as she wiped as much of the foam off from her face and proceeded to help her younger sister clean off the foam off hers'. Brad simply swiped his off with one sweep of his sleeve across his face. The Goth boy looked up at the stairs to see a very apologetic Danny and both Sam and Tucker looking both sympathetic and amused at their predicament. Maddie had gently guided her husband back to the lab downstairs to give the teenagers space.

"Your dad does this often?"

"Only when the alarm goes off, but he does do that to Jazz sometimes because that ghost alarm is actually pretty buggy. You're lucky that he didn't get his hands on the malfunctioning bazooka, or you'd be running for your lives getting chased by re-animated turkeys wielding knives and forks."

"Fork and knife wielding dead turkeys?" Danny shrugged at Casse's squeak then nodded. Tucker choked back his laughter before he spoke.

"Yea, remember we mentioned it yesterday after school? About a year ago, Sam and I had come over to spend the day and they were completing that bazooka. But somehow the turkey that was supposed to be for their dinner got shoved into the bazooka and it came flying back out with strangely enough, a fork and knife in its wings and gnashing its teeth at us." Three blond eyebrows raised at the image implanted in their heads of a cutlery wielding naked turkey before the two girls burst into fits of giggles while Brad rolled his eyes.

"I'll believe it when I see it. But for now, dude; we need to use your bathroom to clean up."

"Be my guest. I see you really did bring extra clothes like I warned you guys." Danny replied back with a laugh while gesturing the triplets upstairs to the bathrooms, "And I might as well give you guys' a tour around the house, Ops center and probably the lab downstairs in the basement. But when we say 'duck', please do so because it means that some dangerously random object or ecto blast is running amok in the house."

"Let's just hope your folks don't do this tomorrow."

"Are you kidding me? I'll be lucky enough if the school doesn't order a permanent ban on my parents for stepping foot onto the school grounds. And besides; with those daily ghost sightings in school, what makes you think they won't bring any of their devices along and go running off to chase after them once they've been sighted?"

* * *

True enough, by the beginning of the third period everyone could see that Lancer was regretting the decision of having a Family Day; especially if one of kids in the grade was a Fenton. Woe be to Lancer when it would come to the juniors' Family Day; both Jack and Maddie Fenton would be coming to see their daughter on that day too. The three Angeles siblings and Tucker felt that their parent(s) were one of the better behaved ones by far; Paulina's father was actually pampering her during class-time while Dash's own continually interrupted Lancer on the seating arrangements and other nonsensical things. Sam's mother was making (loud) offending remarks about some of the students; such an example is that of Tucker, who thoroughly ignored the insults as did his own parents who were standing next to the one Pamela Manson.

Jack and Maddie had brought their ghost hunting devices and Pamela had complained loudly that the weirdo family was about to take over the school with their absurd ideas of ghosts. Unfortunately, those ghost hunting devices working perfectly fine; which meant all of them were pointing straight at Danny all the while during class time with the mechanical voice of the device beeping out, 'You'd have to be some sort of moron to not notice the ghost directly ahead'. This made him sink down from his seat and almost went through it as his intangibility triggered in his panic and embarrassment.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton please do shut off those contraptions. They are most annoying and disruptive to the class."

"He says that, so what about your mom snubbing the patience out of everyone else?" Brad whispered quietly to Sam who was currently his partner for their next period. The Goth girl had rolled her eyes and gave him a shrug in response. They once again heard the high pitched voice of Pamela as she once again complained about something, and it happened to be the fact that her daughter was paired up with another (shudder) depressing looking student.

"Can't you do anything about these pairs?! Why does my Sammy-kins have to pair up with that depressing boy?!"

"Sammy-kins?" Brad's eyebrow shot up and his two sisters turned to look at Sam with very sympathetic looks on their faces from their seats. Danny and Tucker were both choking back their laughs by stuffing their fists into their mouths and the Goth girl threw an extremely dirty look to her mother. She then turned to glare at Brad ferociously.

"Call me that again, and I swear you'll never have children in the future."

"Wanna bet Sammy-kins?" Her foot was ready to kick him in an instant and he grunted a little in pain from contact of the steel toed combat boots to his leg but still gave her a lazy but mirth filled look. The amusement that danced in his eyes was absolutely infuriating but he leaned forward and whispered something to her ear while his leg quickly blocked another attack from her boot that was aimed at some place he didn't want to get kicked at.

"Want to give her a heart attack?"

"What do you have in mind?" Even though her curiosity was piqued, her booted feet continued their attempts to grievously injure him and found that his legs were allowing themselves to get kicked on but he was still protecting that certain place of masculinity from getting hit. Even so, it was still fun and the intensity of the kicks lessened and it had become a teasing kicking fight between the two underneath the desk. He whispered his idea to her and a wicked looking smile twisted itself on her lips. When he had finished she turned to look at him with that same wicked smile.

"You're a genius. Lunch?"

"Lunch."

The other four had noticed this exchange and could only give each other raised eyebrows at what the two Goths were planning. The paired teens in the classroom were all swiftly finishing their English work that had been given; to give their parents a good impression and to also ignore some of the embarrassing things that the parents were doing, such as cheerful waving and overly loud whispering from behind the class. Pamela was keeping a critical eye on the Goth boy paired with her 'Sammy-kins' and commented loudly.

"Ugh. Such a depressing looking boy; even worse than Sammy-kins! Wearing such disgustingly dark clothes. Humph! Doubtful that his parents are here anyway, which parent would like to have such a disgraceful child?" Sam narrowed her eyes angrily from their table as Brad plastered a very nonchalant look on his face at the insult aimed at him and took no heed of it.

"On the contrary madam, his parent standing here right next to you does not appreciate such comments about his children on the clothes they wear and would also like to refute back that his son is in no way disgraceful. He would also highly recommend of you to hold your tongue; you seem to be more distracting than the Fenton devices with your very loud and degrading remarks." The Angeles triplets' heads shot up and turned to look at their father in surprise who still had his calm and neutral face looking straight forward when he had told Pamela off in such a collected way.

Tobias had been silent the entire time since coming to the school with his children and had not shifted from his position since entering the classroom. The man had simply observed the lessons quietly, made no whispering comments nor did he make any movement that might have seemed embarrassing to teenagers who were being watched over by their parents. The red-headed woman gaped at him slightly before she composed herself and huffed indignantly with her face turning bright red in embarrassment for being told off. Brad warily eyed his father from his seat. The brunette still made no movement from his position, standing stiffly with his hands in the pockets of his brown pants; only his eyes sweeping the classroom to look at his two daughters before those eyes turned and met Brad's own.

The same instant their eyes met, Brad tore his eyes away and concentrated them to the work in front of him. Sam noticed this but kept silent and continued to work with Brad in quiet whispers to finish the work. Tucker had to stuff his fist into his mouth to stifle whatever laughter that was threatening to burst from his throat with Casse (who was his partner) looking at him weirdly. The one good thing that happened was that Pamela no longer made loud rude remarks from that time onwards and all was (mostly) peaceful for the rest of the periods until lunch.

Sam skillfully avoided her mother to tag along with her group of friends and their parents; both Tucker and Danny's parents greeting her enthusiastically (by both Jack and Maddie) and with polite smiles (by Maurice and Amanda Foley); The triplets' father had nodded in her direction in a strange looking head bow of greeting before quietly questioning to where the toilets were. Lee had given him the directions to both the toilet and to the outside of the cafeteria so that he would be able to find them afterwards; Tobias nodded, patted her shoulder and strode off.

The two sets of parents engaged themselves in conversation (mostly with Jack blathering about ghosts) while the two Goths outlined the plan of giving Sam's mother a heart attack with her intense dislike of dark themed and strange people to the rest of their friends/siblings. Danny, Tucker, Casse and Lee had all choked when told of Brad's simply evil 'genius' plan and the red-eyed teenager could only rolled her eyes skyward while the other three grinned impishly and agreed to go along with it. While Team Phantom went to grab their lunches from the lunch queue (with their parents in tow), the Angeles triplets trooped outside to grab a table for them to sit. Just as they had done so, Brad found the looming shadows of Dash Baxter and his father Derricks Baxter standing behind him. The Goth teen rest his cheek on his palm with his elbow propped up on the table lazily; extreme annoyance evident on his face.

"What?"

"Aw…will ya look at this? Angle-ass don't like his little pansy daddy." Dash taunted ruthlessly; Derricks looked down at the fuming Goth boy and eyed him critically before bellowing out in harsh laughter.

"Humph, pansy is right my boy; thin sticks wouldn't be able to pack a punch! Such wimps." Both Lee and Casse flinched when Brad ground his teeth together in an attempt to stay quiet and look unresponsive from the taunts. Danny, Sam and Tucker were opening the push doors from the cafeteria and heard the entire exchange as did the Foleys and Fentons. The three teenagers could already see the look of murder in Brad's eyes when Derricks grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him none too gently from his seat up into the air.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" The eldest Angeles sibling shot up from her seat to reach out for the fist of Mr. Baxter when Dash had grabbed her outstretched hand and unceremoniously swept her off her feet and onto his lap.

"Now come on cutie; that lame-o pee wee boy is getting what he deserves." Pure outraged disgust flashed across Lee's face as she stomped on Dash's foot, eliciting a yelp of pain from the blond and got up from the jock's lap, scowling at him angrily.

"That lame-o pee wee boy is my brother you moron. And let him go you simple minded stone aged barbarian!" Lee once again reached up to grip the hand that held her brother's shirt and didn't manage to see the flash of anger from Derricks' eyes as he bodily threw Brad away; causing him to slam on top of the next table with a pained grunt and slid off the surface to crash onto the ground in a heap. The man hurled his now free fist at the dark blond girl. Both Danny and Tucker had handed their parents their lunch trays leaving Sam with them and ran up to help Brad up from his landing spot .Casse had leapt from her seat and could only gasp when the fist grew closer and closer to striking her sister when the huge fist was promptly held back by a much smaller one with a firm grip on Derricks' wrist. The blond man growled and turned to see Tobias staring at him coldly with his hand still having a solid grip on Derricks' wrist.

"Using physical violence and hurting children is always uncalled for." Derricks could only sneer and pointedly retorted back.

"It's known as discipline stupid man. Your children need it."

"Far less than what your own son deserves." The blond man had jerked his arm away from Tobias, freeing it from his grip. He pulled it back and struck the brunette man across his face, causing his spectacles to fly from their perch and clatter to the ground next to Sam, who gently picked up the silver frames and handled it with care. Two female cries of 'Dad!' rang in the air after the strike as the three teenage boys' (not including Dash) eyes widened at the large dark purple bruise that was forming on Tobias' left cheek. The red-eyed man merely wiped his lip with his black sleeve and turned his head back up to face Derricks with his still cold gaze.

"Are you finished?" The father of Dash Baxter sneered once again and began taunting the injured man.

"You obviously don't know what discipline means! And with such a weakling like yourself, you must be one big pushover to them!" Tobias' cold gaze didn't waver and from his vantage point, Danny could see no reaction to the statement. That was until his ghost sense went off with a wisp of blue breath escaping his mouth. The Fenton boy flinched when the ghost from two nights before, the Discipline Master (a.k.a. D.M) rose from the ground between the two men and howling out loudly while brandishing his cane wildly.

"DISCIPLINE! WHICH LOUSY STUDENT HAS NO DISCIPLINE NOW?!" Shrieks and screams echoed through the air as both parents and students alike raced for the indoors; with the sole exception of the usual group while Jack and Maddie Fenton revealed their arsenal and aimed at the roaring ghost. The ghost was wearing a simple white stiff collared business shirt that creased sideways in his mad brandishing of his cane and equally simple black trousers just like any other regular school teacher.

At that point, it was very certain that Dash was Derricks' son, with absolutely no doubt to be named. The older man had shrieked like a little girl and raced into the school building without his son, who screamed himself silly and followed soon after. Danny quickly squeezed Tucker's shoulder and mouthed 'cover me' to his best friend before he ducked into the back bushes to change into Phantom.

Tobias quickly moved out of the way, his face still straight and his eyes showed no panic or reaction as he gripped Lee's shoulder and pushed her backwards towards Casse who had jumped to her brother's side with Tucker there and then later joined by Sam. Without warning (not exactly with Jack bellowing 'FIRE IN THE HOLE!'), both Jack and Maddie had fired their weapons at the D.M, making him bellow angrily.

"YOU! YOU NEED TO BE DISCIPLINED FOR ATTACKING A TEACHER!" His cane raised and smacked the weapons out of the Fentons hands leaving them weaponless for the moment, although Maddie struck a fighting pose with her ecto-staff and Jack had taken out his latest invention (unsure by the rest how he had magically made the large bazooka appear from thin air). Before the ghost could attack them again, a green blast shot him from the side followed by a sarcastic remark.

"Gee, if you were so hung up about discipline, go discipline some ghosts with no manners back in Ghost Zone before you start trying to discipline anyone here!" Danny Phantom emerged from the shadows and shot more blasts at the D.M to distract him away from his parents. The D.M growled and furiously shot ecto-blasts from his hands at Danny; one of them smacking the back of his head dead on and another hurtling towards his group of friends. Danny instantly flew over and raised a shield to block the blast before aiming multiple ghost rays at the D.M.

"Thanks for the save Danny!"

"Just be careful out there!"

"And you guys get to safety! Come on you control freako! You have got to have better aim then that!" The roar that echoed was almost deafening causing the teenagers present (and trying to get to safety) to clamp their hands over their ears to muffle the sound.

"LEARN TO RESPECT YOUR ELDERS CHILD! YOU MUST BE DISCIPLINED FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!"

"Must you resort to violence in disciplining anyone for their actions?" Immediately all eyes fell onto Tobias, whose cheek was by now a large swelled purple lump with his arms crossed against his chest while still looking coldly at the D.M. The D.M scowled back at him angrily.

"CHILDREN ONLY LEARN WHEN THEY'VE BEEN CANED! ONLY WITH THIS PUNISHMENT WILL THEY LEARN! THAT IS THE PHILOSIPHY IN SCHOOL!"

"And make them fear you? I do not see that as discipline; I see that as tyranny. A teacher you say you are?" The D.M nodded and the brunette man continued, "By right, a teacher should not resort to such means of violence when disciplining students; students are meant to respect you, not fear you. In eliciting fear in the students, you fail as a teacher. Respect is earned, not freely given just by status."

Shock flashed in the D.M's gray eyes causing his body to falter in attacking, which gave Danny the opportunity in aiming one nice long ghost ray at him, knocking the wind out of the ghost and straight into one of the trees before he grabbed the Thermos attached to his waist and sucked the silent ghost into it and capped it tightly. Just as he had capped it, he heard the faint sound of an ecto-gun charging and yelped out in pain when a shot was fired at his posterior courtesy of his mother Maddie.

"Hold it right there ghost!" Danny nervously raised his hands in a gesture of surrender as Maddie charged the gun again. But before the red head could shoot, a hand was placed over the barrel of the gun, forcing it to be lowered. Violet eyes peered to her side to see calm red one looking back at her.

"He has not attacked anyone. Shooting someone who had saved you is quite dishonorable and to the fact that he blocked that blast that was aimed at the children proves that he means no harm. Put the gun down."

"But… but… he's a ghost! All ghosts are malevolent!" Jack spluttered out, his eyes darting between Tobias and Danny and still keeping his ecto-gun, which was now back in his hands, charged and ready along with the Fenton Foamer at his belt. Danny felt that cool calm gaze train on him and the ghost boy couldn't help but fidget nervously under that authoritative gaze.

"I doubt so. He could have just allowed that stray blast to hit the children, but he looked out for their safety and urged them to seek shelter. If that is known as malevolent, I can hardly imagine what you would think what that other spectral being that attacked us is."

The group of teenagers watched the exchange carefully; Sam was surprised at Tobias' rational reasoning while Tucker looked gleefully triumphant. Casse clung onto her older sister's arm from behind her as the other girl's eyes darted back and forth between their father, the Fentons and Danny whereas Brad's face was currently unreadable to anyone. After a while of debating, both Fentons had lowered their weapons, allowing Danny to breathe out a sigh of relief and timidly float over to them, cautiously avoiding the barrel of the ecto-guns.

"Um… Here's the Thermos with the ghost inside Mrs. Fenton." He quickly dropped the Thermos into her surprised outstretched hands and scooted backwards to keep a safe distance away. Danny was surprised to see Tobias give him the strange bowing nod that he had given Sam earlier.

"I have to thank you for saving the children. It is good that there have been no injuries in this incident." Awkwardly, Danny attempted to do the same bowing nod, but fumbled at doing so making him look like he was giving a full blown bow instead of a nod, eliciting quiet giggles from the oldest Angeles triplet while the rest looked at him weirdly.

"Um… no… no problem sir. I just didn't want anyone to get hurt." The white haired teenage hero managed to stutter out, rubbing the back of his head in slight embarrassment, "Though um… I'm a little surprised that um well… you aren't looking to get all ghosts to be shot at and such as well as fearing any one of them. Could I ask why?" A raised eyebrow was part of the response that followed. Danny could sense a déjà vu echoing through his mind, blending two different voices together.

"It is called being rational. Once you have lived in a city full of super villains, it is quite difficult to fear a face such as yours." From the corner of his eye, Danny noticed Tucker mouthing out in glee 'Brad SO takes after his dad!' from behind the group and unknowingly to the said boy. Danny's lips twitched into a smile, internally agreeing fully with Tucker's mouthed statement before he nodded and attempted at the nodding bow again. The green eyed teen also realized that throughout the entire time, Tobias' lips had stayed in their firm thin line with no evident twitches to form smiles or frowns.

"Thank you sir. And um, have a good day!" With a final wave, Danny flew upwards and turned invisible. He quickly turned back to dive into the bushes and change back to Danny Fenton… only with an injury on the back of his head. He rubbed the spot where the D.M's shot had hit him and drew back to see red blood with mini spots of green dripping from his hand. His head thumped back against the tree at the bushes and groaned.

"Danny?" Danny raised his eyes upwards to the sound of Sam's voice and blinked rapidly to clear the slightly blurred outlines of his friends hovering above him from the bushes. Lee had glanced over to his hand and in an instant; her 'mom' mode was on. Danny just allowed her to take control of the situation.

"He's bleeding! Ok, you are SO going to the nurse's room now! No buts, no arguing, not a sound from you mister! Ugh, if I find out whoever pushed you into the bushes, they're going to wish they hadn't come to school today!" Danny could only laugh quietly at the blonds' ranting which soon included her pushing Tobias along to the nurse's room with them to at least get an ice pack to his swollen cheek.

On the way, Sam had trotted up and returned the fallen spectacles to its rightful owner, receiving a quiet thanks and nod of appreciation to her. Brad and Tucker hoisted Danny up to his feet; the Halfa wobbled upon standing but fell forward to hit Brad' back. The blond Goth flung both Danny's arms around his neck and used his arms to grab the behind of the raven haired boy's knees to give him a piggy back ride to the nurse's room. Maddie had trotted over towards them and gently touched the wound.

"Oh dear, he might have gotten a slight concussion; Danny dear, don't fall asleep just yet honey. We need you to stay awake." Her gentle cooing voice echoed in his ears and his reply was muffled against Brad's shoulder.

"Mmph… sleepy… wanna… sleep…"

"I know you do sweetie, but you can sleep later. Come on. Could you all keep him talking? It'll make sure he stays awake." Four nods of affirmation met with Maddie and she gave them a grateful smile before pushing Jack back into the school building towards the Principal's office to inform him of the sighting and fight with their weapons and the Thermos with them.

"This is like the second time you've gotten into trouble Danny. Lord knows what Fairy's going to do with you when we get to the nurse's room." Casse joked, earning stifling chuckles from Tucker and muffled snickers from Sam. Brad however, was silent as the group walked down the corridor to the nurse's room. The African American boy warily eyed the sign of the nurse's room as they neared towards it and quickly mustered an excuse.

"Hey guys? I gotta go find my folks. I have absolutely no idea where they are and I think they're going ape trying to find me too." Sam blinked at her friend, noting that Tucker had paled a little at the sight of the sign to the nurse's before Casse nodded her head.

"Sure thing Tuck. Good luck finding them and see you later?"

"Yea sure. I'll see you guys in class later!" Almost instantaneously, the beret wearing teen was out of sight down the hallway in search of his parents. The three teenagers blinked at the direction where he had taken off before Sam pinched Danny's right upper forearm sharply to wake the almost slumbering teen up.

"Oww!! Sam!! Lemme sleep!"

"Oh no you don't. Fairy will kill you, resuscitate you and slap you silly to force you awake if you sleep now. Face her wrath like a man Fenton." Brad muttered out as Sam snorted and pushed the door open to see Tobias with his hand stretched out to pull the door open on his way out with an icepack to his swollen cheek. His spectacles were back in place perched on the bridge of his nose. The man stood one side to let the four in before walking out of the door. Lee muttered that the brunette man was heading to the Principal's office and received a nod from Casse but a neutral look from Brad. Danny finally rolled his lidded eyes and mustered out a sarcastic comment.

"Joy to the world…"

"The world won't be so joyful when I'm through with you buster. No sleeping!" A smack on the shoulder followed by a pained yelp and whine echoed in the room as Lee bandaged up Danny's head. She then stuck an icepack at the spot and forced the boy to stay awake in his concussed state. It was a typical strange day of life in Amity Park… though it was even stranger than normal.

* * *

"Well, you aren't going to get full night rests for the next few nights huh Danny?" Tucker asked with a sympathetic look sent to his best friend. School had ended and the freshman students were all trooping out to the front entrance to meet their parents. After the ghost attack, the parents questioned the security and safety of the school. Thus all the parents had left the classrooms and had gone to the Principal's office to talk. Sam swore that she could have heard her mother's high pitched complains penetrating the thick walls of the school from the nurse's room.

"Uh huh… Lee totally refused to let me get some sleep earlier on… why not by the way?" The said boy gently rubbed the bandage that was wrapped around his head where his injury was.

"Oh come on Danny, she was trying to gauge out how severe that concussion of yours was. Besides, sleeping now would have totally thrown your inner clock into a whack and you wouldn't be able to sleep at night." Sam plucked Danny's hand away from rubbing his injury. Danny had muttered out 'Not like I get much sleep at night in the first place anyway,' that was only heard by Tucker and Sam while Lee nodded in confirmation to Sam's statement.

"Yep, you are one lucky thick skulled guy Danny; it was only a grade I on the severity scale." Danny immediately protested against being called thick skulled, causing the rest to laugh at his indignant cries. Brad had remained silent since leaving the nurse's room and didn't join in the laughter. They had all noticed his little dark mood and when Tucker was about to broach the subject, the whisperings of the mob of students that blocked the front entrance of the school halted him in forming his words. The group of six caught on the gossip that flying about very quickly.

"Oo, did you hear that Dash's dad's gone out on a full blown rampage against the new kids' dad?"

"Yea, heard he got told off during lunch time!"

"Man, it looks intense!"

All six pairs of eyes looked at each other and blinked before rushing forward to squeeze through the crowd. Sure enough, Derricks and Tobias were standing at the front grass patch of the school with the blond man glaring daggers at the brunette who had his arms crossed over his chest with a neutral look still plastered on his face; a square gauze firmly bandaging on his left cheek where the earlier bruise was. It seemed that the lunchtime tell off hadn't been forgotten and Dash was looking forward to having the gothic Angeles boy getting humiliated by attacking the boy's 'pansy' father.

"Huh, don't talk much pansy man?"

"You spout enough nonsense to last for centuries of multiple people. I see no need to further include anything." Derricks' face turned a healthy shade of red and he scowled heavily at Tobias who was almost looking at him with his usual cool and calm look in his eyes.

"I show you nonsense pansy man!"

"Says the man whose voice reached octaves higher than a female's soprano and fled with his tail tucked between his legs on the sight of a spectral being. How very contradictive of you."

With an outraged cry, Derricks launched himself at Tobias, fist pulled back to strike the other just like earlier in the day. Casse had flinched while Lee had cringed back slightly. Tucker, Sam and Danny were watching closely, as if expecting something radical to happen. Brad was about to turn his head away, thinking that his father was just going to let himself get struck again when a squawk from Derricks followed by a loud thump of something heavy smacking onto the grassed ground made the blond teenager turn his head back at the scene with his eyes widening at the result.

Tobias had grabbed the fist and spun his heel with his back facing Derricks' front. Using his shoulder as a lever and the force of the blonds' still moving body; the brunette used the laws of physics and gravity against the blond. The thin tanned man had thrown the much larger pale skinned man over his shoulder and onto the grass patch with a heavy thump. The shocked blue eyes blinked up to meet cold red ones above him.

"Do consider this as payback for harassing my son and this," The arm of Derricks' that was still in Tobias' grasp had been twisted, causing the blond to screech in pain, "was for bodily tossing him and attempting to strike my daughter. Good day." Immediately he had let go of the larger man's arm and calmly walked over to the pavement where the Fentons and Foleys were standing waiting for their children (Pamela Manson was nowhere to be seen at that point). Dash's face had gone beet red in embarrassment that his father had been beaten by Angle-ass's 'pansy' father.

Tucker had a wide grin plastered all over his face as his PDA recorded the entire scene. He nudged the rest to catch their attention as they split themselves from the crowd to catch up with their parents.

"Speaking of disciplinary actions like that ghost was doing, I think humiliation is one of the best disciplinary actions to remedy Dash's oversized ego. I've got this entire thing including the one at lunch recorded. Anyone want a copy?" Chokes of laughter from four of his friends prompted his grin to grow larger. From the corner of his eye, Tucker noticed that Brad was eying his father warily, as if unsure of what to think of his actions. When they had reached and greeted their parents, the group strolled down the pavement, chattering away.

"… Hey… dad?"

"Yes?" Much to the rest of the group's amusement, Brad and Tobias' conversation consisted of staring straight forward and answering each other in monotone with a straight face. No such eye contact whatsoever. Lee looked extremely annoyed by that fact while Casse buried her face in her sister's sleeve to hide her laughter. Well at least Brad was being civil with Tobias when speaking which was a rare occurrence in itself.

"… Thanks for the payback."

"You are welcome."

"… What prompted you to do that anyway?"

"Even as I do not spend much time with you and your sisters, I certainly will not hesitate in defending any of you. Your sister was right when she had called him a simple minded stone aged barbarian; only such people will be silly enough to use solely brawns and none of brains with no balance of both will only hasten their downfall."

"You sir, are very wise." Tucker pointed out and did a mock bow towards Tobias, eyes shining with much admiration before he turned to look at Lee, "That reminds me, what made you call Mr. Baxter a simple minded stone aged barbarian?"

All eyes looked straight at the fidgeting Angeles who mumbled quietly under her breath with a wild red blush blooming across her cheeks.

"Oh fine, he reminded me of 'The Flintstones' cartoon only a much dumber version of Fred Flintstone himself." The teenagers had choked and burst into gales of laughter (Brad snorted into his fist and snickered quietly) and the adults looked at them with much amusement (Tobias still had his neutral look, though Tucker could have sworn that he had seen a twinkle of amusement dancing in his eyes).

"I think you just insulted the cartoon by comparing them with him!" Danny managed to choke out from his laughter with multiple nods agreeing with his statement. The blushing girl scowled and muttered something about needing to get better come-backs.

"Sammy-kins!" Immediately Sam's laughter had halted. The raven haired girl cringed and a dark heavy scowl imprinted itself on her face at the high pitched voice of her mother from somewhere beside the group at the roadway. She turned her head to look straight at Brad who raised a blond eyebrow at her questioningly when she spouted her question.

"Is the plan still up for execution?"

* * *

**Authoress' Ending Notes:**

1) Just to note: I use US dictionary on my spell check but sometimes (due to my laptop's initial language settings) it could swap to UK dictionary. Apologies if some of the spellings come out differently  
2) Thank you to **Adran06**, **TPCrazy** and **amelia-tomashi** for reviewing the last chapter :) As mentioned in my beginning notes, I've edited and revised the chapter slightly. So **TPCrazy**, hopefully it will clear your confusion since I was unclear on which aspects of the first chapter had confused you.  
3) Another thanks to members who have placed this fanfic under their alerts :)  
4) Another note: Don't worry Dash does get revenge sooner or later. Nothing is one-sided, it just takes time like a predator waiting for its prey to relax and to strike it  
5) There are definite remakes of some episodes of DP here but I'll also be skipping some of them (Like Bitter Reunions; it's all about Danny's family in that one so there wasn't a point of writing that out o.o)  
6) The Justice League will appear soon. (Just not the next chapter yet :P)  
7) Thank you all once again for reading this fanfic, and I'll gladly read your reviews if you decide to drop them in. If you find any mistakes in the chapter or are confused, please do state clearly on which aspects of the chapter when reviewing or sending me emails. I'll do my very best to edit and change the chapter to make it easier for you :)

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/K.C**


	4. Sister of Mine Part I

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge, with his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam, Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress' Beginning Notes: I'd like to point out that this will be the last chapter where we will flash-back to the original timeline Danny in the beginning of the chapter; we'll return to him for the INTERLUDES that will come up in later chapters :). This is one LONG chapter; but that's not all! This is only Part 1 of 2! I hope you enjoy reading the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it out for you to read! Apologies if the chapter seems a little too long for your tastes!

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 3: **

**Sister of Mine (Part I)**

* * *

Danny sat there on the couch; blinking at the screen which had faded back to black once more. There were so many questions he wanted to ask but yet he wouldn't be able to find the answers to them even if he asked Clockwork. The Master of Time would only give him cryptic riddle responses that he would have to figure out on his own.

This entire timeline was intriguing him very much and he wondered why some timelines had such differences to his own. Danny remembered that Clockwork had once said that the slightest of changes could tip the scale of balance of a timeline and have drastic after-effects. What Danny didn't know was what Clockwork had meant by the word '_Hitsuzen_'.

'_There is no such thing as coincidence Danny, there is only Hitsuzen.'_ The Master of Time's voice echoed in his head as he tried to organize his thoughts to find a meaning to that word. Sadly he found that he had no such knowledge of it and grew restless at being unable to decipher what Clockwork had been talking about.

Danny jerked out of his thoughts when the black screen was suddenly filled with colors; alerting him of the next significant event that was occurring in the timeline. He straightened his posture and allowed his eyes to glue themselves to the screen once more as the voices emerged from the scene.

* * *

"Oh for crying out loud, Danny this really has to stop! This is the eighth time you've been injured in a ghost attack!" Danny sheepishly rubbed the back of his head while Lee fussed over him; bandaging up his cuts and bruises from the latest ghost attack that had rained down on Amity Park. Three weeks had passed since the Family Day incident and his secret was still intact. His only problem was that Lee would get extremely annoyed and frustrated in finding out that he had been injured (as Fenton) in the ghost attack. The triplets had yet to make the connection between Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton but mainly because Lee would be fussing over him (as Fenton) with the number of injuries he kept on sustaining in the ghost attacks.

"I swear that you've got to be some weird injury magnet in ghost attacks Danny. Gosh, no one else gets as many bruises and injuries like you do, not even Brad!" Now the blond was back to ranting. Whenever she found any injuries on any one of them, her 'mom' mode would click and no one dared to go against Lee in 'mom' mode, opting to sit quietly and allow the oldest Angeles sibling to tend to their injuries and rant about safety. The Halfa had tried to hide his injuries before, but the red-eyed girl seemed to have an injury sensory system and would usually scowl him down to show his injuries and let her tend to them. Because of this, Danny could not hide the bandages and the fact that he healed faster than a normal human being. But given the consecutive attacks of ghosts that were plaguing the town at the moment, Lee hadn't been able to differentiate his wounds apart while patching up the new ones that had covered over those old ones.

"Oh come off it sis, Danny's fine. The injuries are minor aren't they?" Anger flashed in Lee's eyes as she stood up and jabbed her finger at her younger brother.

"Minor and accumulating! You're not any better by running off INTO the attack zone, getting your own wounds," To prove her point, the dark blond clamped her hand down on Brad's shoulder, making the other hiss in pain, "and that I've got to patch all of you up in the aftermath of it isn't hunky dory Brad!"

"Look, it isn't as bad as…"

"Isn't as bad as? Isn't as bad as WHAT? Brad, the last time you pulled off a crazy stunt of trailing the freaking POISON IVY back in Gotham not only got you landed in the hospital, but Uncle Bruce wouldn't even let you out of the apartment for two months even after you got discharged from the hospital with a clean bill of health!" Brad winced as Lee continued to jab her finger harshly at his chest to punctuate her points. "What 'isn't as bad as' huh?!"

It was clear that the agitated girl was not about to calm down anytime soon in her 'mom' mode. Sam had raised an eyebrow at the mention of Brad's misadventure of trailing a super villain of Gotham; Tucker had done the same while Danny gave Casse an enquiring look, of which the youngest Angeles could only shrug and smile sheepishly back at him. Brad had thrown his hands up in exasperation to fend off his older sister's jabs before crossing his arms over his chest and glared back at her.

"I'm FINE! Casse's fine, Sam's fine, Tucker's fine and heck, Danny's fine too! Sure I've got this penchant in looking for action, but we get out fine!"

"Penchant in looking for action?! You gotta be kidding me; it's more of a penchant for making me worried sick!"

"Well you don't have to worry!"

"What sort of idiotic moron tells me of all people, to NOT worry about my two siblings and my three friends running to the face of danger and have the greatest possibilities of coming back DEAD?!" All patience that the oldest Angeles once had had flown out the window as she spat back angrily at her brother who didn't back down an inch. Danny flinched as the argument escalated. This had to be the first time he'd seen Lee lose her temper but internally berated himself because even with a long fuse, telling the girl not to worry when they were running into the face of danger was just plain suicide.

Casse nervously edged towards Tucker in an attempt to hide from her older sister's view just in case she would round up on her for being just as reckless in running straight into the danger instead of running away from it. Sam looked torn between wanting to pacify the argument or to let them just duke it out. Tucker was wincing at every word Lee had spit out and had to admit that she did have a point; although he internally thought that it was a basket case for Danny's situation. He was already half dead, so he goes in and comes back the same, he was still dead in any case.

"For Pete's sake, we're F-I-N-E, FINE! Just drop it already ok! It's not like Pixie and I need you to fuss over us, let alone Danny, Tucker and Sam!" The pale blond boy was given an intense glare before Lee spun her heel and strode to the opened First Aid box, snapping it shut loudly as she picked it up and stormed out of the living room of the Angeles home. Loud bangs and clattering was heard as Lee roughly opened the cabinets to shove the First Aid box in for storage and slammed the said doors of the cabinet shut, all the while with the girl muttering about 'crazed adrenaline junkies for siblings and friends'. Instead of returning to the living room, the group heard the stomp of her footsteps on the wooden floor and briefly saw the flash of her blond hair as the main door opened with a gust of wind blowing into the house before it slammed shut. From his seat near the window, Danny could make out her figure stalking past the living room window and winced at the look of fury that painted her normally calm face as she disappeared from view.

"As much as I wholly agree with you on the fact that we're fine right now Brad, I think it was pretty redundant to tell her not to worry when she is right that we do run to face the danger rather than run away from it." Tucker piped from his corner; Casse meekly peeked out from behind his back before she quietly toed her way to the cushion beside Danny to sit down and too agreed with Tucker.

"Yea Dwarf. It's kinda like we're forcing up her 'mom' mode to come on more often…"

"I think Brad does have a point that she doesn't need to worry. Danny, and I mean Danny Phantom, is always there remember? He doesn't let any harm to us… well, as much as he can that is."

"I think that's beside the point Sam." Tucker shot back and the Goth girl looked ready to fight back with her own words, almost wanting to taunt Tucker about his lack of faith in his 'best friend since forever' in protecting them. Before she could though, Danny coughed and a blue wisp of cold air escaped his lips, making the teen groan quietly before he stood up and stretched his back.

"I think I'll head on home. See you guys tomorrow in school." Without waiting for a response, the ghost boy grabbed his bag and quickly exited the door. He dashed into the nearest alleyway, warily looking both sides to make sure that he was alone before he changed to his ghostly alter-ego. Quickly, he flew to his home and tossed his bag through the open window before flying back to the direction where he had sensed the ghost. Fortunately for him, he didn't need to stray far; his target was searching for him anyway.

"There you are ghost boy! I'll have your pelt at the foot of my bed when the day is done!"

"Oh give it up already! You've been saying that for the past few weeks and all you've gotten is your behind kicked thoroughly by yours truly AND you haven't even managed to unplug Tucker's PDA from your system!" Danny groused as he dodged one of Skulker's missiles and retaliated with a well aimed ghost ray to the other ghost's side. Nimbly, the Halfa dodged a ray beam from Skulker's wrist which shot behind him and caused the building behind him to incur a hefty damage with debris flying to the streets below where a little girl was standing. Danny cursed his luck as he shot downwards and quickly grabbed the girl and flew her out in the nick of time as the crumbling bricks crashed onto the pavement and would have surely killed the girl had she not been saved in time.

"Hey, run home now. Don't look back and run as fast as you can ok?" Fearfully, the girl nodded and raced into the direction where Danny could only believe to be where her home was. He turned to look up at the smirking face of the Ghost Zone's 'greatest' hunter and scowled heavily.

"And I suppose you find that funny huh Skulker?"

"Possibly." Danny growled under his breath and shot two furious ghost rays at Skulker, obliterating the two rocket launchers at his shoulders. The ghost hunter scowled and raised his wrist ray to shoot at him when the sound of the PDA attached to the same wrist beeped in announcement, making the green flamed haired ghost blink and stare down at it.

"Go to library and get book on eating habits of Purple-Back gorillas?" The same instant he had finished his sentence, his suit's wings spread out and roared to life. This caused him to scowl angrily and point a dramatic finger at Danny, "The hunt isn't over yet ghost boy! I'll have you yet!!!"

The wings then made Skulker rise into the sky and dash towards the library while Danny just gave a very neutral wave in the direction of where the technical suit was sending the ghost hunter into. Once the ghost was out of sight, Danny breathed a sigh of relief and was just about to fly away when he heard his name being called from the streets below. He stopped in his tracks; his spectral tail swirling around with the wind as he faced downwards to see Lee waving her hand at him to catch his attention. The Halfa had a sinking feeling he was about to get a telling off for letting the group follow him around whenever there were ghost attacks although he had to admit that they did get him out of a lot of trouble when they were around. Deciding to face the music like the half ghost he was, Danny floated downwards, spread his legs back to normal from the spectral tail and gently floated several inches above the pavement next to the blond girl.

"Hi Lee, what can I do for you?" He was generally surprised to see her look very nervous and unsure of herself. She avoided his gaze for the moment, her eyes trained down at the concrete pavement as she stubbed the toe of her boot at it while gathering her thoughts. Patiently, Danny folded his arms behind his head, his body stiffened with much tension while waiting for whatever Lee wanted to say.

"Uh… Not to sound all unappreciative and all with what you've been doing protecting us from the ghost attacks and …" Inwardly, Danny knew that the other teen was going to be babbling; he found out that she would turn to babbling whatever she was worried about out but it was in no way scathing or scolding. He relaxed his posture and listened to her as she continued.

"… But um… could you… somehow persuade Brad and the rest to like… stay away from the ghost fights? I mean like to not charge into the fight like bulls and totally getting themselves into whole lots of trouble and making the situation worse." The monologue continued and Danny was slightly amused when Lee hadn't stopped after five minutes; spouting out her thoughts about the team getting themselves into heaps of trouble and getting injured. She even went as far as to muttering about wondering when they had become such crazy adrenaline junkies for 'action', using quotation marks in her quoting of Brad.

Danny wanted to burst into laughter so bad but held it back, mentally repeating to himself that he could laugh AFTER he had reached the safety and quietness of his home where Lee wouldn't be able to hear him at all. As amused as he was, he was still out in the open and had to stop Lee's monologue before his parents decided that he wasn't worth trusting and come out to shoot his butt. He placed his hand on her shoulder to catch her attention. The red-eyed girl clamped her mouth shut, looking utterly mortified that she had flown off the handle again in babbling. Danny snorted out a chuckle before speaking back to her gently.

"I can't promise you anything, but I can try to persuade them not to come along if they follow me next. But no guarantees ok?" A sigh of relief met his ears and a grateful look was sent his way.

"Yea I know, but at least you've tried right? Brad can be a stubborn bull; he doesn't realize that he takes after our dad a whole lot more than he thinks." Lee tilted her head to the side, continuing to look at Danny, "You know, it's kinda hard calling you Danny and our other friend Danny Fenton… It gets so confusing sometimes."

This time, Danny did burst into laughter at her statement. It was so true. Casse had gone in circles one time trying to find his human half and talk about his ghostly half in the same sentence. Needless to say, no one understood just what she had been talking about; leaving the youngest Angeles scowling angrily that her words just didn't seem to make any sense no matter how much she tried to make it sound right. Immersed his mirth, Danny hadn't absorbed the question Lee had dished out to him, causing the Halfa to ask the other teen to repeat her question again while choking back his laughs. Lee raised a slender eyebrow at him before repeating her question.

"Do you think I can call you Phantom? It's less confusing that way for me to well, talk about you and if Danny comes into the topic and all…"

"Sure why not? If it helps clear your confusion, maybe I should just stick to Phantom and toss the 'Danny' out totally." He winked with his green eyes twinkling with merry laughter at her. She laughed along with him and smiled gratefully, feeling much more at ease that the ghost boy would try persuading her siblings and friends to avoid the fights.

"Well, I gotta go before the townsfolk scream out ghost. Despite the fact that there have been plenty of ghost attacks around here, majority of the people still don't believe they exist. Take care Lee!"

"Take care of yourself Phantom! Make sure your injuries are tended to, you hear?" Danny laughed as he floated back up in the sky, giving the eldest Angeles a friendly wave (which she returned back from the ground) before flying off into the direction of Fenton Works. Hopefully all would be well and that the team wouldn't take it too seriously and that Lee was just worried for their safety.

* * *

Jazz had no idea what to make of the new counselor, Penelope Spectra. In fact, she did have this feeling of wanting to run to the nearest bathroom to gag at the woman's fake cheeriness and enthusiasm for 'cheering' the students up when she first met her earlier in the morning. Although Jazz was a straight A students with no troubles at all, she knew very well that her brother Danny would very well be sent to Dr Spectra since she had voiced her worries about her brother getting into heaps of trouble to his teacher Mr. Lancer. Then again, she was told by Lancer that every student was supposed to meet the new counselor regardless of their school records. The biggest problems were his tardiness and test results, but Jazz was pretty sure Danny was trying because she had seen him go over to the triplets' house to study often. Could it be that he just had exam nerves or that they weren't studying at all? But she did feel that Danny… wasn't exactly Danny anymore; maybe he would get better after talking to the counselor. Maybe.

The red-headed Fenton walked through the corridors of the school, deep in thought. She was about to pass Spectra's room when she spotted her brother and his group of friends walking towards her from the direction that she was headed towards to. She was just about to call out to him when the door to Spectra's office flung open and she could hear that sickeningly sweet voice almost oozing with an overload of sugar spout out,

"And remember, there's only an 'I' in misery if you spell it that way!" From the corner of her eyes, Jazz could see that Danny's friends and he himself were staring at the two previous occupants who had just come out of Spectra's office; she herself was staring at them. Dash and Kwan looked utterly miserable and downtrodden; both their faces seemingly aged with deep worry creased under their eyes and foreheads. As they dragged past her, their conversation threw her off course, making her blatantly stare at them in stunned silence.

"Another day will pass and it'll be another 24 hours closer to a career of pumping gas…"

"At least you'll have a job. Apparently, I'm gonna end up a hobo; I didn't even know they had hobos anymore!"

"Uh, do you even know what a hobo is Kwan?" The Asian teen glanced up at her with his misery filled eyes for a moment before shrugging.

"Not a clue, but I do know it rhymes with gigolo." From behind her, Jazz could definitely hear five distinct 'ews' (and one of the female ones was followed by a 'gross') from her brother and his friends after hearing what Kwan said. She herself could only give Kwan a raised eyebrow and a slightly disgusted look.

"Gigolo and hobo are two very different things Kwan, even if they do rhyme. Hobos are wandering homeless people; gigolos are male prostitutes. Which is a 'better' job to you?" Immediately at the mention of 'prostitutes', Kwan had turned a very sickly shade of green when he also realized his mistake.

"Ugh… I think being a hobo is better!" The football jock raced off into the nearest toilet while Dash blinked for a moment before dragging himself off to his locker; not caring about his sick friend whose sounds of barfing could be heard from the toilets. Jazz cringed slightly before turning around to meet Danny and his friends just outside the door to Spectra's office. She frowned at the 'happy chair' sign that was tacked above the said chair in front of her office. It was pretty obvious that there was definitely no happy around here.

"Hey Danny, when's your appointment with the new counselor?" She watched her brother groan and noticed his shoulder slump further downwards at the mention of the appointment. Danny slapped his palm over his eyes before he replied her with a glum tone.

"Ugh. Later today during period six. This sucks, I can't believe Lancer actually made this my frigging punishment for this morning when it wasn't my fault that I just peeked into that office," Danny jerked his finger to point at Dr Spectra's door to specify which room he was talking about, "to see some weird glob of a ghost trash the room and I get the blame for the mess." Jazz frowned at the mention of 'ghost' and was about to fire back that ghosts don't exist when Lee had cut in.

"Look on the bright side, at least it isn't another detention and your appointment is still during school hours. Mine's right after school." Lee chided, nudging his shoulder with her own from his left. Danny's hand slipped to his right, allowing his left eye to give Lee a pointed look before a thoughtful one passed his face.

"Eh…you're right. But I'd still rather be in Math class then to go to that crazy shrink's office to be 'happy-fied'."

"If that is happy," Sam pointed to the direction where Dash and Kwan (who had followed after his make-out session with a certain white toilet bowl) had disappeared to, "Then I am totally the Goth bird of happiness."

"And we can pretty much sum it up to confirm with a 100% level of confidence that the Apocalypse is seriously dawning upon us when you say that Sam. WE'RE DOOMED!!" Tucker had sunk down to his knees as he exaggerated the part of their impending 'doom'; raising both his hands to the sky in mock prayer for a miracle to be 'saved' from the self proclaimed apocalypse that was due to destroy them all. The group laughed (of course Brad doesn't laugh, he smirks remember?) at Tucker's antics and the mirth further intensified when Tucker fake latched himself onto Jazz's leg in his moment of 'utter desperation'. The older Fenton rolled her eyes skyward in non-existent exasperation as her lips twitched into a quirky smile and unlatched Tucker from her leg. The dark skinned teenager tipped his beret at her once he had gotten up from the floor before he slid backwards to stay in line with his friends. Jazz could only chuckle and place her hands on her hips.

"Well, I wouldn't say you were right or wrong; and I don't really know what to think about her since I met her this morning."

"You? See the new counselor? You gotta be kidding." The teal-eyed girl offered her brother a shrug at his dumbstruck expression at the new knowledge that she had gone to meet Spectra earlier in the day. "You're practically the perfect student, why did you need to go and see her anyway?"

"Not a clue. In fact, everyone in school has an appointment with her. I think she wants to see every single student before the week is done."

"Getting seen by her doesn't exactly top the cake than what we've been seeing and will continue to see around the school for the rest of this week. Going to a counselor sure doesn't beat getting scarred seeing a beer-bellied, bald headed teacher prance about on a trampoline that surprisingly hasn't broken yet after all his bouncing with frighteningly bright pink pompoms in his hands and cheering loudly about 'Spirit Week'."

"And for that Mr. Angeles, I would like to remind you that your appointment with Dr Spectra is tomorrow just before the first period."

"Wonderful. Should I bring wilted flowers as a welcome gift to the oh so wonderful new counselor?" The boy muttered sarcastically with an irritated scowl crossing his face when the said teacher that he had described had overheard him and was currently towering right behind him.

"Flowers are a wonderful idea Mr. Angeles. But wilted no." Brad faked a hurt look and snapped his fingers while muttering sarcastically.

"Gosh, guess I'll just send her a pack of bees instead."

"Do that and I will see you in detention for a month Mr. Angeles." Brad plainly shot Lancer a very annoyed look when the overweight teacher walked through the group and down the corridor. Once he was out of sight, the dark themed boy had rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Bet I could stick a whole hive in her office and the bees would have to create another one to accommodate all her extra sugary sweetness that is totally inhuman." As much as Jazz liked seeing her brother with a bigger circle of friends, she didn't exactly think Brad was very good company; personally, she thought he was becoming a very bad influence, despite the fact that Jazz thought his sister Lee was far better influence.

"Hey Danny, could I talk to you for a moment," The rest of the group blinked at her and in return she gave them a pointed look, "Alone."

"What? My friends being around me have never stopped you from talking to me and not like we have enough time anyway, we have class Jazz." Jazz simply raised an eyebrow and grabbed her brother by the shoulders and pushed him towards the corner of the corridor despite his loud protests against it.

"Jazz! What gives?!"

"Look Danny, I'm just worried about you. You're grades have been slipping, you're being tardy for a lot of classes and… you're almost not like yourself anymore. Come on, we used to talk about everything!"

"Yea well, maybe this IS me now Jazz. Just that you've never noticed and we stopped 'talking' about everything when I was eight and that's when you weren't a fink." Jazz purposely ignored being called a fink before she continued.

"… And I don't think you should be hanging around Brad anymore."

"WHAT?!" Jazz winced at her brother's shout of shock, "And why the heck not?!" The look of anger that was flashing in his eyes was almost a warning sign to her. She thought that it might have been Brad's influence with his dark personality that brought out this much darker side of her brother; not even Sam's Goth personality did this to him. She sucked in a deep breath and looked at her brother straight in the eye.

"Look, recently you've been losing your temper, getting injured in some weird whacked up way that not even Sam and Tucker could be the cause of it. It's only been happening when you've gone out to hang out with Brad and it's only natural that I come to the conclusion that he's being a bad influence on you." When she tried to put her hands on his shoulder, Danny swept them off angrily with his eyes still glaring straight at her.

"Oh, and what makes you think it would be him and not say, for example, Casse. And I don't mean that she's the cause of it either." Jazz rolled her eyes and gave him a pointed look.

"Because she follows him around and gets into trouble with you guys. Lee definitely isn't the one causing it because I know for a fact that she's been the one bandaging you guys up after whatever event that caused you guys to get those injuries. I'm serious Danny; I don't think Brad is a very suitable friend if he's getting you into trouble. He hasn't introduced you to any drugs has he?" Now it seemed as if Danny's face had a permanent scowl embedded in it as he took one step back away from his sister without breaking any eye contact with her and clutched the strap of his bag tightly.

"You know what, if you think I'm messed up, you are way worse for thinking about my friend that way. I know you think you're helping and I'm sure when I'm older, I'll appreciate it minus the part of you snubbing my friend. But right now I don't. Go psycho-analyze someone else or go back home and rant to mom and dad about their profession. Just leave me the hell alone and don't ever talk about my friends like that again!" The younger Fenton turned his heel and stormed away from her, stomping his feet angrily on the tiled floor towards his group of friends that had been waiting for him at the same spot where Jazz had dragged Danny away from.

Jazz sighed and folded her arms across her chest as she looked at her brother's retreating back sadly. Could she be wrong that Brad wasn't the bad influence? Could it have been something else that plagued him and that it was just sheer coincidence that their group of friends found themselves in the middle of trouble… all the time? She had to be certain and the red-head was definitely going to have a nice long talk with the oldest triplet after her counseling session.

"Awesome. I'm bad influence to you guys. Where is that bad street again so that I can drag you all over there and corrupt you guys further?" Brad rolled his eyes, his monotone oozed sarcasm after Danny viciously sniped out to them what Jazz had spoken to him about earlier when she had dragged him away from the group. Sam looked less than impressed with it while Casse stifled her laughter and nudged her brother's side with a grin plastered over her lips.

"Maybe to tell her otherwise we should get you to wear that nice bright…"

"Finish that sentence and I swear your Husky stuff toy gets it."

"Nooo!! Not Husky! Fairy! Tell Dwarf to lay off my stuff toys!" Lee gave an exasperated sigh, massaging her temples as she shook her head at their minor argument. Wonderful, her brother was being perceived as a bad influence because of his penchant for action. Absolutely downright wonderful. She needed to have a talk with Jazz about it even though she didn't really know the older Fenton very well. The very least she could do to was try to assure Jazz that her brother was not a bad influence. But did that mean that she was one lousy sister at being unable to control her younger brother? Lee mulled over those thoughts quietly as the group reached their fifth period class. It hadn't gone unnoticed to Tucker and Sam who weren't trading snips at each other or was walking around with a dark thunder cloud storming above their head.

The fifth period had come and gone as soon as it started, and Danny found himself sitting on the 'happy chair' outside of Spectra's office during period six waiting for his turn to be 'happy-fied' by the new counselor. He silently groused at his luck, tapping his foot impatiently on the tiled floor wanting to just see the counselor quickly so that he could return to class. The door of the office opened and Danny looked upwards to see Paulina trot out of the room with a troubled look splayed across her pretty face before she turned to speak back to Spectra.

"So… you're saying that my popularity is like completely dependant on my beauty?"

"I'm not saying its fair sweetie, but if you feel that you need something like a lot of make-up; I'd say go for it! You're the only 'you' you've got!" The red clad counselor turned around to see Danny sitting on the chair moodily and gave a sickly sweet smile while Paulina walked off with her head bent down gazing at the ground.

"Danny! Come on in! I was just expecting you!" The scowl that had settled on Danny's face since he left his sixth period class stood firm as he stood and walked into the office with the door slamming shut behind him.

Danny shivered and expelled out his breath to see the blue wisp of it escape his lips, thinking that it was just the temperature and not one thought went into thinking of it as his ghost sense going off as he rubbed his arms furiously to keep warm. Penelope Spectra merely blinked at him as he managed to spit out his words from his chattering teeth.

"You know the room feels like the arctic; could you please turn the heat up in here because I can see my own breath!"

"Wow, you do complain a lot. Well your sister did say you could be a bit of a baby." Danny's eyes instantly shot wide open with a loud 'what?!' escaping his lips while Spectra ignored the outburst and continued.

"Sweetie, I'm not saying it's your fault she thinks you're a loser." Now Danny's eyes were narrowing; as much as he disliked his sister and vice versa, it didn't seem like her to call him loser. Dork or baby yes. But loser? Before he could open his mouth to speak up, Spectra had slid from her chair to stride up to the back of the chair he was sitting on and placed (or rather slapped) both her hands on his shoulders cutting off his words that were forming on his lips. He winced at the tight grip the red-headed counselor had on them and then felt as if whatever sense of the word 'happy' was being sucked out of his being as she continued her 'prep' speech.

"Well hey, in any case those are her issues; I'm not saying you're a loser Danny, I think you're a great kid!"

"Then why do I feel so miserable?" He muttered out in a defeated sounding tone. Why was he starting to feel like that? He hadn't felt this miserable since… Since when did he ever feel THIS miserable? It was as if he had hit rock bottom on the emotions scale and wasn't going to get lifted up any time soon. The thought that had been swimming in his mind that he didn't believe that Jazz would call him a loser had sunk deep into the depths, never to resurface again in his sudden change of mood. Since Spectra was behind him, it had gone unnoticed to him of the evil smirk that was currently gracing her lips before it shifted into a consoling look on her face. The counselor strode back to his front to bend down and pat his shoulder comfortingly.

"You know what I think; you might be a mess, but mess is just the beginning of 'message'! Now go out there and be a better you!" The sickening smile was back on her face as Danny groaned and got off the chair to walk out of the office with his shoulders slumped forward and his eyes unfocused. Because of his unfocused eyes, the raven-haired boy had run smack straight into the wall instead of the doorway; he sidestepped and continued his way out, head bent down in misery.

As soon as he stepped out, the door had slammed shut, revealing a short and stout man frowning at Spectra with eerily glowing green eyes from behind the door. Spectra grinned, taking out her compact mirror to see the minor wrinkles that creased below her eyes vanish, leaving her unblemished and young. "Marvelous."

"Had enough treatment for the day? We have business to discuss about; Wednesday is fast approaching and we've still got work to do!" Spectra eyed the man from her position at the desk, primping her hair before shutting her compact with a snap to look at him.

"I still have one more student for the day, but she's not due in until after school. Besides, Wednesday is still a few days away, and these students are a gold mine full of misery. Just push the right buttons and they'll pour it all out. That Fenton kid that just left is like a walking spa treatment; it was absolutely invigorating!" A sinister smile graced the stout man's lips as his eyes narrowed and his form began to dissolve into another shape.

"Well now, then I suppose I'll create more havoc once the school day is done then." The shape of the man morphed into an oversized green colored hornet. Its pincers gnashing menacingly at the prospect of inflicting terror into people once school was over while Spectra smirked at him with a devilish glint in her eyes,

"Excellent Bertrand… excellent."

* * *

The bell rang for the end of the last period and all the students streamed out of their classrooms full of noise and conversations of after school activities. Out of the group of six outcasts, five emerged from their classroom with one whose face was plastered with a look of misery and a tinge of anger. Casse couldn't help but question the look printed on Danny's face ever since he returned from his counseling session with Spectra in the sixth period.

"You've had that really bummed out look on your face ever since you got back from visiting the new counselor. Are you ok Danny?" A pointed glare was sent her way courtesy of the currently stewing teenage boy for her troubles of asking. Sam had nudged his shoulder with her own in a gesture that merely meant that 'it's just an innocent question' but too wanted to know what had happened during that session that made her best friend even gloomier than herself. Danny blew his bangs out of his eye before he responded to them as the five walked towards the entrance of the school. Lee had left the class prior to the last period bell ring to go to see Spectra for her appointment and told the group to go on without her.

"I'm fine. I can't believe my sister told that shrink that I was a loser!" Brad and Tucker's eyebrows raised in questioning. Sam turned her face to look at Danny with a stern look crossing in her eyes.

"As much as I don't like your sister, but are you sure she said that? That doesn't sound like Jazz to me." The same instant those words left her lips, Jazz's voice piped up from nowhere. This caused them to stop in their steps and look up to see the said teen standing in front of them.

"Hey you guys, what doesn't sound like Jazz to you?" Immediately a scowl planted itself on Danny's face as he glared at his sister. Jazz blinked for a moment before the realization sunk in.

"You're still mad aren't you?" Her brother faked a frown and pretended to ponder over her rhetorical question before pointing back at her with a sarcastic surprised look planted on his face and gave an equally sarcastic but very biting response.

"Wow, you ARE the smart one." Jazz only shook her head and sigh as she took steps forward to get closer to the group. She could see Brad rolling his eyes from his position in their little group and frowned slightly at his action.

"Come on Danny I know you're angry, but I'm only worried about you!"

"Yea well I definitely haven't forgotten our earlier conversation either and I'll repeat again: Go psycho-analyze someone else or go to mom or dad to complain about their chosen profession. Not everyone has the ability to stay all bright and cheerful like you!" Danny's statement was met with Casse raising her eyebrow and directed a 'Don't I have the same ability that she has?' question at her brother and two friends who only shrugged back at her in response. Just as Danny folded his arms across his chest, a blue wisp of air escaped his lips and internally he groaned at his absolutely rotten luck when it came to the timings of ghost sightings and attacks. He needed to bail; fast and without raising any suspicion from the two thirds of the triplets AND his sister. Sweet, his luck was truly rotten. He turned his heel to the T-intersection of the corridors and started to walk away when Jazz called out.

"Danny! Where are you going? If you're heading out of school the door's that way!" Abruptly he spun his heel again to face her from his new position and snapped back,

"Oh, so it's a crime to go to the toilets now?! I'll meet you guys outside!" Quickly, he stomped off to the men's' room down the corridor and disappeared. Just as he had done so, a high pitched scream echoed through the hallways, causing five heads to snap up to see a student rush up to Jazz, grab her by the arms and shake her furiously.

"A freakishly large hornet in the school! Run!!" Immediately after that was said (rather shrieked), the boy jumped into the safety of a locker and slammed the door shut. The group turned to the direction where the boy had run from to hear screams and yells of students who were running away from the said green hornet that flew around the corner. From behind Jazz, Brad had grabbed Casse and pushed her to stand behind him as the hornet turned its head to eye them while its tongue licked its pincer mouth menacingly. Quickly the four outcasts had dodged to one side as the hornet sped towards them. Jazz who wasn't as seasoned as they were under the fire of a ghost attack and being that this was the first time she was seeing such things, could do the one thing a normal person did only without running. She screamed.

"Oh hell." Brad muttered as the hornet grabbed Jazz with its legs and used its long slimy black tongue to lick the sides of her face, as if to have a small taste of his next meal. That was stopped when a disembodied voice snarled out from the corridor,

"Back off ghost bug!" Danny Phantom flew in and aimed a kick at the overgrown insect's midsection. He turned intangible as soon as his foot connected to the desired area, forcing the ghost bug to turn intangible as well at the contact and sent the bug flying through the wall and following it through. Jazz stood there, thoroughly stunned before she managed to turn her head to the wall where the two ghosts had disappeared through before she spluttered out.

"Ghost bug? That was a ghost?" She paused for a moment before the full realization sunk into her, "Wait a minute; that was two ghosts?!"

"Wow, for a girl genius, you sure are slow on the uptake." Jazz's head snapped back to look at Brad who spared her no glance and had darted past her to run through the corridor with his younger sister, Sam and Tucker in tow as they raced out of the school to meet up with the ghost boy. The four left Jazz standing there, still stunned at the revelation that her parents had been right over the existence of ghosts. And that she had just been saved by one. Quickly, she tore for the window to watch the fight in the courtyard between the boy and the bug.

"The school needs some bug exterminators, and thank goodness I'm hoping to bust your chops right here and right now." Danny cracked his knuckles, almost itching to release his pent up frustrations at the ghost bug before him. The hornet however, merely gave a haunting laugh and gave a hornet version of a wicked smile as its tongue lashed out again, lolled in all its greenish drools' glory. The group of four had managed to reach the courtyard to hear the hornet's words before it launched itself for an attack.

"Well, well. Attempt to exterminate me? Try me, swat this big boy!" Right after the words left his pincers (or lips), the hornet shot straight at him with its stinger out front and ready to stab Danny. Quickly, Danny's normal reaction to a bee attack was to squat and cover his head; the stinger missed crucially hitting him but slashed his right arm instead. He yelped as the stinging pain coursed through his body and internally cursed himself for forgetting that he himself was a ghost.

"Darn it, I should've gone intangible! Idiot! I'm not getting any better, I'm getting worse!"

"Danny, look out!" The bleach haired teen's head snapped up at the warning to see the hornet shooting back down at him from the sky with its stinger out front. Quickly, he manipulated his ghost energy to create a shield around him to repel the bug; the ghostly hornet slammed straight down into the shield and squished down against it at the force of velocity that it had been speeding in before it bounced off. Before Danny managed to whip out and charge the Thermos to capture it, the hornet had vanished without a trace. The ghost boy groaned and uncharged the Thermos as the group trotted over to him.

"That cut looks nasty. Need a band-aid?" Danny could only give Casse a tiny smile but shook his head at her offer. The Halfa sighed in defeat and rose a few inches off the ground with his spectral tail forming from his legs. He had to get the conversation done and over with at the memory of his promise to Lee; all he could hope for was that both Brad and Casse would understand their sister's worry. He'd talk to Sam and Tucker about it later.

"Hey guys. Still looking for trouble?"

"Dude, that hornet passed by us. We weren't looking for trouble, it looked for us." Danny's hand ran through his messy bangs as he shook his head slightly at Brad's refute of his rhetorical question. Sam and Tucker had raised eyebrows sent in his direction and the ghost could only shift his eyes to a side to tell them that he would speak with them after the incident. He turned to the group with the Thermos clutched in his hand.

"Well… even if it did look for you, why'd you run here? I mean, if trouble looks for you, just avoid it like the plague, not chase after it." Brad's eyebrow shot up for a moment before it narrowed down to a frown while Casse gave him a quizzical look at his statement. Danny rubbed the bridge on his nose roughly before he continued, "Ah crud. What I'm trying to say is; can you guys try to run away from the trouble?"

"Lee put you up to this didn't she?" There was no mistaking the fury that was laced in Brad's tone when he shot that enquiry to Danny. Casse's head jerked up in surprise and turned to look at her brother who had a furious look on his face. Sam and Tucker had turned their heads to see the dark look that was darkening with every passing second in his eyes. It was about to turn ugly. Danny sighed and raised his hands up to a surrendering motion with his head tilted downwards to the ground.

"Look, she's just worried for you guys. I'm not doing such a hot job of keeping people safe and it's natural that she asked me to try persuading you guys to not follow me. Especially when I've got a pretty high chance of screwing up."

"You're starting to sound like Danny's sister," Danny's head snapped up and scowled at the comparison while Brad continued, "and we can take care of ourselves. It's not like we're totally dependent on you to keep us safe whenever we come around looking for the ghosts." With that said Brad had turned his heel and strode off in a huff. In his current state of mind, Danny couldn't help but shout out to the blonds' retreating back.

"I don't have a sister! If you're going to talk about me and your friend in the same sentence, then by all means just call me Phantom!" If Brad had heard his words, he made no indication of acknowledging it. Casse pouted at the ground before her head glanced back up to look at Danny. A tiny amount of childish hurt flashed in her eyes as she bade him good day and took off after her brother. Danny merely groaned and rubbed his eyes furiously.

"I'll… talk to you guys later." With that said he floated up into the sky and left Tucker and Sam standing on the ground with looks of confusion spread across their faces. As he rose upwards, Danny couldn't help but mutter bitterly under his breath while clutching the Thermos tightly in his hand.

"Maybe Jazz was right. Maybe I am a loser." He floated above the school and disappeared from Jazz's view from the window inside the said building. The older Fenton sibling was still in her stupor of disbelief before she shook her head violently, promising herself that she would tell her brother about the ghost later when they were at home. Right now, she had more pressing matters at hand. For instance, she needed to find the oldest Angeles sibling and talk to her about their brothers.

The sixteen-year-old walked down the now empty corridors towards Spectra's office. She was surprised to find all the hallways deserted but was far more surprised at what she found when she reached the counselor's office. The door was still shut and quiet chatter could be heard from behind it. It amazed Jazz that despite all the commotion of the ghost bug invading the school that made it clear out in record time, Spectra had paid no heed to it and continued her session.

Jazz leaned against the wall, shifting slightly to rest her back comfortably against it to wait for the session to end. Tapping her foot on the tiled floor in a slow rhythm, she gathered her thoughts together and pieced them together to form whatever she was going to say in the conversation. When ten minutes had passed since she had reached the office, Jazz was starting to get worried and wondered what on earth Spectra was talking to Lee about that would take this long. After a further five minutes passed, the door of the office finally swung open to reveal the head downcast figure of Lee walk out of the room. Jazz's mouth dropped open at the sheer amount of misery that seemed to be radiating off her while Spectra appeared behind the blond and smiled cheerily.

"Now go out there and be a better you! I'm sure you'll succeed!" As soon as that was said, the door slammed shut and Jazz could only wonder if it was truly a good time to speak with the oldest Angeles about their brothers. The blond shifted her duffle bag strap from her shoulder and released a pained sigh from her lips. Jazz noted that Lee seemed so out of it that she (Lee) hadn't noticed her (Jazz) presence yet. From her position at the wall, Jazz got up and walked over to Lee. So as to not scare the blond, the red-head placed her hand on the other girl's shoulder gently to catch her attention. Lee still flinched slightly at the contact since she hadn't noticed Jazz standing and turned to face the older Fenton with a surprised look.

"Hey Lee. How did your session with Dr Spectra go?" A strange look crossed the red-eyed girl's face for a moment before she responded quietly to Jazz's question.

"It was ok I guess… and well, I was sorta wondering if we could talk. You know… about my brother."

"Wow, I was about to ask you to have a talk with me about our brothers. Guess older sisters do think alike. Why don't we find some place comfortable for both of us to talk?" Jazz received a weak smile and nod in return as the two older sisters walked down the corridor.

An uncomfortable silence settled itself between them as they left the empty school ground. It wedged itself in the space that separated them as they walked and grew in size with each step. Jazz didn't like it and the fact that Lee didn't really look forward to striking any sort of conversation in any time made her feel even worse.

"If… If you don't feel like talking now, we can always talk another time Lee. You don't exactly look like you're up to talking right now." The younger girl shook her head and gave yet another weak smile to Jazz as she looked up at her.

"Nah. I think it's better if I get this off my chest before I go home. Besides, I don't really want you to feel threatened about my brother either." Jazz nodded her head in understanding; she too felt the unease of her questions going unanswered and did want to feel that her brother was safe in the company of Brad. Their feet took them to the empty park where Lee immediately headed towards the swing set and sat down on one of the two swings. Jazz followed Lee's example and sat down on the empty seat next to her. Another stretch of silence fell between them and both had opened their mouths to sigh.

"I just don't know where to start…" The two jerked their heads up to look at each other in surprise at their synchronization. The simultaneous action was then followed by their laughter that finally ended the uncomfortable atmosphere that had been laid between them. A more comfortable silence settled itself around them before Jazz spoke up from her seat.

"Why don't you start first? I'd like to know more about you and your family. Other than knowing that you come from Gotham, have a single parent dad who works at Wayne Enterprise and two younger triplet siblings; I don't know anything else about you." Another laugh escaped Lee's lips as she gently rocked on the swing with the toes of her boots grazing the ground with every swing. The blond didn't answer Jazz straight away, choosing to lower her gaze to the ground in thought before replying.

"Well… depends on what you want to know. Do you need my whole life biography in chronological order?" Jazz released a laugh from her throat, smiling at the faint note of teasing in the younger girl's voice in speaking her last sentence and shook her head.

"No, just some background and basics of you guys would be fine." For a while, the creaking of the swing chains were the only noise that sounded between them and Jazz patiently waited for the other teen to begin her story.

"Gear up, this will probably take a while," Jazz nodded and shifted about in her seat to stay comfortable as Lee continued speaking.

"Well as you've said, we were born and bred in Gotham. We stayed with our Godfather, Bruce Wayne, in his mansion from as far as I can remember until we were about seven when we moved into an apartment downtown of Gotham. The only reason why we've got such a big house here is because Uncle Bruce insisted on it. Dad would've been satisfied with a simple four bedroom apartment to house us."

Jazz folded her hands on her lap, keeping her ear sharp and ready to listen to the details Lee was talking about. The other girl finally took off from the ground on the swing and allowed it to sway back and forth as she took in another deep breath to continue.

"Even though we didn't see much of our dad when we were younger, Brad and Casse weren't so resentful of him back then. Actually, I have absolutely no clue as to how they came to resent him so badly when we turned ten. Alfred's constantly told us that dad never liked to be a charity case, so he worked himself from the bottom of Wayne Enterprise to almost the top to repay Uncle Bruce for housing us. I don't know the exact reason to why Uncle Bruce was housing us in the first place though."

"Could I interrupt?" Lee looked up from her gaze to see Jazz's hand raised like a student asking a teacher for a hall pass, "Don't you have any other relatives to live with?"

"Nope. Uncle Bruce said that my dad's side of the family is better left unspoken about. But I do know that my mom's an only child and my grandparents; her parents, died when we were about two years old." Jazz nodded, accepting the answer and let her hand fall back to her lap to allow Lee to carry on.

"In regards to my siblings… to be honest, Brad wasn't always such a bad-ass, sarcastic and smart mouthed Goth or even a Goth in the first place. I don't exactly know what made him change so drastically." Lee once again looked up from her downcast gaze to give Jazz a quirky smile.

"Would you believe me if I told you that Brad was actually a very shy boy? He always hid behind me whenever strangers came up to us. Sure, he had sarcastic comments and could be a bit of a smart mouth, but Goth and bad-ass? Nah." The older teen tapped her index finger on her chin, imagining the current image of the Goth boy hiding behind his sister and shyly peeking out from behind her to observe the stranger. Jazz burst into a fit of giggles at the image. It seemed a hundred percent impossible and was much too strange. A chuckle emerged from Lee's throat at Jazz's response before she looked upwards to the sun in the sky.

"But Brad's a good kid. He wouldn't do anything bad… well except for chase after trouble. He developed a 'penchant' in looking for action when we were ten, which would get him into trouble; but other then that, there's nothing else really."

The two girls sat there on the swings; both lapsed into a comfortable silence as the sun painted the sky in a mixture of orange and red. Lee's feet gently rocked the swing back and forth, waiting for Jazz to strike her part of the conversation. The other teen was slowly processing the information and sunk deep into her thoughts, gathering her thoughts together to speak.

"Well… I guess all I can do is to believe you when you say that. I know how it feels to have a sibling who changes drastically. I don't know if Danny told you guys, but he was caught in an accident with one of our parents' inventions about three months ago. Has he showed you the ghost portal?" Lee tilted her head towards Jazz's direction and nodded her head, remembering the strange green swirl within the confines of the hole in the wall in the basement of the Fenton home.

"Danny got caught up in an electric surge that passed through the portal. In fact, he was inside of it when it happened. He hasn't really been the same since and I wish that he would talk to me about it… but somehow all I seem to be doing is making it worse. I'd do anything, absolutely anything, to make sure that Danny's out of harm's way. Call it the older sibling complex, but I really hate to see him hurt in any way."

"Wow. Big sisters do think and act alike; I feel the same way. Brad doesn't talk to me either and I started to think that I'm one very lousy sister. But in my case, it's been almost four years and not three months when it comes to when we've stopped talking."

"Actually, Danny and I stopped talking about six years ago." Lee's face twisted into a wince at Jazz's correction, much to the older girl's amusement.

"Ouch. I take it back." The girls giggled and grinned at each other. Both chattered about their siblings and of any strange occurrences in their childhood before settling down to gaze at the sun that was setting in the sky. Dusk had approached them and night would soon reign. Lee hopped off the swing and got to her feet, dusting the dust off her jeans and shouldered her duffle bag.

"Well, I'd better head back home. I don't want those two to go starving without dinner."

"Wow, they are pretty dependent on you Lee; you do almost everything for them!" The blond winked and waggled her finger at Jazz.

"Everything but their homework and cleaning their rooms. Besides, we still have chore rotation too. I try to have my own social life and on the contrary to most people's beliefs, the three of us are not attached to the hip in any literal terms."

"Oo… Do tell me more next time." They dissolved into giggles at their teasing exchange before parting ways from the park. Jazz felt much better after talking to Lee, she didn't have to feel that Brad was a bad influence despite his outward behavior. The red-head smiled and went on her way back home. Now she could talk to Danny about that ghost sighting that happened in the school earlier in the day…

* * *

Jazz's attempt at understanding her brother the night before had been disastrous. He had managed to turn the tables on her when she had called their parents to talk to him. Instead of their parents sitting down and having a discussion with him, she got lectured for not telling them about the ghost sighting in school. She had to sit through her father's blathering about the new portable Fenton Ghost Peeler. Sometimes she really thought that younger brothers were such pains in the butt, but that hadn't deterred her from her quest to finding out exactly what her brother's problem was and cornered his two childhood friends at their lockers in the morning.

The middle Angeles sibling wasn't with them since he had been due for his appointment with Spectra and Casse was down the corridor, digging through her locker for her books. Danny was by the water fountain grabbing a drink and Lee was nowhere to be found. Jazz's first priority of the morning was to grill Sam and Tucker about her brother.

"Haven't you guys noticed that he's changed?"

"Well duh. Time changes people." Jazz scowled at Sam's sarcastic retort and folded her arms. The older teen wasn't getting the answers she wanted, much to her chagrin; Sam kept a similar scowl on her face and stood up to her defiantly. Jazz turned her head to look over to Tucker who surprisingly kept his face carefully neutral while the two girls butted heads with each other. She noted that the jovial boy had changed as well, not so much of a loud mouth as he used to be like she remembered. Tucker had been like an open book she could read with no problem but now it was as if the book had shut and refused to reveal its contents unless she pried it open with a crowbar.

"Look Jazz, we're Danny's friends. That means we keep his secrets and whatever he tells us from others. I'm afraid that includes you too." Jazz held up a twenty dollar bill and Tucker in turn, gave her an exasperated look. "Oh come on, do you really think I'm still that much of a money minded person to give up my friend for cash? That really hurts Jazz."

'_Note to self: never tr__y bribing Tucker with money again if I want him to talk about Danny.'_ Jazz was honestly surprised that Tucker had changed that much; even Sam had a look of surprise flash over her face at Tucker's response to the bribe. The Goth then pushed the bill back into Jazz's bag and looked at the red-head straight in the eye.

"We've all got our problems Jazz. I know you're worried but Danny's ok; he keeps some things to himself. But it's not like he's doing anything criminal." The minute the words left Sam's lips, the wail of the fire alarm blared through the school, making them turn to see that the strap of Danny's backpack had triggered the said alarm. They had no time to ponder how the strap of his bag was caught at the alarm's handle when the sprinklers above them released the water, soaking them from head to toe.

Twenty minutes later, the entire school with the inclusion of firefighters and police officers were all openly glaring at the one boy who caused the chaos. Even his two best friends and the triplets were glaring at him. Danny protested loudly that he had done absolutely nothing to cause the accident when Lancer dished out his punishment.

"A month's detention?! But I didn't even do anything!" A pointed glare from the overweight teacher screamed 'oh really?' straight in the teen's face until Spectra came totting up to Lancer with her ever present smile.

"Hey! Mr. Lancer, it was just an accident!" Before the bald teacher could respond, the red-head had flounced over to a soaking wet Danny and pointed at him.

"But we're going to take that accident and make it an 'acci-don't'! And learn from it so it never happens again." Danny looked absolutely mortified at the counselor's suggestion of punishment and shook his head vigorously. He'd rather spend a month in detention then to have another session with Spectra. Before Danny could protest against it, Lancer had cut him off.

"No 'buts' Mr. Fenton. You could learn a little bit more about school spirit from Ms Spectra. When I was in school I was given the same advice; and look how I turned out!" Looks of disgust and apprehension were traded between the onlookers as Lancer pranced about. A voice could be heard muttering from the background, oozing with much sarcasm.

"Yea right. Turned out to be a hairless lump of fat bouncing around school halls with sickening spirit cheer." Lancer halted in mid-prance and turned to face the speaker with a glare. Brad folded his arms across his chest and returned the glare back defiantly with his wet mop of blond plastered over his face. Casse blinked at her brother's smart mouthed statement while Lee rubbed her temples in agony. This wasn't going to end very well.

"Well now. You've just seen Ms Spectra this morning, and I don't think she'll mind seeing you again to teach you about school spirit along with Mr. Fenton, Mr. Angeles."

"Whoopie. Should I praise a high deity for such a _wonderful_ opportunity?" Danny snorted and immediately slapped his hand over his mouth to hide the growing grin on his lips. Even though they were going to be serving punishment, Danny tried thinking optimistically. Surely Spectra wouldn't be too bad at punishment… Right?

* * *

Danny found himself to be sorely mistaken when he found himself in Spectra's office ten minutes later dressed in his shirt with his pants replaced with a baby diaper; a top hat adorned the top of his head and a sash over his shirt with the word 'Spirit' written across it. But to be frank, it didn't look half as bad as Brad's punishment.

Spectra had stuffed the blond into one of the Casper High cheerleaders' uniform; in all its horrifying pink glory with bright pink pompoms to match. Good bye masculinity and hello femininity. To say Brad was not pleased would be a severe understatement and Danny wisely kept his mouth shut. He did have to say that Brad did look pretty good in the uniform; he had the legs and figure to pull it off.

"And how is this to teach us about school spirit?" The pale boy deadpanned at the counselor who merely smiled and clapped her hands together. Danny had never seen Spectra so gleeful before, but maybe it was because she made Brad look as if he could pass off as a girl. A very skimpy looking one with how short the skirt was.

"Danny's going to overcome his fear of being called a baby and you've got to be in a cheerleader's shoes to learn about spirit!" Danny blinked for a moment before scowling up at her from his seat on the chair.

"Uh what? I'm not afraid of being called a baby!" After a short pause he rested his cheek on his hand, "I'm… afraid of being called a loser."

"Ah… and therein lies the problem. You care too much about what other people think." A pointed look was sent at Spectra and she glanced up to see Brad glowering at her. The other teen had his arms folded across his chest and tapping his now booted foot on the tiled floor impatiently.

"When you say in their shoes, it doesn't have to be in literal terms. Didn't Lancer say he was a fricking cheerleader in his time of studying here? Isn't there a male cheerleader uniform instead of this skimpy thing?"

"I'm sorry dear, but Mr. Lancer's lost his old uniform and this was the biggest size the girls had!"

"Yea right. Then why did it have an 's' on the tag then?" Before Spectra could reply him, Dash's voice boomed from the corridor.

"Hey, where do you want these put Ms…" The three jocks that appeared at Spectra's office doorway halted in their tracks; looks of shock splayed over their faces before Dash's shock morphed into one of pure glee and malice. Despite the fact he had been downcast the day before, this was a good cheer and payback for him.

"Hey guys, check it out! It's the Casper High Spirit Baby and Cheerleader Girly boy!" The three burst into roars of laughter and Brad scowled angrily before turning his face away from them. Danny groaned and hid his face behind his hands, muffling his words.

"Of course I care about what other people think…" Unknown to the boys (both laughing and sulking ones), Spectra placed her hand on both Danny and Brad's shoulders, smiling gleefully as the wrinkles on her face faded out of existence.

* * *

The humiliating school day had finally ended and the five outcasts were found sitting at the ice-cream parlor in the mall, with the mood exceptionally bleak as the two boys sulked in their seats. Sam had offered to treat the group with the cold dessert but was declined by Danny and Brad while Casse and Tucker dove in at the mention of ice-cream. The three licked the cream of their frozen treat and watched the two sulking boys carefully from their seats.

"Man. It was brutal making you wear the baby suit and the cheerleader uniform. Tough on the eyes, but it looks ok in digital pictures!" Tucker's attempt at mellowing the atmosphere failed when he felt two glares pierce from his sides from the two boys. With the inclusion of the fact that he had shown them the pictures that he had taken of them earlier in the day on his PDA, the glares had intensified ten-fold.

"If you don't delete that now, I'll make sure that your PDA will look like it never existed when I get my hands on it." The African American boy threw his hands up in a surrendering gesture to quickly pacify the agitated blond and could feel Danny's scowl poking at his back at the same time.

"Yea! Who's side are you on anyway?!"

"Oh come on you guys, you know Tucker's only kidding!" Both glares had softened at Sam's reprimand. Brad averted his eyes away from the group and Danny allowed his head to thump onto the table in frustration.

"I know… Sorry. I've just been feeling so miserable and angry nowadays. That shrink was supposed to be helpful; but I've been feeling even worse since going to see her." Casse's eyes flitted back and forth between the two boys and tried to change the topic.

"Um… anyone know where Fairy went? I didn't manage to catch her after school." Casse squeaked and scuttled over Tucker's lap to sit next to Danny when she felt her brother's eyes glaring at her from the side at her mentioning their older sister. Before Sam could question him about the sour look, Jazz had walked up to them.

"Hey guys, if you're looking for Lee, she stayed behind at school today to talk to Ms. Spectra. She was mumbling about how unorthodox punishments should be banned from the school. So how's it going Danny?" Danny raised his eyebrow at her with another scowl printed on his face.

"Like you care. Just go away Jazz." A blue wisp of air escaped his lips and Danny wanted nothing more but to curse whatever deity that had a riot against him. His eyes quickly flitted to search his surroundings and fell towards the make-up counter where Paulina was excessively primping her face. The round green glob of a ghost Danny had encountered the day before in Spectra's office flew upwards from the floor and behind the Latino girl. He needed an excuse but Danny didn't know if his toilet excuse could hold out another time against his sister. He had to think fast.

"I'm not going to stay in the same vicinity as she is. Catch you guys later." He leapt up from his seat and quickly headed out the backdoor of the mall; hearing Jazz's 'didn't he just tell me to go away?' faintly in the background as he 'stomped' off. Unfortunately he didn't hear his sister calling out to him after saying that and chasing after him after he had walked through the door. Sam and Tucker had both caught on to his action but couldn't think of any way of shaking Casse and Brad off them without raising any suspicion.

Jazz quickly dashed after her brother from the back door of the mall, hoping to catch him before he avoided her once again. She grabbed the handle of the door that lead to the back alley but froze in place once she caught sight of Danny giving his surroundings a quick glance before it happened.

A ring of blue light appeared from his waist and split into two, one traveling up his body and the other traveling downwards. His normal day wear was replaced by a black and white hazmat suit while his raven hair turned white and his baby blue eyes now glowed green. The red-head gasped in shock at the end transformation, it was no longer Danny Fenton standing in the back alleyway but rather Danny Phantom, the very same ghost boy that had saved her the day before from the ghost bug. There had been no time for Jazz to react as Danny quickly took to the skies and flew out of sight.

Jazz's head was buzzing furiously with all the newfound information of what she had just witnessed. Her brother. Her baby brother was a ghost. How was that even possible? Jazz immediately thought back to any conversation she had with him or his friends before the connection clicked. Tucker had mentioned that they as his friends, kept Danny's secrets for him; Sam had told her that Danny just needs to keep some things to himself. And ever since the accident back three months ago…

'_Oh god, oh god, oh god…'_ Jazz started to chant in her internal panic. How could she have been so stupid, so blind? That would explain all the injuries that he sustained even if he hadn't been seen around the ghost attacks. That cut on his arm the night before; he had said he hadn't seen the ghost bug, so why did he have that injury that the ghost boy had received? It all started to make sense to her as the pieces of the puzzle that was her brother finally fell into place. All she needed to do now was to solidify her evidence and she quickly tore after Danny in the direction where he had left.

Shrieks and screams entered her ears as Jazz ran to the front of the mall where the people were hurriedly evacuating the building. The teen quickly squeezed through the crowd and hoisted herself up to one of the windows to peer at the battle scene. Danny looked like he was fighting a large green blob that somehow morphed into a jaguar; snarling and outstretching its claws menacingly. Jazz also noticed that Sam, Tucker, Brad and Casse were nearby him and hadn't run away from the battle. She quickly took note that there was a possibility that Brad and Casse would know her brother's identity but firmly squashed it down to watch the scene unfolding in front of her.

The jaguar had leapt up straight at Danny who had immediately tried to get out of the way but hadn't been able to do so in time. Jazz winced at the tear of the hazmat suit at his stomach and saw the fabric that had been torn off was now wedged between the teeth of the grinning green jaguar. She saw the four teens throw various scattered items at the jaguar from their positions, causing it to roar viciously and pounce over to them. Now Jazz flinched as the jaguar slashed Casse's arm with its claws, head-butted Tucker in the stomach and bit down on Brad's ankle before Danny punched it in the jaw to make it release Brad and keep a distance away from the group.

Danny had tackled the ghostly animal and the two rolled on the floor in a fight of strength which Danny ultimately lost. The Halfa found himself pinned down on the ground by the jaguar with its paws pressing down on his wrists. From her position, Jazz couldn't make out the words that seemed to be coming out of the ghost's mouth but her brother's reaction had been explosive. She faintly heard his 'Do not call me a loser!' through the window as he kicked the jaguar off his body and fired a lethal ghost ray at where it landed. Unfortunately, the ghost dodged and the ghost ray almost disintegrated the glass cabinet that had been there prior.

The animal was mouthing something again before it returned to its ghostly green blob and disappeared into the ceiling. Jazz ducked her head from the window and raced over to the entrance to overhear the conversation in the now trashed mall.

"I hope they have insurance."

"Great, he got away again and you guys got injured! What were you all thinking?!" The agitation in his voice was palpable as Jazz saw him viciously point at the slashes and bite marks on the two Angeles. "Now do you know what I mean when I say I have a high chance of screwing up? Your sister is going to throw a fit at these!"

"Hey Jazz, what's going on? I saw people running away from here." Jazz flinched and looked up guiltily to see Lee hovering above her squatting figure by the door. She placed a finger to her lips and pointed to the crack of the door and Lee realized what had occurred. Before she could attempt at pushing the door open to go in, Brad's voice cut through the air like a knife to a piece of meat as he snapped back against Danny.

"Well Pixie and I don't need Lee to look after us! We look after ourselves well enough!"

"And getting yourselves bitten, slashed and head-butted at counts as looking after yourselves well enough? You gotta be kidding!"

"God! Maybe you don't know what it's like to have an older sibling who's forever smothering us as if she's our mom! It's so irritating that I'd wish I never had an older sister if it means I'll get some peace and freedom from her!"

Jazz flinched and quickly twisted her head to see Lee's reaction. The blonds' hand that hovered at the door started to shake violently with her eyes wide and blinking rapidly. The hand quickly withdrew away from the door and the oldest Angeles had quietly bade Jazz good bye before she dashed away from the vicinity. Jazz was torn between following her and staying to continue listening to the conversation. Her curiosity won out when she heard Danny spit out viciously.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But your sister takes off her social life to hang around with you; even in meeting me! This whole mess," Danny waved his arm around the destroyed mall, "is a ringing endorsement for the town screw up. I don't blame her for wanting to look out for you guys because I'm technically not a very good protector!"

With that said, Danny flew upwards and through the ceiling before heading off into the sky. Jazz watched sadly at his retreating figure from the ground; she needed her time and he needed his. She'd try to talk to him later at home.

* * *

Danny internally scowled with himself as he flew above the town. God he was being such a hypocrite. He backs Lee up but tells his own sister to leave him alone; he contradicted almost everything he says between his two separate forms and it was starting to give him a headache. He grudgingly told himself that he should give Jazz a chance and he'd talk with her at dinner when he got home. Or at least acknowledge her worry for him without snapping at her. He definitely had to practice what he preached.

Just as he was flying over the Amity River, Danny spotted a crouched figure at the fountain and frowned; whoever was there at that time in that position made it look like it was a potential suicide case. Danny wanted that avoided and quickly flew downwards to check it out. It was a borderline of shock and surprise when he got a closer look at the crouched figure to find that it was in fact, Lee. He found it even more irking that she looked so miserable that he felt that he had to do something to cheer her up. If any one of his other friends were in the same position, he'd still do the same; even for Sam despite the fact that she was a Goth and was usually in a sour mood anyway.

He floated beside her figure and stopped his hand from touching her shoulder in apprehension. He wasn't in such a good mood either and yet here he was going to attempt to cheer a friend up. Sometimes Danny thought that he was seriously one messed up kid who couldn't help himself but help others instead. He shook his head from those pesky thoughts and focused on the matter at hand.

Gently, he placed his hand on Lee's shoulder to catch her attention and frowned when she didn't respond to the touch. He applied a wee bit more pressure on her shoulder and the girl finally blinked and twisted her neck to look up to see him.

"Oh… Hi Phantom. Busy day?" Danny blinked slightly at the resignation that laced in her voice as she spoke and frowned; her eyes looked much too blank for his liking but decided to just play along and keep the girl company. Danny floated cross-legged beside her by the fountain and pretended to ponder.

"Hm… pretty much. A ghost attacks, I screw up, they leave and then I mope around about my failure. Yep. Busy day." A hollow chuckle was his only response and Danny placed his hand back on Lee's shoulder to look straight into her eyes that reflected her earlier laugh, "What's with your gloomy look? You look even worse than I do."

Hesitation had flashed in her eyes and Danny noticed the blond biting her lip in thought; She looked torn between spewing everything out or to keep her worries to herself. Much to his dismay, Lee went with the latter decision and shook her head at him, "It's nothing."

An awkward silence filed in between them as the sun roamed high in the sky. Danny averted his eyes away from Lee's depressed expression and pondered about his dilemma of hypocrisy. Perhaps listening to another older sister's point of view could help him in understanding his own sister. From his levitated distance from the girl, Danny lifted his hand and poked at her shoulder. He finally got his hand swatted away by her hand with a slightly annoyed look thrown in his direction after a minute or so. He grinned impishly and quickly dodged the playful swipe of her hand that lashed out at him. The ghost boy then floated back to his original position with a tilt of his head to Lee's direction.

"Say, you're Brad and Casse's 'older' sister right?" Lee's expression twisted into a quizzical look but nodded in confirmation to his question. "Well... think I could know your views on your younger siblings? Or like… any idea of how the 'older sibling' mechanism work?"

"Why the sudden interest? Do you… I mean, did you have an older sister? I mean before… you know…" Danny waved his hand off at her stuttered query but nodded to state that yes, he does/did have a sister. He wasn't really lying about that part, but only on putting it in the past or present tense. He watched as Lee uncurled from crouched position and flung her legs out to be stretched. She allowed her legs to dangle some inches off the ground from her seat at the fountain while a thoughtful look crossed her face; trying to find some way of summarizing the 'older sibling mechanisms' to Danny.

"It's kind of hard to explain, but it's something like that voice talking to you at the back of your head. I don't know if it's our conscious or something else. But sort of… that need to make sure that our siblings are ok, ya know? Like we feel responsible for their well-being and we have this urge to protect them from anything and everything. We worry about them almost like a mother fussing over her child." Danny's gaze continued to train on her expression while Lee paused for a moment before continuing.

"I think it's comparable to the urge to protect family and friends. Like some act of heroism from a normal civilian that isn't really recognized like the heroic act from a super hero. It's unexplainable, but the urge is always there. No matter how much we as older siblings are tossed aside, we'll always have that urge to protect our younger siblings as long as we've had that link that chains us to them; even if it becomes strained as the years pass. I guess it also depends on how close we feel to our siblings and the strength of the bond that we have now or once had."

"So… how far would you go to protect Brad and Casse?" Lee swung her legs up and hugged her knees close to her chest before turning her head to look at Danny with a sad expression clouding her eyes.

"Far enough to kill if it meant that my siblings will be safe."

Danny floated on the spot in silence. He was stunned at her brutally honest reply to his question before bending his head to the gaze at the ground, mulling over her words. He found the similarities of siblings to super heroes; being that both had that urge of protecting those who were dear to them with the exception that super heroes had much more power to protect more people. The Halfa found himself able to understand his sister's worry for him when he compared her attitude to his own when he was reprimanding his friends. A ghost of a smile graced his lips. And he had been such a jerk and hypocrite towards her. Hopefully he'd be able to change that tonight; he was going to try to not take Jazz for granted anymore and cherish her presence, no matter how irritating or snobbish she may seem.

"Thanks for the insight Lee; it was really interesting and thought provoking. Although…" Lee raised an eyebrow at Danny's trailed off sentence; the other teen grinned and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I really get sidetracked. Dang, here I was wanting to cheer you up and instead you help me out in my thoughts. I suck."

A wave of laughter overcame Lee as she covered her mouth with her hand to stifle the said noise from her mouth. The bleach haired boy stuck his pink tongue out at her which was returned back to him with equal childishness. Danny unfolded his legs and stretched out like a cat which had just woken from its nap. Lee giggled at the mental image of white cat ears poking out of his hair and a white tail curling out from his posterior. It was an impossibly adorable illustration.

"Well, it's getting dark and shouldn't you be at home now little missy?" The blond rolled her eyes at his teasing tone and released her legs from her crouched position again. She then leapt to her feet and grabbed her duffle bag that was lying on the ground before turning to face Danny.

"Ah well, thanks for trying anyway. Glad I could help you Phantom. Take care of yourself!"

"Don't tell me that when you need to take care of yourself. That gloomy mood better be gone if I see you tomorrow!"

"Sure it will and I'm not the super hero around here!"

Danny dissolved into a fit of laughter at her refute and waved to her retreating back as she jogged down the pavement and towards her home. After stretching his stiff limbs for another time, he flew up into the sky and into the direction of Fenton Works. He was down and ready to sit and have a nice long talk with his sister by the time he reached home.

* * *

Danny had never felt so invigorated in a very long time. His talk with Jazz the night before had gone well and would have proceeded further if it hadn't been for their parents making explosions with the new Fenton Ghost Peeler in the living room. The conversation between his parents had made him lose his drive to continue talking to his sister ('I'm just saying that if we find that ghost at Jazz's school, we're going to peel that ghost like an onion!', 'Well we can't completely vaporize it, don't you at least want to examine the remains?'). Even so, he felt refreshed and ready for a new day of school despite the looming danger of being stuffed into his locker by Dash in the morning.

However, when the trio arrived in school, they were met with the image of contradiction to school spirit. Almost everyone looked absolutely downright miserable with their postures slouched and worry lines etched below their eyes.

Quietly they threaded through the crowd of miserable teenagers and towards their lockers. Brad was shuffling through his locker as they approached Danny's locker and they were greeted with his usual 'Sup?' and casual wave of his hand. Sam couldn't help but comment on the dreary atmosphere that was conquering the school.

"Is it me, or is this the worst spirit week in the history of Casper High spirit weeks?"

"I wouldn't know." Sam rolled her eyes and threw her book at Brad's head, hitting the back of his head and making the blond scowl at her for the attack as he slammed his locker door shut. Brad roughly kicked Sam's book that lay at his feet over to her on the floor, making the other Goth scowl at him for dirtying her book before bending down to pick it up. Before she could stake her revenge, Paulina and Valerie walked past them with heavy slouches to their backs with multiple worry lines etched across their faces.

Danny blinked, never before having seen Paulina in such a state of disarray with her hair fuzzed and unkempt and looking absolutely miserable. Her conversation with Valerie made his head turn to follow their footsteps and blink his eyes even more rapidly.

"Did you know that wrinkles can start emerging as early as your mid-twenties?"

"Oh that is going to require so much more make-up!"

The rest of the group's head turned to look at the retreating backs of the two A List girls, eyebrows raised in confusion. They offered shrugs to each other before trotting over to Lee and Casse's lockers. Danny noticed that Brad was limping slightly and caught a flash of the bandage wrapped around his foot when his jeans flared upwards. As they passed by more depressed students, Jazz trotted past them with a cheery smile etched on her lips and greeted them before moving off to her class. Brad's eyebrow rose upwards again at her cheery attitude.

"What the heck is she so happy about?"

"Maybe it's because today's the day she does that speech on school spirit later." Danny replied to the blond with a laugh. The rest turned to look at Danny with strange expressions on their faces and the Halfa couldn't help but inch backwards slightly at the looks directed at him, "What?"

"You seem… much happier. And you're not being snippy when we're talking about Jazz." Tucker pointed out. It was the state of the obvious thing and Tucker thought that his best friend would have at least picked that up with their looks at him. They watched as Danny blinked for a moment before his lips curved and formed the shape of an 'o' in understanding. Took him long enough.

"Oh, that! I had a talk with Jazz last night and everything's pretty much smoothed out between us. I just have to get used to her poking her nose into my business once in a while to check up on me." Tucker laughed at Danny's joking tone while the other two just blinked at the raven head before blinking at each other. It was relatively fast that Danny had changed his mind about his sister; especially when it had been less than 24-hours ago that he had asked her to leave him alone at the mall.

The group went back to walking towards the other two blonds' lockers to see Lee leaning against her locker and tapping her foot on the floor in a gentle rhythm. At the sight of them walking up to her, the dark blond pushed herself off the lockers and waved to them in greeting.

"Morning guys. Casse's having her appointment with Dr. Spectra right now…"

"Not anymore." The group turned their heads to where Tucker was pointing at to see a gloomy looking Casse walk towards them. The usual bounce in her step was missing and the mischievous spark that lit in her eyes also made a disappearance. The corners of Danny's lips quirked up slightly when Lee instantly shifted over and placed her hand on her sister's shoulders when the other stopped beside her, enquiring for the reason for Casse's gloom with a worried look over her face.

Casse shifted her feet nervously with her eyes darting from side to side; hesitation evident in her actions. The group watched quietly as the youngest triplet fumbled with her bag strap before looking up to her sister pleadingly.

"Um… sis? Could I… skip class? I don't feel like going right now…"

"Pixie, not feeling like going to class is not a valid excuse and you know that." Casse mumbled an apology under her breath while Lee sighed in resignation and patted the other blonds' head, "Tell you what; I'll go talk with Lancer and say you're not feeling too good and take you to the nurse's office. But you'll still have to come back to class later ok?" The other girl started to prod her two index fingers together before meekly piping up.

"Um… Then… could you stay with me Fairy?" Looks of surprise flashed across everyone's face and directed themselves to the nervous girl who shuffled her feet about with her gaze trained on the floor. Sam noticed that the youngest Angeles was flushed in embarrassment with a tiny hue of red that was slowly rising from her cheeks. The look of surprise vanished from Lee's face as her lips twisted into a gentle smile and nodded her head.

"Sure thing Pixie. Come on, let's go find Lancer and get you to the nurse's office." Casse's eyes perked up slightly and nodded in agreement. Lee turned to the rest of the group, "Well, I guess we'll catch you all later during lunch or hopefully in an earlier period."

"Yea, we'll get the homework and notes for the both of you. Don't worry and feel better Casse!" Tucker gleefully smacked the sapphire eyed girl's shoulder lightly after the words left Danny's lips and got a kick in the knee in retaliation. Brad had folded his arms across his chest with a heavy scowl playing on his lips. Before his sisters turned to leave, he finally spoke up from his silence.

"What the hell did that crazy old hag talk to you about that's made you this," Brad waved his hand at Casse's slightly slouched posture and gloomy expression, "beat down? That hag's got to be a fraud. Almost the entire populace of the school gets doomed and gloomed in less than three days."

Brad's words slammed into Danny's ears and his eyes widened, as if he had figured out a revelation that would change the world… or rather the school. His head spun with the different number of possibilities and counter-reasons to it when he finally stopped at a single thought. His brows furrowed while he pondered over the thought and hadn't realized that Brad had left the group to accompany his sisters to see Lancer. Sam had smacked his head with her book to finally break him out of his thoughts. Danny blinked for a moment before turning over to Tucker, ignoring the throbbing pain on the top of his head where Sam's book had impacted on.

"Hey Tuck, you still have those photos of yesterday in your PDA?" Tucker blinked at his abrupt question before he fished out his PDA from his pocket. Danny immediately made a beeline for the device and flicked through the files; ignoring his best friend's indignant 'Hey!' after he had grabbed the electronic device from Tucker's hands.

After a quick browse of the files, Danny found the picture he had been looking for. Although as embarrassing as it was, it was the one of him in the baby suit from the day before. He quickly found what he was looking for in the picture and smirked in triumph. Sam saw this smirk and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What sort of revelation did you find out about that's made you actually give a smirk that can mirror Brad's?" Danny quickly clicked the file, enlarged the digital photograph and pointed out the trail of evidence that could very well lead to unveiling Spectra.

"See this? I kept on thinking that all I was seeing was my breath and that it was just cold around the school." His piece of evidence on the screen was the wisp of blue air that had escaped his mouth in the picture before he continued his hypothesis, "What if Spectra's purposely making the students more miserable? What if… she's a ghost?"

The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place and Tucker and Sam listened intently to Danny's hypothesis that was made from his observations of the days prior. The two pondered over Danny's words for a moment. All Danny lacked now was solid evidence and Sam knew just the thing that would help.

"Hey Tucker. Your appointment is later on today right?" The dark skinned boy nodded in confirmation and the Goth continued, "There's only one way for us to find out if Spectra really is a ghost. You'll need to go in and Danny will have to come in right after you leave the office." Tucker frowned for a moment before snapping his fingers.

"Wait, isn't your appointment right after mine? Lancer said that we could pair up in going to see her so it could work better because we may be able to see through her words. When she directs them at any one of us that is." Sam nodded, voicing her agreement to Tucker's suggestion and the two turned to look at Danny who looked thoughtful.

"Well alright. Just make sure you guys don't get into too much trouble in there."

"Come on Danny. Even if she is a ghost, she can't hurt us in school. It'll be too conspicuous if she does that. Besides, how bad can it be?"

* * *

In the second last period of the school day, Tucker and Sam had left their class for their appointment with Spectra. Since the last period of the day was dedicated to Jazz and her spirit week speech, things were going forward a period. As the students filed out of the classroom in the middle of the period to keep their books in their lockers and head for the indoor basketball court; Danny managed to give an excuse to the triplets of waiting for the two at Spectra's office and quickly dodged past them.

In the boy's bathroom, the Halfa quickly transformed into his ghost half and turned both invisible and intangible to float in the emptying corridor at Spectra's office. When the throng of students dispersed, the door to the red-head's office swung open and Danny flinched at the sight of his two best friends looking utterly depressed out of their minds.

"I hate my life." Tucker muttered out, dragging his feet on the floor as he and Sam walked out of the office.

"I hate your life more." The Goth whimpered slightly, following him down the corridor and to the court where the students were congressing. Spectra had come out to stand at the doorway to her office with her sickly smile and waved cheerily at their retreating backs.

"Buh bye! As I've told the other kids who came in pairs, there only an 'I' in misery if you spell it that way!" With that said, the door slammed shut and Danny took his chance to dash right in; all the while remaining intangible and invisible. Just as he had entered, Danny furiously clamped his mouth shut to avoid making any noise at the sight of Spectra breathing in a green mist that surrounded her head. He vaguely noticed that her wrinkles had decreased in number and her skin started to look much younger. The red-head gleefully sat on the edge of her table and Danny did what he was there to do; observe.

"Man that felt good! I'm going to miss these kids," Danny watched quietly from his position as Spectra flipped through the files of his two friends, "they're a waterfall of misery."

As soon as she said those words, the very same green blob of a ghost that Danny had been fighting against for the past few days appeared from the side wall and morphed into her assistant Bertrand. Danny clenched his fists tightly after witnessing the transformation at the realization that smacked him across the face. Of course! Who else would want to make him even more miserable after his battles than Spectra's little sidekick? The pieces finally melded into place and the entire picture was now crystal clear; now all he had to figure out was their plans.

"There you are. Did you hook up the device?" Spectra looked too gleeful for Danny's liking and continued to listen to their conversation intently. Bertrand snorted and smiled a gleeful smirk that mirrored Spectra's excited one.

"Of course! And when the spirit sparklers go on and vaporize the only chirpy kid left in the school, there'll be enough misery in that court to keep us looking young forever!"

Right after the words left the ghost's lips, the bell rang shrilly; startling the three occupants in the office and signaling the end of the period and the start of the next. Bertrand and Spectra exchanged looks of excitement as they held their hands together and the red-head chirped merrily.

"Well, there's the bell. Shall we go hear a speech, and bum some more kids out?" Maniacal laughter rang through the office, echoing and bouncing off the walls before the two confirmed ghosts flashed a bright green light and disappeared through the wall. Danny landed on the floor, turning off his two abilities and thought hard about the conversation that had just taken place.

'_The only chirpy kid left in the school…? Spirit sparklers… wait a minute, that's Jazz!'_ The situation was far worse than he had imagined. Danny was mortified that the two ghosts were going to go as far as to murdering people to get what they want. The malevolent ghosts were on par of being just as dangerous as the super villains that ran amok around the world. The Halfa realized that if he were to be a super hero as he made himself to be, he had to step up to the plate even more into the danger. There would be no more hesitation, no more stunting and less wise cracks. The time was now and it was time to prove to himself that he was worthy enough to be known as a hero.

'_I'll make sure that they'll never touch a __single hair on her head.'_ Danny growled to himself as he quickly followed the two ghosts from the office. The halls were bare with only the sound of Spectra's heeled shoes clanking on the tiled floor further down from where Danny was. Spectra and Bertrand were talking to each other but the Halfa wasted no time or thought to the conversation as he flew up in front of them and shot a ghost ray straight at Bertrand. The attack knocked the stout man off his feet and he flew backwards into the lockers with a crash. Spectra was rooted to the spot as she saw Danny lower himself down to her eye level with an incensed glare sent straight at her.

"Figures that you feed on misery." The ghost woman merely adjusted her sunglasses to hide her eyes and faked a cheery smile of innocence.

"I'm sorry, can I help you?"

"Oh no, I'm definitely sure you can't help me. All that you can and do is to help yourself and only yourself." If Spectra were surprised, it didn't show with her glasses hiding her expression and her mouth staying in its cheery smirk as Danny continued, "You find out the one thing that a kid's most afraid of; their future, looks and confidence just to name a few. And you pick at it continuously while your sniveling little pet feeds on it."

Bertrand released an indignant 'Hey!' at being called Spectra's 'sniveling little pet' and growled angrily. Spectra on the other hand, clapped both her hands together in a round of applause to Danny's spoken deduction with a wide smile spread across her lips. That smile twisted into a more sinister one once her applause had halted.

"Very good… But I'm afraid that you've left out a few details." Spectra's form shifted and morphed into a dark ominous shadow, retaining the style of her hair and most of her body structure with an evil smirk playing across her lips. Before Danny could react, Bertrand had morphed into his jaguar form and tackled him. The two flew through the wall and out of the school building where Bertrand pinned Danny against a tree, grinning in triumph.

"You thought you could stop us? You? You're just a frightened little kid!" The taunts served nothing but to infuriate Danny but the teen didn't lose his cool like he done so the day before. While the claws of the jaguar rushed down to slash at him, Danny called upon his intangibility and went through the tree just as the paw swiped down against the bark of the tree. Confused, Bertrand swiveled his head left and right, not noticing that Danny was rising from the ground with his fist clenched and ready.

The satisfying crunch of fist meeting the underside of Bertrand's chin met Danny's ears as the jaguar flew upwards at the force of the punch and crashed back into the school building. Before the Halfa could search for Spectra, the said ghost had grabbed him from behind, gripping his arms tightly to restrict his movements. An animalistic growl escaped Spectra's throat as she dragged Danny towards the windows of the indoor court.

"Let go of me!" The white haired teen squirmed in her grasp and sent Spectra his most pissed off glare. The ghost took no heed of his actions and merely crackled out.

"What ever for? All that doubt that you harbor… your misery… it's wonderfully delicious!" Danny continued his squirming as Spectra hauled him to the window where he could see the stage clearly where Jazz was standing at behind the podium. The rows of dominos that were laid out in front of her were falling against each other, half-way revealing the two words 'Casper Spirit'. At the end of the domino rows, Danny saw the obvious red button that was the trigger to the spirit sparklers activating and growled angrily as Spectra whispered into his ear.

"As soon as that silly speech is over… and when the last domino falls, activating the spirit sparklers that will vaporize the speaker, it will leave you to shoulder the entire blame! The best part is, by the time I'm finished with you, you'll be sure that it was your entire fault that you couldn't save her!"

Danny squeezed his eyes shut tightly, attempting to ignore her taunting whispers. His conversation with Jazz the night before echoed in his head, freeing him from the taunts that were trying to weave its way through and seize his mind. He growled under his breath as he continued to struggle against Spectra's grip. The grip lessened once Danny released a mighty roar from his throat in defiance to her taunts and freed himself from Spectra's grasp and set his sights on defeating her. The female ghost however, had other plans after she scooted a distance away from the Halfa.

"Oh Bertrand; sic 'em!" Danny twisted his body to look behind him to see the jaguar appear from the walls of the school and launch itself at him. With its claws outstretched and menacing teeth glinting, its leap looked strong and true until Danny lowered his stance and swung his right leg up. His foot connected with Bertrand's stomach while narrowly missing the sharp claws that had aimed for his face. The wind was knocked out of the ghost as he rocketed up into the sky. Danny then grabbed the Thermos attached to his hip, charged it up and sucked the winded ghost in it; all the while with Bertrand screaming a high pitched 'No!' that could have possibly been on par with Technus' own scream.

Once he was capped, Danny shook the Thermos violently in triumph and to emphasize to Spectra that she was now solo against him. The shadow ghost snarled viciously before launching her body to claw Danny herself, "You're through!"

Danny returned the snarl with equal viciousness and dodged her outstretched claws, allowing Spectra to fly past him before he twisted his body to turn the tables against her.

"And you're done telling me what to do!" He grabbed her flaming spectral tail and grunted as he flung her from the air and into a dumpster. At the sheer force of his throw, the dumpster lids slammed shut once Spectra had landed within their confines. Danny smirked triumphantly before a previous thought struck him like a bolt of lightning.

'_Oh no… Jazz!'_ Swiftly, Danny turned himself intangible and invisible before he raced through the school walls and into the court. The last domino was falling from the table and Danny couldn't help but feel that time had gone into slow motion. As he raced towards his sister standing at the podium, the domino fell at the same speed as he was down to the trigger. '

Hastily, he grabbed Jazz by the waist as he shot past her, turning her both intangible and invisible with his abilities at the contact. At the same time as he had done so, the domino slapped onto the trigger and activated the spirit sparklers. The two machines roared to life and shot its deadly rays down at the now empty podium, causing it to explode. The students shot up from their seats in shock and the whole court erupted into chaos. Lancer bellowed at the students to keep calm and to stay in their seats, convincing them that this was all an act that Jazz had set up for her speech.

From the stands, Tucker and Sam wondered if Jazz really intended for this to happen. Lee and Casse's heads were both turning from side to side to find out where Jazz had gone to while Brad simply continued to look disinterested.

Down at the back of the court, Danny gently set Jazz down on her feet and turned off his ghostly abilities. The red-head could only blink at him in surprise while a tiny smile graced his lips at her actions or lack thereof. Before he could open his mouth to speak to her, a pair of black claws clamped down on his shoulders and hauled him away from her and into the storage room behind the court.

He yelped out in pain as the claws of Spectra's slammed him against the wall before she grabbed the Thermos attached his hip and tossed it aside. Danny raised his hand to charge an ecto blast at her when her hand clamped down on his wrist and twisted it behind his back. He grunted in pain as Spectra inched her mouth closer to his ear to have her words echo in his head.

"Look at you… what are you really? A ghost trying to fit in with humans? Or some creepy little boy with creepy little powers?" Danny squeezed his eyes shut once more, not knowing how to answer back to the taunting specter. With Spectra busily taunting him, both ghosts hadn't realized that Jazz had marched up to the storage room with a certain new device her parents had invented in her hands.

"Can't answer? Well I can answer that for you… You're a freak! Not a ghost, not a boy!" Danny cringed as Spectra drained his energy with her taunts hitting him head on and making him feel miserable as much as he tried to resist it. Spectra relinquished her grip on him, making him crash onto the ground before taunting him further, "Who cares for a _thing_ like you?"

"Excuse me." Spectra blinked and twisted her upper body to look over to the older Fenton sibling who stood behind her. A dazed Danny shook his head hard to shake off the wave of dizziness that had overcome him and too looked up at his sister who had a very annoyed expression on her face as she faced Spectra.

"I don't know this kid," Jazz waved her hand at Danny's direction to indicate whom she was talking about, "but I hope it's ok if he gets a second opinion." With that said, Jazz clicked the button her father had directed her to use if activating the portable Fenton Ghost Peeler. The handheld device charged up and set to work, covering her up in a metal suit of armor. The teenager managed to mutter out a simple 'This is weird' before the device finished suiting her up and shot a ray beam from her outstretched arm at Spectra.

The ghost woman screamed in agony as the beam shot through her figure, literally peeling Spectra from her shadow form to her youthful human form. It didn't end there as the ray continued to rush pass her and peel off her youthful appearance bit by bit. Danny couldn't help but mutter out a sarcastic 'Ew, talk about having nothing within.' as the peeling continued. After the ray had stopped, a much older and wrinkled looking Spectra stood at the spot where the previously youthful one had been standing.

The aged lady blinked for a moment and touched her face, feeling the creases and wrinkles that adorned her cheeks and chin. She looked down at her wrinkly old hands with wide eyes and screamed in anguish.

"No! I am nothing without my youth!" From his position, Danny turned and grabbed the Thermos behind him and sucked the old ghost in. Spectra's croaky voice squawked as she was sucked into the Thermos before Danny capped the said device with a smile. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jazz press another button on the Ghost Peeler, causing the armor to slide back into the device as storage.

"Hey it worked!" Jazz grinned impishly. Her expression changed to a strange one as she looked at the device before she went back to smiling, "But it's still weird."

Danny clutched the Thermos tightly as Jazz made her way towards him with the Ghost Peeler in her hands. After seeing what the device could do, he was certain that he wanted to stay well away from it and mentally made a note to file it under 'must avoid' in his list.

Jazz had stopped in front of him with a thoughtful look plastered across her face and Danny couldn't help but splutter out incoherent words in an attempt to explain himself. He blinked when Jazz smiled and pretended to be afraid of him, 'running' away from him and to the door backstage of the court. Just as she had reached it, she turned to look at him with a smile.

"You'd better go." She disappeared from the door once the words left her lips and Danny couldn't help but feel relieved over the facts that she was alright and his secret (to his knowledge at least) was still intact. Unfortunately in his haste of leaving, he ran face first into a tower of cartons, bruising his nose and disorienting his mind for a moment.

"Ow! Oh… uh… right." He shifted his two frequently used abilities back on and shot out of storage room, not knowing that Jazz was peeking in on him from the side of the door to observe him slightly and watch him leave.

'_He can tell me when he's ready.'_ She thought to herself with a smile. She was brought out of her thoughts when a chirpy Lancer came bouncing up to her with the cheerleader pompoms in his hands, telling her that she was needed back in the court.

At their entrance back to the court, Jazz was greeted with a standing ovation and loud cheers that had her name being chanted out loud. Lancer explained to the bewildered girl that once she had pulled off her (unintended) disappearing act, the mood in the court had lifted. In the English teacher's own words, 'It's as if some gloomy malevolence has been shooed away.'

From the stands, Jazz spotted her brother sitting with his group of cheering friends (without including the still sullen Brad), gently waving his hand down at her. Jazz grinned and waved back to him enthusiastically, only barely catching Lancer's last words to her of congratulations for getting the students back into the school spirit.

* * *

"Look Fairy, we don't need you hanging around us like some haunting ghost that refuses to go on into afterlife!"

Jazz was greeted by Brad's harsh statement that was sent to Lee's direction at the school entrance when she was going to meet Danny. The blond boy glared callously at his older sister whose expression was unreadable to Jazz before he stormed off from the group. Jazz saw Sam's lips twist into a scowl and the red-head was unsure whether if it was directed at Lee or at Brad's outburst. The Goth had shaken her head before she trotted away from the group, hollering for Brad to slow down.

Casse had cautiously tugged her sister's sleeve to catch her attention but the other blond had shaken her head slightly. From her position, Jazz couldn't make out the words that were coming out of Lee's lips; but Jazz figured that she might have told them to give her space, when the red eyed girl separated from the group and walked off in the opposite direction that Brad and Sam had taken off into.

The remaining three stood there in silence, watching the blue clad girl's retreating back as she walked away. Jazz quickly strode over and placed her hand on Danny's shoulder to catch his attention. Danny flinched at the contact and looked up to his taller sister as she spoke to them.

"I'll go talk to her. You guys just hang tight and do what you guys normally do ok? I'll be home in about three hours, alright Danny?"

Danny nodded his head and Jazz gave the three a smile before running off into the direction that Lee had gone into. She quickly caught up with the blond who was immersed in her thoughts. Jazz quickly touched Lee's shoulder to give her some awareness that she (Jazz) was with her. Even though Spectra had gone, it seemed as if Lee and Brad's relationship was straining even harder.

The two girls walked about Amity in silence with Jazz offering a silent but comforting presence to Lee. After half an hour of wandering, Lee halted her steps and pressed her back against the nearest wall that was next to the alleyway to steady her shaking legs. Jazz quickly stepped to her side, placing both her hands on the younger teen's trembling shoulders in an attempt to help ease her a little.

"I just don't get it… Pixie and I had a talk earlier today and we're both cool with each other. She's accepted the fact that I was always going to be worrying about her but Dwarf… God… I don't know what Dr Spectra talked to him about and he's not going to talk with me. This is just so… so… so frustrating!"

The girl's quiet sobs urged Jazz to give her a comforting hug and to lend a listening ear to her. The street they were in was empty and eerily silent, making Jazz feel slightly uncomfortable. She quickly suggested to Lee that they should take their conversation to the park where it didn't feel as foreboding.

The blond wiped her eyes and nodded; but before the two girls could move away from the area, a pair of gloved hands with strange looking handkerchiefs reached out from the dark alleyway and grabbed a hold of them by the necks. Both girls struggled but were knocked unconscious by the strange smell from the handkerchiefs that was placed over their nose and mouths. Jazz and Lee collapsed onto the ground in a heap before their bodies were dragged away into the dark alleyway; their assailant leaving no trace that could hint at their identity or of the kidnap…

-

**TBC in Chapter 4…**

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**Authoress' Ending Notes**

1) Just to remind the readers: This will be the last chapter where we will flash-back to the Original Timeline Danny in the beginning of the chapter to hear his thoughts. We'll get back to him in the Interludes that will come up in later chapters :)  
2) Next chapter: Guess who's appearing? :D  
3) Thank you to **sdphantom10**, **minirowan**, **WildIrishRose31**, **Adran06**, **Dragonfire411** and **inukagome15** for reviewing! :)  
4) **Adran06**: I am very amused with your thoughts and how you're perceiving the story! I throughly enjoy reading your comments and am actually itching to reply to you. But that would give some future plots away, so I shall stay mum about it! But please do tell me more after each chapter you've read :D  
5) Thanks to those who have added this fanfic to their favorites/alerts list! And adding me to their favorite author list!  
6) The next chapter will be another long one, and it'll take me some time to get it out (I'll be busy for the next few weeks since my holidays are ending and Uni semester starts soon)  
7) Thanks so much for reading and please drop a review if you're free to give me your thoughts! I love reading your comments and thoughts of how the fic is going :)

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	5. Sister of Mine Part II

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge, with his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam, Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress' Beginning Notes: Wow, sorry for the late update folks! Reality's bitten my arse and I've got plenty of University work to start on for this semester. This is one HECK of a long piece and it took me about a week or so to actually get the fight scenes right, or at least... hopefully they are and ONLY the fight scenes. I juggled a few ideas before one decided to make a permanent mark on the AT series so yea. Thanks for your patience and enjoy reading!

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**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 4****:**

** Sister of Mine (Part II)**

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"She's still not answering her phone." Brad snapped his black phone shut and leaned against the back of the chair in the Fentons' kitchen heavily, the room falling into a deeper and more uneasy silence. Casse fidgeted around in her chair, often sneaking glances at the window in hopes of seeing her older sister trotting down the pavement and into Fenton Works. The youngest Angeles had started doing that two hours ago; it had been four since the group of teenagers had come back to Fenton Works with no sign of Lee anywhere. Danny felt just as troubled since Jazz hadn't come home either and she would always phone if she was going to be late; the older Fenton sibling had meant to be home two hours ago.

The sun had already sunk from the sky and the tension was beginning to rise higher in the atmosphere. Tucker was noisily slurping down his soda in an attempt to keep some sound up; the silence had been as deafening as the loud music of a rock concert and the African American teen didn't like it one bit. Neither did Sam, but the Goth chewed on her apple slices much quieter to that of Tucker's noisy slurp. The ticking of the clock hands was getting unnerving, almost taunting them that the length of time was slowly but stealthily increasing to that of the last time they had seen the two teenage girls. The group was sinking deeper and deeper into silence until Maddie strode into the kitchen, surprised at the stillness and quietness of the teenagers. She wanted to ask them about the gloomy atmosphere, but first thing's first…

"Danny? Have you seen Jazz? She was supposed to be home two hours ago." Maddie watched her son blink owlishly into space before looking back up to her from his seat with a shake of his head.

"I haven't seen her in five hours mom. The last time I saw her was at that rally she was hosting back at school that ended at that time. We all went out for an hour before coming back here." A frown creased against the red-head's forehead as she swiped her hoodie off her head and looked back at Danny.

"Are you sure honey? I haven't heard the phone ring for the past few hours and Jazz normally calls if she's going to be late or if she's going out." The quiet nod that was her response from her youngest child irked her and the mother's eyes swept across the room before her frown deepened at the notice of another missing teenager.

"Where's Lee? Don't tell me she's not here either. It's quite rare to see either of you separated."

"We haven't seen her in five hours too Mrs. Fenton," Violet eyes glanced to the blond girl who had quietly spoken, her blue eyes flickering towards the window again, "Brad and I left messages on her phone to tell her that we were here but… she hasn't answered those or our calls…" Now the mother of two was starting to worry.

"That's not good. Have you called Tobias to ask if she's in his office?"

"…" Her question was met with silence and Maddie noticed that Casse's cheeks had flushed deep red in embarrassment while Brad had turned his face away from her to avoid the expression on his face to be seen. Danny, Sam and Tucker had glanced towards the remaining Angeles siblings, eyebrows raised in question. The middle-aged woman crossed her arms around her chest and tapped her foot patiently.

"You don't have his number do you?" A meek nod from the youngest Angeles had answered her, causing the woman to sigh exasperatedly and rub her forehead. After a shake of her head in resignation, Maddie walked over to the kitchen phone and dialed one of the numbers in the hanging phone book next to it. In a few rings, the chirpy voice of Tobias' secretary Eri echoed from the phone.

"Hello, Wayne Enterprise Amity Park Branch. This is Eri speaking; how may I help you?"

"Hello Eri, its Maddie Fenton, Danny Fenton's mother?"

"Oh, hello Maddie. Do you need to speak with Tobias?"

"Yes please."

"Alright, I'll transfer you in Maddie." The tune of classical music met Maddie's ears before Tobias' soft baritone emerged from the phone.

"Angeles."

"Hello Tobias, its Maddie."

"What can I do for you?"

"Is Lee with you? The kids haven't seen her or Jazz in five hours, which is when school ended for them. Casse says that she's not answering her phone either; both messages and calls."

"She is not here nor has she been seen anywhere near the office. I have not seen her since this morning when the children left for school." Maddie's frown deepened considerably as she spoke quietly with Tobias. It was then that Jack lumbered into the kitchen, intent on sneaking some fudge before dinner but couldn't help but overhear the rest of the conversation.

"I will leave the office and begin searching now. Unfortunately I can only search in Amilee's favorite places of relaxation since I am not certain about your daughter's own. Unless it has been 24 hours since anyone has last seen them, we cannot go to the police to lodge a report on missing teenagers."

"That's right, good call. I'll search some of Jazz's hang outs and leave the kids with Jack at my place. If possible, I think Brad and Casse should stay over for the night just in case there's some serial kidnapper on the loose trying to get our kids."

"If Samantha and Tucker are in your residence, do make sure that they are accompanied back to their residence when they wish to return. I believe we have also exchanged cell phone numbers?"

"I'll take note of that and yes we did exchange cell phone numbers. I'll contact you if I find anything." When the phone clicked back to its perch on the holder; Jack, who had lost his urge of sneaking his fudge, gently placed a large hand on his wife's thin shoulder.

"Maddie? What happened?" Maddie quietly drew Jack to the other side of the kitchen where the group of teenagers couldn't hear them. Sam's eyes had noticed this and she tossed a few apple slices over at her friends, gesturing towards the two whispering adults. The curious teenagers strained their ears in the silence to catch some of the conversation.

"Jack, both Jazz and Lee are missing. It isn't like either one of them to not contact if they were busy. I just got off the phone with Tobias and he's going to search for Lee now. I'm going to search some of Jazz's hang outs and ask some of her friends if they've seen her. We don't know if there's some serial kidnapper on the loose taking out kids, so Brad and Casse will be staying over for the night. We'll also have to personally send Sam and Tucker home if we can't find Jazz or Lee tonight."

"Why not report it to the police sweet face?"

"We can't Jack. It has only been five hours since they've been last seen, not twenty-four and the police are sticklers for the time frame in kidnapping or missing persons' cases." Danny exchanged nervous glances with Casse, Sam and Tucker when his mother mentioned 'serial kidnapper' while Brad's face had twisted into an expression that was mixed with slight fear, agitation and regret.

Danny knew that if Brad and Casse were staying over, he had absolutely zero chance of sneaking out of the house to do his own search for the two girls. Internally, he wished that his life weren't so complicated and that his mother hadn't insisted on keeping tabs on the triplets for Tobias; he could have been able to comb the entire town down in looking for them and he knew some of their hang out spots. One of Lee's spots was by the fountain down by the Amity River while Jazz's was the great big oak tree at the park.

Nervously, Danny bit down his lip hard. There was a nagging feeling of foreboding biting at the back of his mind and was slowly but surely eating through his consciousness. He just made up with Jazz and was on better terms with her now. Why the heck did life lessons have to be so darned complicated and nerve wrecking? He was pretty sure that Brad was feeling regretful about his earlier spat at Lee that both he and Casse didn't need her hovering around them like a haunting ghost. Heck, Danny didn't even know what Penelope Spectra had told her when the oldest Angeles triplet had gone for the counseling session on Monday; but he had an inkling feeling that it had something to do with her siblings.

"Kids?" Five heads shot up from their thoughts (though Tucker did have a guilty look plastered on his face for eavesdropping on the two older Fentons) and towards Danny's parents who approached them cautiously.

"I'm going to go out to look for Jazz and Tobias has already started looking for Lee. Brad, Casse, both of you will be staying over tonight; we'll go by your place later to pick up some of your stuff. Sam, Tucker, when you both leave, you need to tell Jack. He'll call either Tobias or myself to come back to send the both of you home unless you rather your parents come by to pick you up."

"We can go back ourselves Mrs. Fenton." Maddie immediately shook her head to disapprove of Sam's statement.

"No Sam. It's just a precaution, just for tonight alright? Just to have at least one adult with you guys at all times. Please?" With Maddie's pleading look in her eyes, Sam hesitantly nodded her head to agree to pacify the woman. Tucker did the same though he wholly accepted the precaution from the parents. With a smile, Maddie gently ruffled Danny's hair and kissed her husband's cheek before heading out of the door and to the darken streets of Amity Park. Five teenagers and one adult watched as the blue hazmat suited woman trotted down the road and broke into a light jog away from Fenton Works.

Silence reigned in the kitchen only to be shattered by the quiet whimper that Casse had emitted. Jack could only gently patted her shoulder and rub soothing circles on her back with his large hand; tearing sapphire eyes gazed back at his own clear blue ones laden in fear.

"There… there won't be a serial kidnapper right…? Fairy… will be ok?" Jack's eyes drooped slightly and shook his head sadly.

"I can't promise you that. But as long as you have faith, I'm pretty sure she'll be alright. Speaking of faith, I had faith in the existence of ghosts and look at me now! Ain't no ghost going to get past good ol' Jack Fenton in Amity Park! Not even Inviso-bill!" The atmosphere immediately changed from a dark and gloomy one to one of 'omg freak out!' at the sudden attitude change of somber to excited from Jack Fenton.

Danny resisted the urge to bang his head on the table in annoyance but allowed it to smack onto the table hard one time and let his forehead stick to the table when his dad mentioned 'Inviso-bill'. Sam and Tucker had covered their mouths to hide their obvious laughter of one of the more notable but highly irritating 'alias'' of his ghostly alter-ego. Brad and Casse hadn't been able to guess the real reason behind Sam and Tucker's controlled laughs; they assumed that it was because of Jack's innate ability to change attitudes like changing underwear on daily basis.

Jack continued to blather about ghosts, effectively killing whatever silence that had once conquered the kitchen with his loud gleeful sounding plans of ripping ghosts apart molecule by molecule with whatever Fenton device he could name. Now Danny felt like disappearing into his room and never showing his face ever again with the gory details being implanted in his head on what his own father would do if he ever so caught his ghostly alter-ego. It was way too gruesome to even think about it. He never knew how creative and sadistic his father was in his nitty gritty details of dismembering ghosts until now and he was secretly glad that his father had an absolutely 100% fat chance of ever catching him. He could only hope that he could say the same for his mother in the future though.

"Uh… that's nice Mr. Fenton, but uh…we'll be going up to hang in Danny's room now." Sam spluttered out hastily, not enjoying the image gallery of her best friend's ghost half getting mercilessly tortured and dissected by his parents in her mind. Tucker himself had turned green in the face as well. The two hauled Brad and Casse along with them up the stairs to Danny's room and closed the door behind them. They heard Jack lumbering up the stairs and pressing his ear against the door to make sure none of them were sneaking out. After ten minutes, they heard the large man troop down the stairs and heard no more from the hallway.

The silence that seemed to be trailing the five teenagers wherever they went now reigned supreme in Danny's room. No one could muster up words to speak or to even get a topic that didn't include their worst case scenario thoughts on the missing girls.

Casse had situated herself by the window, still stealing many glances at the now lamp lit street in hopes of seeing Lee appearing. Brad had secluded himself in the darkest corner of Danny's room, hiding almost his entire face in the shadows except for his mouth that was set in a straight thin line.

"I'm sure they're fine. I mean… they've never really gotten into trouble before right? It could just be something that got them both sidetracked." Tucker's shot at optimism was met with strained silence and the teen groaned quietly at his failure of attempt in trying to ease the tension.

"If it's a sidetrack, it sure is a major one Tuck." Sam deadpanned a short while later. Tucker raised his hands up in a surrender gesture and shook his head in slight annoyance that there was no appreciation to any attempt of easing the tension. The beret wearing teenager felt something smack his cheek and looked down to see a wad of paper at his feet. He picked it up to see Casse's haphazard scribble, coherently thanking him for the attempt. He gently crushed the wad back into its ball and tossed it back to her, knocking her shoulder and gave her a grin. Tucker rejoiced that at least she had returned it with a grin of her own, even though it was fairly weak and forced, but it was still nevertheless a grin.

The silence was broken with Danny's breathy sigh escaping his lips as he turned his head towards his window from his bed and gazed in the same direction Casse was staring at.

"I guess all we can do now is just wait."

* * *

Lancer was pretty sure something big was up. Something very VERY big. The first three periods had come and gone but he had already noticed by the second that something was just very wrong. Brad had barely touched his work; his fingers tapping his pen on the table idly seemingly in deep concentration but the piece of paper had only strange little scribbles written on it, alerting Lancer otherwise.

Casse was blatantly staring out the window with a dazed expression painted over her normally cheery face with her chin resting on her palm and elbow propped on top of her table; her work and stationery both totally untouched throughout the three periods.

Danny himself looked awkwardly pale, being the center of mishap that rained down on him since the beginning of the day. The Fenton boy had fallen off his chair three times and disappeared under his table for two. Despite all the laughter the rest of the class had released, his face remained hollow and very bleak. Sam and Tucker were both sending worried glances at the three whenever the chance and both were also often seen staring at the table where the eldest Angeles triplet would have been sitting if she had been in class.

Speaking of which, where was the blond teen? Lancer hadn't been able to get a proper response from the other two thirds of the triplets and whispers from the other teachers had notified (rather gossiped to) him that Jasmine Fenton was also missing from class that morning as well. The overweight teacher pondered over the different reasons that could explain the phenomenon while being blessedly clueless to Danny's inner turmoil.

The ghost boy's emotions were all jumbled and confused; causing his powers to turn up at various times and he hadn't even thought of rectifying the problem yet. Personally, he was rather surprised that no one had put the pieces of the puzzle together with his random display of powers appearing but somehow at the same time couldn't care less for the moment.

The night before had been a horrible experience with an even worse ending. Both parents had returned with not a single clue as to who, what and how the two girls had disappeared. Danny had almost wanted to ditch school and go ghost to do his own searching but it would have raised questions with Brad and Casse as well as his parents. But he resolved to push away all after school activities to one side, including hanging out with Sam and Tucker, and concentrate solely on finding Jazz and Lee's whereabouts or even the faintest clue on who might have taken them. His fingers fiddled with his pen and his legs stretched out from his table once again in his habit of aiming to kick the chair in front of him…

And he fell off his chair for the fourth time of the day when he found none of the back legs of a chair to knock his feet with. With a loud bang, he crashed onto the floor, sliding off his chair with a wince of pain etched across his face. The addition of his intangibility that was triggered by his inner unrest, caused him to almost sink into the floor. Loud harsh laughter met his ears but he paid no heed to them as he stonily got up from the floor; remembering that Lee was not in front of him sitting on her chair far back so that he would usually kick the back legs of the chair at the moment. He righted his own chair and stared at the desk in front of him intently, almost able to see Lee sitting there still doing her work with an empty look in his eyes.

'_Just a few more hours…then mom and dad are going to lodge a report on missing teenagers to the police with Mr. Angeles…'_ He thought to himself quietly, not concentrating on his work at all. Danny looked down at his paper to see his awkward scribbles slashing down the paper with some cartoonish doodles of Jazz and Lee at the middle of the slashes. Violently he shook his head at the image of the both of them being mercilessly tortured by some crazed super villain or ghost.

Viciously, he crumpled the paper and threw it with an abysmal aim at the wastepaper basket in the front of the classroom. The ball sailed over the basket and rolled to the door. With a new fresh blank piece of paper set on his table, Danny continued to scowl down at it; still unable to concentrate on the questions that were written on the board. His scowl hadn't been left unnoticed by his two friends and Lancer, whom had seen the crumpled ball of paper fly across the room and miss the wastepaper basket by a long shot.

The bell had rung, signaling the end of the fourth period. The students got up from their chairs, filing out the room hurriedly and into the noise filled corridors where they were all conversing with friends and heading to their lockers to grab their next period books. Lancer watched from his desk at the five teenagers that remained in the room.

Sam had managed to shake Brad's shoulder to snap him back to reality, gently pointing to the clock that the period was over and proceeded to give Danny's chair one strong kick with her boot to jolt him back to the land of living. Tucker had to shake, poke and had to even further his attempts at getting Casse's attention by tickling her sides. The blond had squirmed before looking up at him blankly before she realized that the room was empty, save for them and Lancer. The bald teacher frowned heavily at their sluggish movement before he finally broke the silence.

"Though I doubt that I will receive a coherent answer from you lot, but I will ask you once again; why isn't Ms Angeles in school today?" Sam and Tucker glanced at each other nervously when both Brad and Casse remained silent at the question. Lancer then decided that it was time to change strategy and directed his next question to Danny.

"And where may your sister, Ms Fenton be today as well Mr. Fenton? The gossip has yet to subside that she isn't in school today either. She was perfectly fine yesterday after the pep rally." Lancer watched as the youngest Fenton flinched violently at his enquiry; shuffling his feet before murmuring incoherently under his breath. Lancer sighed and leaned back against his chair.

"I'm sure you have yet to fail any examinations in oral presentation Mr. Fenton. Speak up."

"I said she's missing." He hadn't expected the boy to snap back so viciously at his question. His gaze shifted up to see eyes filled with worry, anger and most of all, fear; it then clicked to Lancer what exactly Danny had said.

"She's missing? Since when?"

"Since yesterday after the pep rally sir." Tucker supplied helpfully, gently nudging Danny to bite back whatever snappish remark that was poised at the tip of his tongue; ready to lash back at Lancer's calm and cold seeming attitude that was unnerving him at the moment. The beer-bellied teacher's frown creased ten-fold before shifting his gaze to the two remaining Angeles.

"And I suppose Ms Angeles is missing as well?"

"Yes sir." Lancer's head snapped around to look at Sam pointedly when she spoke up for them.

"I believe I asked Mr. Angeles and Ms Angeles that question and I don't appreciate you speaking for them Ms Manson; especially when I do know that neither of them are mute." Sam got ready to slap a harsh reply to their teacher when Brad finally broke his silence.

"Yes sir." His tone was even flatter than normal and sounded terribly hollow; the expression on his face was now hidden underneath his wild spiky bangs with his hands stuffed into his jean pockets and a slouch in his posture. Casse's eyes had glued themselves to the floor. Although it was still generally flickering towards the windows, the spark in her eyes had dimmed and she was fiddling with her fingers. The teacher shook his head quietly.

"Why didn't you say so earlier? I could have possibly gotten permission from Principal Ishiyama to give at least the three of you the day off."

"You could?" Lancer's eyebrow rose at Danny's surprised and hopeful sounding tone. He could almost tell that the boy was relatively itching to get out of the school and do something; and he just hoped it wasn't anything too drastic so that he wouldn't regret his decision of letting them out of school early. Lancer nodded his head in Danny's direction.

"Since you all aren't going to be attentive in class, you might as well be at home with your parents. I suppose Mr. Foley and Ms Manson would also like to accompany you as well…" Two frantic nods affirmed his statement and Lancer stood from his desk, "Come now, let's go to Principal Ishiyama's office and call your parents to tell them."

Danny couldn't believe his luck had turned around. He felt bad that he knew that he was going to ask Sam and Tucker to cover for him again but he wasn't about to waste what extra precious time Lancer was offering to give him to go search for Jazz and Lee. The overweight teacher was going to be named his most favorite teacher if he managed to get them out of school. Danny hastily dashed out of the classroom to follow behind Lancer with the rest did the same, only at a slightly slower pace than his.

The Halfa ignored all the stares and whispers that were being sent their way as they walked down the corridor behind Lancer towards Principal Ishiyama's office, that wasn't important to him right now. What he wanted to do was to scram from the school grounds and start his search. He was jerked out of his rampaging thoughts of areas to search when Sam suddenly grabbed his upper arm and pulled it towards her roughly, making him stumble backwards with a yelp of pain. The raven haired boy swiveled his back to look at her with a heated glare raging in his eyes.

"What was that for?!"

"If you hadn't noticed yet Clueless One, Dash was going to trip you right there." Danny jerked his head back to the front where Sam was pointing to see that Dash had indeed stuck his foot out in an attempt to trip him when he was deep in his thoughts while pretending to be looking away and whistling innocently.

It was the cutting edge of his patience and as Danny strode past Dash, he viciously stomped on the outstretched foot. With the added extra strength in his stomp in that single step, he continued to follow Lancer after the most satisfying yell of pain emitted from the jock's mouth. As sadistic and unlike him as it may sound, Danny had particularly enjoyed doing that stunt even if it was just a minor payback for everything Dash had done to him prior. With his emotions all high strung and worry coursing through his veins, Danny found himself with a temper much shorter than his occasional tiny outbursts. For that moment, he really couldn't care less about it and figured that he'd deal with the gossip of his temper after he found his sister and friend.

When the group reached and went into Ishiyama's office, they were startled to find her talking to a team of three very prominent people in the said room. The three had turned their heads towards the door when it had opened; the teens and Lancer couldn't help but gawk at group standing before them (Brad started to frown heavily at the sight of them in Ishiyama's office). Principal Ishiyama stood from her table and gestured to the teenagers.

"Those two blonds are the other two Angeles children attending the school with their sister and that raven haired boy is Ms Fenton's younger brother. Please close the door behind you Mr. Foley, quickly now!" The dumbfounded expression hadn't left Tucker's face but he robotically complied with Ishiyama's request and shut the door behind him, still staring at the three costumed heroes standing in the middle of the room.

A million and one thoughts raced through Danny's mind at the sight of three of the Justice League's original seven standing in front of him but the most frequent word appearing in his head was why, why, why? Why was the Justice League here and why three of the original seven? He could tell that the rest of his friends were thinking the very same and Lancer himself looked too shocked to even speak up. The flabbergasted teenagers and teacher continued to stand at the door, blatantly staring at the three heroes until Brad's voice cut through the silence sharply.

"What the hell is going on here?" The blonds' hollow tone prior had vanished, replaced with a cold and stern one that made Danny shiver slightly; but his spoken question pretty much summed up the thoughts that were in the minds of the teenagers in the room. For a moment, there was silence until the Dark Knight stepped forward from behind the Man of Steel, his gaze shifting through the group before settling down on Brad's frowning face.

"It looks like none of the Angeles kids can ever stay out of trouble," Brad's frown twisted into an irritated scowl while Casse blinked owlishly at Batman as he continued, "I received a call from your godfather late last night, informing me that your older sister and her friend have gone missing since yesterday afternoon, am I right?"

"So what if they have? Does the Justice League have to poke their noses in?" The glaring match between Brad and Batman intensified ten-fold after their short exchange. Casse quickly dodged to Danny's side in fear while Tucker and Sam slowly inched away from the glaring two. Superman looked vaguely amused at the match while Shayera shook her head with a scowl on her face.

"Will you stop that? Batman, we were only supposed to ask the kids when and where the two girls were last seen and if there were anything else significant that happened in the past week."

"Shayera's right Batman, I know you're keeping a close eye on them since last year's accident…"

"That, was no accident. That, was sheer stupidity on this boy's part to what happened last year. And don't get me started on her record of getting into trouble," Batman turned his head to look straight at Casse who emitted a scared squeak at the glare, "You were lucky that J'onn managed to sneak in and got you out of Two-Face's hide-out without any injuries."

Danny's eyes blinked a little before his head turned to look at Casse who shrank away from Batman's sharp gaze that was trained on her. Brad's mouth had opened to fire back a biting response to Batman but was cut off by Shayera; the winged-heroine had folded her arms across her chest in annoyance.

"You can't seriously be blaming a then 10-year-old girl for chasing a ball that coincidentally stopped at Two-Face's feet in an alleyway, and that his silly coin had flipped the scarred side up when he was deciding whether or not to let her go or capture her." Casse's grip on Danny's sleeve tightened considerably, scrunching up the fabric in her fist as her eyes watered slightly at the memory that seemed to be flashing in her mind. Superman noted the blond girl's reaction to the mention of the incident and immediately quelled the tension riding in the atmosphere in the room.

"Alright now, calm down both of you. All we're here to do is to ask the kids some questions, since they were the last to see the two girls, and then let them go back to their class…"

"Actually sir, if I may interrupt, I was going to ask Principal Ishiyama to allow them back to their homes. Since their minds are wandering elsewhere and not listening in class, I find it to be the best decision for the moment for them to be with their families." Lancer finally spoke from his silence at the side of Ishiyama's desk, his eyes nervously flickering between the three heroes standing at different spots in the office. Superman nodded his head to affirm the suggestion before he corrected himself.

"Ok then, and we'll send them back to their homes after the questioning. Is that alright with you Mdm. Ishiyama?" The purple clad principal of Casper High nodded her head in agreement to the statement before she sat back down on her chair with a sigh.

"Mr. Lancer, please return to your classes. I don't think that you will be needed for the questioning. Kids, please sit down and wait for Superman to call you up." Before the rest could react, Batman had already grabbed Brad by the back of his shirt and dragged the violently cursing teen into the next room. Lancer bowed his head slightly and took his leave from the office, closing the door quietly behind him.

Both Superman and Shayera followed Batman into the adjacent room and closed the door behind them. The group could hear Brad's angry shouts through the door before it quieted down after some persuasion from Superman. Principal Ishiyama quietly took her leave and left her office to get a well deserved cup of coffee, leaving the room to a tensed atmosphere with the four remaining teenagers.

Casse had slumped against the wall before allowing herself to slide down to the ground in a curled ball, whimpering slightly as she hugged her knees close to her chest. Tucker had quietly inched closer towards her and squatted down to her level to gently touch her shoulder. Sam grabbed one of the chairs nearby and dragged it closer to the two before she sat down on it with a curious look crossing her face. Danny chose to stand, leaning against the door facing the rest with his arms folded across his chest as Tucker spoke up.

"You… got captured by Two-Face when you were 10?" At the sight of Casse's red-rimmed eyes, Tucker quickly tried easing her, "You don't have to answer me. It's your story that you can keep to yourself! Don't worry about…"

Before he could finish, the blond girl had shaken her head and rubbed her eyes furiously, her red wristband soaked in her tears. After some sniffling, Casse stared down at her knees, fiddling with her fingers before she spoke up.

"It… was during the time Lee was bed-ridden… um…" Tucker's mouth had dropped open at the mention of Lee being bed-ridden at the age of 10 and Casse gave a brief explanation, remembering that Tucker had not been present when she had told Danny and Sam, "She was having a bad relapse that year, some weird disease that we all have; Dwarf and Fairy don't like to talk about it. I told Danny and Sam about it a few weeks ago, the day you went to follow Fairy to dad's office."

Tucker had clamped his jaw shut tightly and looked at his two best friends with a minor glint in his glare. Sam simply glared back at him while Danny offered him an apologetic look and mouthed a 'Sorry' to his best friend. The African American boy tore his eyes away from his best friends as Casse continued the story and fiddled with her fingers at the same time.

"Well, Brad was busy... and I was left by myself to play. I sorta went out of the mansion with one of the rubber balls we left in Uncle Bruce's and nearly lost it in one of the dark alleyways. I didn't realize that I had wandered off from the mansion until I found the ball and saw Two-Face in the alleyway, flipping that coin of his."

Casse had stopped for a breather at that point, allowing her words to sink into her friends' minds and letting them imagine the scene as she described it. It took awhile for the sapphire-eyed girl to compose herself before she took in a deep breath and continued her tale.

"As Ms Shayera said, the coin flipped on the wrong side and I got captured. I wasn't hurt, but I guess he wanted to use me as ransom to get Uncle Bruce to give him money. But I got rescued by the Justice League. It wasn't anything spectacular, I was just caged like an animal for about two days with minimal food…" Casse's head snapped up from its downcast position and with a flash of fear crossing her eyes before it changed to pleading when her head twisted about to look at the three.

"Don't tell Fairy about it! She doesn't know about it since she was bed-ridden back in the mansion and I pleaded with Uncle Bruce not to tell her even after she woke up…! Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease don't tell her when we find her!"

The blond had gone back to spiting out her words in rapid concession that strangely reminded Tucker of Lee, whom would almost do the same whenever she was under pressure. Danny and Sam knew that Casse would get too close to hyperventilating if they didn't stop her since their first encounter with her rapid speech. Sam hopped off her chair, squatted down and firmly grasped the spluttering blonds' shoulders before giving her a good shake.

Instantly, Casse clamped her mouth shut, her eyes still giving her friends that pleading look that hadn't left her face since she started spluttering. Before they could assure her that her little incident will never reach her sister's ears, Brad kicked the door open from the adjacent room with a seething look splashed across his face. From the lighting of the sun at the window, the gang could see Batman's looming shadow standing behind him from the door, still as menacing as ever.

"You didn't need to kick the door open to prove a point." Brad immediately spun his heel and glared back at Batman's cowl covered eyes.

"You do anything to upset Casse in that questioning and I swear I'll…"

"You'll do what? Trail me, hope for another adventure and get injured in the process?"

"I'd rather kiss disease infested rats and die then to trail you ever!" The middle triplet continued his glaring and sniping competition with Batman at the door while the rest watched nervously from the sidelines. As much as it was amusing to see someone snap back at Batman, it was surely getting more and more ridiculous as the minutes ticked by. The argument was cut short by Superman who had finally managed to persuade (and pull) Batman back into the room and walked out through the door to look at the remaining teenagers, ignoring Brad's scathing look.

"Cassandra Angeles? Would you please step in?" The youngest triplet quickly swabbed the tears from her eyes and stood up. Before she could step into the room, her brother had grabbed her shoulder and muttered something into her ear that the trio couldn't hear. Casse's eyes shifted a little before she took a deep breath and quietly spoke back to Brad, reaching up to squeeze the hand on her shoulder in assurance. Brad's hand stayed on her shoulder for a moment before he finally caved in and allowed it to slip down to his side as Casse walked through the door with Superman closing it behind her with a click.

For a while, there was silence. Not even Tucker braved his voice to speak to Brad after witnessing his explosive temper which was much worse than normal. However so, Sam still broke the ice as she stood from her squatting position and strode over to the (apparently fuming) teen. She caught his attention with a tap to his shoulder, watching as his eyes slid over to his right to look at her. The question rang silently in the room but Brad didn't (or wasn't planning to) answer the unasked question; averting his gaze from Sam's eyes to the floor while stuffing his hands into his jean pockets with a scowl playing on his lips.

Tucker felt tensed as the silence continued for an extended period of time. It was unnerving that silence seemed to be the only thing that would follow them everywhere they (the group) would go, wedging itself between them and making them feel uncomfortable with the atmosphere. He fiddled with his fingers, waiting for someone other than himself to try striking up conversation. Tucker noticed that Danny was just about to do so until the door to the adjacent room swung open with a loud bang, startling the group as Batman and Shayera ran out of the room. The group's heads turned to the adjacent door to see Superman gently pushing a dumbstruck Casse out of the room before spoke into his earpiece.

"Green Arrow, stay there. There's something off about this. Finding them in a park almost 24 hours since they were last seen is suspicious enough as it is. Don't engage them."

Sam heard a faint 'Roger that. Standing by.' From the earpiece and looked quizzically at the Kryptonian. Brad had gone to stand at Casse's side, his stern gaze never leaving Superman's while the hero tried placating the group gently.

"We've just received a notification that the two girls have been spotted. However, it seems dangerous at this point considering the deductions Batman has made. The five of you need to stay here, where it's safe."

"And we'd just follow you since you already said that they were found in the park. And since Batman and Shayera went running instead of using your freaky 'beam-me-up-scotty' transportation thing, I'd give a guess that they were found in the park in Amity."

Superman blinked for a moment before folding his arms across his chest and locked a stern gaze to Brad, who shot back a defiant one in return. Danny was amazed that Brad had picked up the pieces so quickly and pieced them together. It was as if… as if he were portraying a detective; to be more specific, portraying Batman.

"Brad's right. Either way, we're still coming." Superman's gaze turned to look at Sam who in turn, folded her arms across her chest and stared back at him. Danny could see Tucker mouthing a silent 'Speak for yourself!' from behind Sam and wholly agreed with his best friend. They were dealing with the heroes, the real deals, they should call the shots and they (the group) should just listen.

A loud bark from Superman's intercom startled the group, causing them to jump when they heard Batman's audible growl from the ear piece.

"Where are you? It shouldn't take you that long to lose a bunch of teenagers." Five pairs of eyes trained onto Superman. With one look at each of the teenagers, he simply shook his head silently in resignation and replied back to Batman.

"It looks like they'll be coming along with me. Even if I tried to 'lose' them, they already know where to head to."

"… They are YOUR responsibility then. Batman out."

* * *

Five minutes later, Danny still couldn't believe that they were running into certain danger with Superman flying above them. But most of his mind was racing at the possibilities that could turn up when they reach the scene. What would lie ahead? What happened to them? What's going to happen then? It seemed like they had been running for centuries when they finally reached the park, easily spotting the group of costumed heroes surrounding the playground.

"What's the situation?" Superman swooped down and landed silently on his feet as the teens halted their run just behind him. The green clad archer raised a blond eyebrow at the sight of the group of teenagers behind Superman but wisely said nothing about them when he reported.

"Blondie's just sitting on the swings and red head's leaning against the slide. So far no movement and I don't think a single word we've said to them has even gotten through." Green Arrow stepped sideways to show the group exactly what he was talking about, "Frankly speaking, it's starting to creep me out."

The group peered out from behind Superman and froze at the sight. Lee was sitting on the swings, her feet brushing against the dirt as the swing rocked gently with the wind. Jazz had her back against the wall of the slide, her arms dangling loosely from her sides. Both their heads were downcast, their faces obstructed by their billowing hair as the wind howled fiercely.

Casse looked just about ready to run up towards her sister when Brad suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her back. The startled blond stopped and turned to look at her brother with a questioning look. He didn't look at her; his line of vision was trained on Lee, brows narrowing down into a frown.

"She's not wearing her choker." The group eyes' snapped up and focused on the unmoving girl on the swings. Sam focused her eyes at Lee's neck before she made the connection to what Brad was talking about.

"Is that a… spike collar? I don't think you guys even like those, let alone own one." From their line of vision, they could see the twinkle of light reflecting on the spikes of the collar that was now wrapped around her neck. As much as her hair obstructed the view of her face and most of her neck, it was painfully obvious to see the spikes poking from behind her hair.

"We've got the same collar on red head's neck too." Danny tore his eyes away from the blond and towards his sister, spotting the faintest of glints from the spikes of the collar decorating her neck. What on earth were they…?

While Danny's head spun in circles, Tucker noticed the dark silhouette standing a few feet away from them. But the figure was gone as soon as he blinked and the African American boy wondered if he had been hallucinating, scratching the back of his head in confusion. Sam had seen his look of confusion and placed her hands on her hips as she turned to look at him.

"What's wrong now Tuck?" Tucker turned his confounded face to look at the group while pointing to the area where he had seen the figure.

"I thought I just saw someone…" Green Arrow was just about to enquire what Tucker had seen when sudden movement from the playground caught his eye. His eyes behind the mask narrowed slightly before he spoke out loud and into the ear piece.

"Blondie's moving."

All heads snapped up to look at the swings. Lee was slowly getting up to her feet but Jazz was making no movement from the slides. Danny could see the heroes' shoulders tense up, not willing to take any chances that it could be a ruse. Batman and Shayera stiffened in their positions at the front of the swings, waiting for other movements.

The blond teen had gotten to her feet, but there was hardly any movement after doing so; the only movement was her hair whipping against her cheeks as the wind howled mercilessly. The atmosphere was tense and wary, the Justice League making no movements while the teens fidgeted nervously from behind Superman and Green Arrow.

Silence followed the movement before the blonds' head slowly raised from its downcast position to stare straight at Batman and Shayera. Superman's eyes narrowed as he saw Lee's foot lift its heel slightly but wasn't fast enough to shout a warning over to the two. In the blink of an eye, she was gone from the swings and right in front of the two heroes.

There was no time to react when her fist swung forward, catching Batman by surprise, punching him in the jaw. The Dark Knight jumped backwards to give some distance while Shayera reacted, grabbing Lee's raised wrist with a solid grip. The winged-heroine gasped at the sight of a dark visor covering Lee's eyes before the girl's leg swung upwards to deliver a kick to Shayera's stomach, causing her grip around Lee's wrist to loosen as she knelt down to the ground with a grunt of pain.

"Fairy! What are you doing?!" Casse's cries reached deaf ears, as if Lee could not hear her at all. The blond had resumed her attack on Batman and Shayera but before Superman could join the fray, Green Arrow had readied his bow and arrow, aiming it at the slide.

"We've got our own problem Superman. Red head's coming up." The group's head turned to see Jazz push herself away from her leaning position at the slide, mirroring Lee's previous movements. Danny grabbed Green Arrow's arm tightly, forcing the Emerald Archer to look down at him.

"Don't hurt her. I swear, if you hurt my sister I'll…"

"I'm just going to try to knock her out kid. Believe me, I don't want to attack her either. But if the situation calls for it, I can't make you any promises." Green Arrow's eyes lifted up to look at Jazz, who had yet to make a move before he looked back at the group of teenagers. "Come to think of it, those two actually know how to fight?"

"Hell no. Despite Uncle Bruce forcing us to go down for self defense classes, Lee barely passes Phy. Ed!"

"On a scale of one to ten with one being 'No way in hell' and ten being 'Maybe', it's a definite minus on that scale for Jazz."

"Touché. Seems that someone's given them an overnight lesson then." Green Arrow's eyes stole a quick glance to Batman and Shayera to see how they were fairing and they were doing marginally alright, avoiding the blond teen as much as they could. His grip on his bow tightened slightly at the tiniest of movements that Jazz would have made and stayed on high alert. Silently, the archer took a single step to his side towards Superman before whispering from the corner of his mouth.

"What about the kids?" Superman's eyes didn't leave the motionless figure when he replied back to Green Arrow in the same whisper.

"If it goes bad, get Mr. Terrific to send them up to the Watchtower." The blond archer gave a slight nod to Superman before his attention swiftly trained on the red head teen whose head was slowly lifting upwards from its downcast position. At the lifting of her heel, Green Arrow struck, letting his arrow fly towards the ground at her feet and cause the dirt to explode upwards like a dense fog. Superman reacted soon after, flying forward in his inhuman speed and knocking Jazz backwards into the slide.

Green Arrow didn't need to be told to stay behind to keep an eye on the group of teenagers. He swiftly readied a stunner arrow and took careful aim as Superman dodged and blocked Jazz's furious attacks. Green Arrow gave a grunt that he was sure Superman had heard. After he had done so, the Man of Steel shot upwards into the sky, giving the archer a clear shot of the red head. His arrow flew forward, straight and true, hitting its target solidly from the back as sparks of electricity coursed through Jazz's body, the teen's body jerking violently at the electric shock.

"You said you wouldn't hurt her!" Oliver scowled at the angry raven haired teen who was glaring daggers heatedly at him from behind.

"Kid, my boxing glove arrow would hurt her too! Either way, she's still going to get at least a few bruises. And… holy cow…" Green Arrow's mouth dropped open when Jazz simply shook off the static from her body and her gaze turned towards him, "Uh… your sister wouldn't happen to have high tolerance for pain and shock would she?"

"No… who the heck would besides intergalactic beings like Superman?"

"Because she just shrugged off my stunner like it was nothing and the amount of volts in that stunner is enough to knock out a fully grown man… and she's probably aiming for us now." Before Danny could twist his head to look at Jazz's previous location, Green Arrow had grabbed his shoulder and pushed him backwards roughly before swinging his bow upwards horizontally like a sword.

Danny stumbled into Brad and both boys crashed onto the ground in a heap. The ghost boy's eyes shot open when he heard the sounds of impact in front of him to see Jazz's fist planted solidly against Green Arrow's bow. The archer grunted before twisting his neck to look at the group.

"What the hell are you doing there just staring?! Run!" Both Casse and Danny looked just about ready to protest against the action when Brad, Sam and Tucker quickly grabbed a hold of them and ran a fair distance away from the fighting. Casse flailed frantically against her brother's grip, screeching many uncouth words while kicking at him. Even when Brad had stopped his run, Casse continued to kick at him viciously, desperately stretching her arms forward towards the fight.

"Pixie, we can't do anything right now," Brad grunted as his leg got kicked at by his sister's flailing limbs, "Pixie!"

"I don't care! Fairy!! Lee!!" Casse continued screaming at the top of her lungs, her voice slowly turning hoarse from the screaming. Her eyes widened as she saw Batman reach at his belt to take out a single stun grenade and threw it at her sister. A bright light stung at her eyes while a loud bang echoed in her ears as the grenade exploded. Casse forced her eyes open and managed to squirm her way out of her brother's grip to dash forward towards Shayera and Batman; ignoring Brad's angry yells and her friends' calls for her to come back.

Before she even reached halfway towards them, Casse heard a faint shout from Green Arrow that sounded like, 'Get those crazy kids out of here Terrific!'. As she stretched her hand forward, a bright light entered her vision, cancelling out the scene of her sister clutching at her eyes before it was replaced with endless space.

Gravity took control over her as she stumbled in her steps, tripping over her feet at the disorientation that overcame her mind at the sudden transport. Casse teetered dangerously at the edge of the transportation deck, her arms flailing wildly to regain her equilibrium. A sudden grip and pull at her wrist snapped her back to the safety of the deck; Casse's neck made a loud cracking sound as she twisted her neck abruptly to see who her savior was.

Brad looked less than pleased. In fact, he looked downright pissed at her. He forced her to sit on the cold steel floor before he started his ranting, not giving her a chance to speak up.

"What the hell do you think were you doing Casse?! Batman was going to use another frigging stun grenade and there you are running towards it! Do you want to go blind AND deaf?!"

The blond boy continued his rant, glaring down daggers at his sister who was still recovering from the sudden transportation. Danny flinched at the number of vulgarities that spewed from Brad's mouth and wondered just where the heck they (the triplets) learnt that stuff. If Casse's uncouth words from earlier on had been bad, hers' would have been considered fairly decent in comparison to Brad's.

Danny turned his head about slowly, taking in the sights of where they were. Tucker seemed to have an inkling of where they had been transported to, his eyes gleaming with much childish glee while Sam mirrored Danny's movements, trying to figure out where they were. Blocking out Brad's ranting at Casse, Danny turned to Tucker with a questioning look.

"Tuck? Do you actually have an idea where we are?" Tucker's mouth had dropped open at his best friend's question before his arms waved about frantically in the air in shock.

"You can't piece the puzzle together?! Danny bro, we're at the Watchtower!" Tucker groaned at his perpetually clueless friend's confounded look, "Dude, this is the frigging Justice League headquarters!"

"That is correct," Five heads snapped to the side to see a green skinned man (Danny idly noted that Brad had finally ceased in mid-rant) walk up the stairs of the transportation deck and towards them, "You are now in the Watchtower. I am J'onn J'onzz. However, I am commonly referred to as the Martian Manhunter to the Earth's populace."

Silence was the only reply the hero got. The Martian quirked his eyebrow upwards at the sight of Tucker and Danny desperately trying to close their mouths. Sam groaned and simply muttered about 'Boys and their fantastic dreams of meeting their heroes' while the two remaining Angeles just stared at him.

"J'onn! You might want to shift the kids away from the transportation deck, got an order from Batman to transport some other people up here."

"Very well Mr. Terrific. Follow me." The group of teenagers traded looks with each other before following J'onn off the transportation deck. Once they were off the deck, Danny saw the flicker of the teleportation lights at the deck behind them and gave a startled jump when he saw his parents appear at the deck.

"What's going on here?!" Jack Fenton bellowed out angrily, looking far from pleased at his sudden teleportation. Maddie simply looked confused and rattled, her head twisting back and forth to gain any insight of where they were. Danny knew for a fact that if his dad was pissed, there was going to be hell.

"Mom? Dad?"

"Danny? Oh my goodness, just what is going on here…" At the sound of her son's voice, Maddie dashed down the deck stairs and smothered him. Danny wheezed for a moment at his mother's death grip (which by far, was much worse than his father's famous bear hug) before Jack gently eased Maddie's grip on Danny. The large statured man looked at his son and his friends before he locked eyes with J'onn with a slight frown on his face.

"That red costumed man… the Flash? He just busted into our home and started talking so fast that we couldn't even understand or react to what he was talking about before we got sent here. Now what is that is going on that you need us and our kids up here?" Jack waved his hand to gesture to the Watchtower interior to emphasize his point.

"I am afraid I am unable to respond to such a question, as I too am unsure of why you have been sent here." J'onn responded calmly. Sam was about to speak up when the transportation deck hummed once more and the atmosphere suddenly turned cold when the lights had dimmed.

As neutral as Tobias looked (Sam found it odd that the man didn't have his glasses and that he had a lab coat on), there was no mistaking the danger that was radiating off his thin stature. The Flash looked flustered as he tried to pacify the man, holding his hands up in a surrendering gesture.

"Look, I don't know what is going on either, but Bats said to bring you up here and…"

"And where may he be now?" At the sound of his icy tone, Tucker could have sworn that the temperature of the room had dropped when Tobias spoke. The dark-skinned boy noticed from the corner of his eye that both Brad and Casse had stiffened. Although Brad's face betrayed no emotion, Casse wore one with a mix of fear and surprise. Quietly, Tucker sidled up to her and gave her side a quick jab. The blond gave a tiny squeak at the jab and slowly turned her head to look at him with a puzzled look as Tucker whispered into her ear.

"Has your dad ever seemed or been this pissed before?" With her fingers fidgeting from behind her back, Casse nervously looked up to see her father fold his arms across his chest, his face still seemingly neutral all the while still staring (or was it glaring?) at the Flash.

"No… We've never felt… this vibe before… He's never been angry as far as I can remember…" Casse gave a tiny cough and rubbed the back of her neck furiously. Tucker recalled that her neck had cracked when she had twisted it earlier on and realized that she might have sprained it. Maddie had noticed Casse's action and reached out to gently touch her shoulder.

"What's wrong Casse? Is your neck hurting?" The blond winced slightly before giving the mother of two a sheepish look while still rubbing the back of her neck.

"Um… I… think I might have sprained it…" Maddie immediately strode over and gently massaged Casse's neck to ease her of the ache while carefully watching the men exchange words with each other; with Jack and Tobias seemingly far from pleased at the situation.

"Please Mr. Fenton, Dr. Angeles. Superman and Batman will return shortly to brief us on the situation. But for now, we must wait for them to return." J'onn's words were less than successful in pacifying the adults. Maddie warily observed the scene from her position, still gently massaging Casse's shoulders. Jack mirrored Tobias' previous action, folding his arms across his chest with a stern look crossing his face, staring/glaring at the costumed heroes before them.

Danny fidgeted nervously as the silent and tense atmosphere started to grind on his nerves. The parents weren't budging one bit but the heroes truthfully didn't seem to know what was going on, besides J'onn indicating that Superman and Batman had full details. His thoughts scrambled between the current event and of the fight that might still be occurring…

His baby-blue eyes snapped wide open. In his excitement (and nervousness) of being in the Justice League headquarters, he had forgotten about the fight! What happened to Jazz and Lee that made them attack? Were they being controlled? And how on earth did two barely physically fit teenage girls manage to pull off moves that only professional martial artists could do after years of training, in less than 24 hours?

Danny's mind reeled at the many questions that were spinning within. So many questions and yet he had no answers to any of them. He was barely aware of J'onn's sentence of taking them to one of the private rooms to wait for the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight until Sam's hand found its way to his shoulder, grasping it gently. The teen blinked for a moment before turning his head looking at his best female friend, who had a worried look on her face.

"Are you ok Danny? You were spacing for out quite a bit just now." All Danny could do was send Sam a weak smile and a tiny wave of his hand to motion 'It's nothing'. Though unconvinced by his gesture, Sam grudgingly let go of his shoulder and followed in step with him to… wherever J'onn was leading them to.

The walk was silent, but the atmosphere remained tensed. The teens hadn't forgotten about the fight and the parents were, more or less, displeased at being left out of the loop. The Martian had led them to the designated room, gesturing for the group to settle themselves down at the chairs and couch that laid out in the room.

They were hesitant at first, but the teenagers decided that there was nothing else they could do but to wait for Superman and Batman to return, quietly situating themselves at the couch. Brad was the only standing figure amongst the sitting teens, choosing the lean against the wall closest to the couch as apposed to sitting on one of the cushions on the floor as Tucker had done. The parents quietly strode over to the table with chairs, talking to each other in low hushed voices that Danny couldn't make out what they were talking about.

The outcasts fell into a troubled silence, unable to speak up to each other of the event that they had witnessed prior to their arrival to the Watchtower. Danny wondered for a moment if they should tell their parents about the fight but decided against it. His mother would freak out and his father would basically tear the streets apart to find out whoever was taking control of his daughter. Danny shuddered to think what Tobias would do; if his icy vibe on being sent to the Watchtower without so much as a clue as to why he was sent there was bad, he'd hate to see what the man would do if he so found out about the situation.

The questions whirled in the minds of the teens, their silence not gone unnoticed by the parents, who carefully watched them from their seated positions at the table. Maddie watched her son and his friends in their silent atmosphere, worry etching across her face. She suspected that they knew something, but their confused looks on their faces told her otherwise, making her unable to perceive what exactly was happening.

Sam didn't know how much time had passed since they were lead into the room. She didn't even know the time when they had arrived in the room in the first place; but the silence was deathly. Quietly, she lifted her head up and watched her friends from her seat on the couch.

Casse sat on Sam's left, curled against the armrest of the couch, her arms hugging her knees tightly. Danny was resting his elbow on the other armrest to Sam's right, his vacant expression telling her that his mind had wandered far, far away. Down by her feet, Tucker was absentmindedly fiddling with his PDA, his face showing nothing but blank. Sam's eyes lifted upwards to spare a glance at Brad. The blond boy was still leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest; the shadows hiding his face, not giving Sam the opportunity to read his expression.

The room remained in its eerie silence until the door finally whizzed open, causing the occupants of the room to look up at the dark figure shrouded in the bright light from the corridor.

"You've been sitting in darkness this whole time. Didn't anyone realize this?" It was no mistake that it was Batman by the doorway, if the sharp tipped cowl hadn't given it away already. The light suddenly flicked on and Danny winced at the sudden intrusion of light that entered his eyes. He blinked for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the brightness before the room came back into focus.

At the first sight of the Dark Knight, a feeling of dread dropped into the pit of Danny's stomach about how the fight had gone. From what the cowl would reveal, there was a dark purpling bruise at the side of his jaw and a tiny cut mark at his chin. The bandages on his arms could only tell Danny so much but Batman didn't entertain much of his injuries.

The black costumed hero strode into the room, followed by the rest of the founders of the Justice League with Green Arrow just behind them. Superman didn't look like he had received many injuries, but there was no telling with the Man of Steel. Shayera looked banged up and ruffled, her wings tensely flapping at odd intervals. Green Arrow however, looked far worse than any of them. His suit torn in various places with a swelled cheek and… broken arm?

Tucker's mouth had dropped open and was plenty sure that one single question was revolving in all of his friends' minds.

_Just what on earth happened in the fight after they got teleported to the Watchtower?_

Just as the mechanical door slid shut, Tobias had gotten to his feet, walking up to Batman with his arms crossed over his chest. All the brunette did when he stopped in front of Batman was stare straight into Gotham's hero's cowl covered eyes; Batman did likewise to him.

The only person in the room who did not blink at the two men's stare down was Superman, whom Sam noted, looked fairly amused at the silent exchange. It felt like some sort of déjà vu to Danny before it hit him that Brad had done the same stare down with Batman earlier in the day at school. This was truly a father-son thing for the Angeles'.

An awkward silence filled the room, the heroes unable to find words to break the silence. It was until Batman's eyes narrowed slightly at Tobias, their stare down coming to an end, before he started speaking.

"We've found the girls." Maddie and Jack's reaction was instantaneous, leaping to their feet at the mention of the find. Tobias however, continued to stare straight at Batman, his face still neutral. The black clad hero simply 'hmphed' at the stare, the corner of his mouth twitching into a semi amused smirk as Tobias finally spoke.

"I suppose there is more to the situation other than your finding of our daughters, seeing as you have had us detained for an extended period of time, _without proper explanation_." The smirk was fully evident on Batman's face when Tobias' voice deepened when speaking his last three words whilst the rest of the League's heroes (with the exception of Superman and J'onn) looked at the brunette nervously.

"You're right. There is more," Maddie grasped onto Jack's hand tightly, afraid of Batman's explanation that was to come, "Someone's manipulating and controlling them. Feeding them false information and making them do the dirty work. Their kidnapper made himself known to us after the fight we had with the girls prior to coming up to the Watchtower."

To Maddie, it was as if her whole life had started to wobble from its steady balance and threaten to topple over in an instant. Their daughter? Fight? Jazz could make it through physical education, but she didn't have any experience or lessons in fighting! Without realizing it, Maddie's grip on Jack's hand had tightened considerably, alerting her husband of her inner turmoil. Jack calmly squeezed her hand back; attempting to soothe her while Superman took over the explanation.

"The girls' kidnapper was the Joker, but the method used to manipulate and control them is definitely unlike and beyond him, which tells us that he's not alone in this stunt. He must be collaborating with another group of villains in this."

"You might want to tell them what the Joker said. His exact words mind you Superman. I don't see a point in trying to sugarcoat to the folks and kids what that crazy clown is up to." Everyone's gaze trained on the Man of Steel once Green Arrow had spoken. Batman came to the rescue with a tape-recorder in his hands, clicking it on and playing the tape within the device. A crackle emitted from the tiny handheld before the unmistakable devious laughter of the Joker rang through the room.

'_Batsy! How nice to see you! I take it you like my new puppets?'_

'_What have you done to them Joker?' _

'_Moi? I have done nothing! Well, maybe except whisk them away in a dark alleyway… oh say about yesterday?'_

'_Let the girls go Joker. Using civilians to do your dirty work is even lower than what you've done before.'_

"_What makes you think I'm in this alone? Besides, it's far too fun to stop now! The girls are such obedient little kiddies… I just might want to keep them as pets!'_

The recording wasn't over, but Danny clenched his fist tightly at the Joker's words. His sister was not a pet, and never will be. Noticing Danny's curled fist from his seat on the ground, Tucker quickly grabbed the fist and gently squeezed it in an attempt at calming his best friend down as the recording continued.

'_You've become even lower than the most common criminal Joker.'_

'_Ahahahaha! If you think of it that way… Then what about little siblings who take their older siblings for granted? Oh you do not know what boundaries these two kiddies would do… oh you do not…'_

'_Enough with the crap you crackpot__, let the girls go!'_

'_Hardly enough ol' broken armed archer! The game's just beginning! You don't know what they're willing to die for… or to kill for… Ahaha… ahahahaa… ahahahhaahahahha!!!'_

As the recording ended, the Joker's ending laugh rang loudly in their ears, dread slowly forming at the pit of their stomach and Danny surely felt sick. He'd take back almost everything he'd thought about Spectra the day before; the Joker was a much worse form of a human. What made it worse for Danny was realizing that the Gotham villain was doing all his stunts, for _fun_. He grew even more ill at the thought that a human being could be so inhuman and psychotic.

Danny jerked his head away from the recorder when he heard Casse's faint whimpering at the other end of the couch. The blond was gripping the armrest tightly and forcing her whimpers to be muffled against the fabric of the backrest of the couch, her eyes watering slightly while still looking straight at the recorder in Batman's hands.

The hand that held the recorder drew back, slipping the device back into a slot on his utility belt and closed it with a click. Batman turned his face to look at Tobias with a steady gaze, his eyes seemingly telling the brunette something before he spoke.

"It looks as if the Joker is targeting the families of the girls. That's why we've decided to put all of you under the League's protection up here in the Watchtower, where they would not be able to get a hold of you."

"Is that all?"

Danny blinked in surprise when Tobias spoke that simple question after Batman's brief explanation. It seemed a little strange but did seem just like the man to absorb the information calmly and neutrally. The raven-haired boy couldn't help but wonder what would tick the older man off but wisely decided that he did not (and should not) want know what did. It might very well have a disastrous effect.

Wonder Woman had caught on to Batman's words (and hidden concern) and couldn't help but give Tobias an incredulous look.

"That's all you can say? 'Is that all'? Your lives are in jeopardy right now and…"

"I have no need for protection, but if you wish to insist on it so, then by all means; save our daughters to spare you the manpower and time on 'protecting' us."

"Such hard-headedness will get you nowhere sir. I suggest that…"

"Wait Diana." Diana of Themyscira closed her mouth after being interrupted by J'onn. She shot him a displeased look, but the Martian was either paying no heed to it or simply acknowledged it silently. The Amazon folded her arms across her chest, glaring at Tobias who in turn, simply stared straight back at her.

"Please Dr. Angeles; you must understand that your safety is a priority to the League…"

"And I suppose this is only so because of my affiliation with Bruce Wayne."

"That's hardly considered a point. Not many of the League's members know of your affiliation to Bruce Wayne. We'd also hate to lose one of, if not already the best, biomedical scientists who has already saved millions of lives with his research and development projects in Wayne Enterprise."

Danny's mouth dropped open. Tobias Angeles was a biomedical scientist? The ghost boy was positive that Brad only mentioned that their father was heading the new branch of Wayne Enterprise when they were first introduced in class, which lead him to believe that he was a businessman, not a biomedical scientist! But it strangely made sense of why J'onn had been using that honorific to address Tobias. Stealing glances at the remaining Angeles siblings, Danny was surprised that they looked just as confounded as he was.

The only one who didn't seem too surprised was Tucker, and Danny couldn't help but wonder just how his best friend knew so much more about Tobias than Brad and Casse. Tucker was observing the rest of the League's founders' reactions to Batman's statement, albeit oblivious to his best friend's inner pondering. Superman and J'onn didn't look too surprised; the Flash was simply blinking owlishly with his mouth slightly open while the Green Lantern had a skeptic look etched across his face. Wonder Woman had an equally, if not even more, skeptic look on her face, still staring straight at a neutral Tobias, but Shayera's reaction caught onto Tucker's attention and his eyes quickly honed in on the winged heroine.

A thoughtful look had crossed her face, her finger slowly tapping her chin. Tucker saw her eyes shift about, but was still intently trained on Tobias. Her lips had curved into a thoughtful line before she spoke up from behind the group.

"You… wouldn't happen to be Tobias Angeles would you?" A raised eyebrow met her question in a way of saying 'And so what if I am?' answering her question, "I'm sorry, it's just that I've always imagined you as an elderly man because of all your achievements. I didn't realize that you're actually… middle age?"

Maddie couldn't help but giggle quietly, muffling her laughter behind her hand at Shayera's hesitant speculation of Tobias' age. Jack looked very amused while Tobias closed his eyes and released a dry sigh.

"He's not quite at that stage just yet." Jack teased, nudging Tobias' shoulder with his own with a grin spread across his lips. Danny swore he could hear incoherent mumbles from Tobias as his father continued, "Thirty-six is still mighty young."

"Only thirty-six? What are you, a Mensa-level genius?" Flash blurted out in shock, his jaw slacked and eyes wide open. He wasn't the only one shocked. The other League founders and member (Superman and J'onn being exceptions to this) openly stared at Tobias. The response to Flash's redundant question were raised eyebrows from the brunette man and the Fenton parents (and a pointed look from Batman). "What's your IQ anyway?"

"I am quite doubtful that my intelligence quotient will be of any use to the Justice League and has any relevance to the matter at hand. Now, if you would be so kind as to transport me back to my office, I have yet to finish my work."

"You do realize that you're making yourself an open target for the Joker by returning to your office and resuming normal life, don't you? You're willing to take the risk of getting injured or worse, killed?"

"Perish the thought. My affiliation with Bruce has yet to allow me such a luxury known as normal life."

Sam couldn't help but choke out a giggle at Tobias' swift and witty retort to Batman's grim statement; her friends following suit, muffling their laughter behind their hands. From the corner of her eye, the Goth spotted Brad watching his father carefully from his unmoving position at the wall with a mixed expression dancing across his face. She hadn't really realized it, but their father had his own unique way of creating humor, no matter how deadpan he sounded.

She couldn't gauge Batman's reaction to the retort, but thought it had been the trick of the light to see his lips curve into an amused smirk before it disappeared the same instant it surfaced. The Dark Knight settled in for locking eyes with Tobias for a moment, silence enveloping the room sans the muffled laughter coming from the four teenagers at the couch.

Batman 'hmphed' once again, drawing his arms back to beneath his cape while still staring straight into Tobias' eyes. He finally broke his gaze and straightened his posture, giving the room a quick glance.

"Alright then, we'll teleport you back to your office. But under one condition; we have some of the League members down there with you to keep an eye on things." It didn't look as if Batman was going to let it slide about leaving any one of them alone with the looming danger that was hanging above their heads. Tobias rubbed the bridge of his nose briefly before replying to Batman.

"I will only allow one of your personnel. I will not tolerate an overabundance of powered entities invading the office and hindering me from my work."

"Fair enough," Superman quickly stepped in to prevent Batman from attempting to insist on more protection. "We'll keep at least one League member with each of you and have some of our other members on stand-by in case anything crops up and they need back-up. If it comes down to it, we will have to teleport you back to the Watchtower for your safety. Is that alright with all of you?"

"Alright then."

Maddie's expression twisted into a thoughtful look. Tobias was right; having a bunch super powered and high profiled heroes hovering around them would surely be irritating, especially when they liked their space to do their work and experimentation. Her thoughts drifted to the kids; they were usually around each other and if Superman was intent on having one League member per person, it would look too suspicious. That and the kids would probably loath having their personal spaces invaded.

"Well Jack and I are usually together, so I think just one person would be enough around us. And the kids are always hanging out with each other, so having too many of your personnel with them could make it look overly suspicious."

"That's true," Green Lantern finally spoke up from his position behind J'onn. "And having any of the League members out in the open while keeping an eye on them would probably make them even easier targets for the Joker and whoever he's working with. I propose that the League members who are sent down for this mission go undercover."

"Bro, do you get the feeling that we're so gonna be screwed over for the next few days trying to keep your identity a secret?" Tucker whispered into Danny's ear after he had gotten off the floor and rested his elbow on his best friend's shoulder while the adults talked it out. Sam simply raised her eyebrow in amusement as Danny groaned quietly.

"Thanks a lot for reminding me Tuck…"

* * *

Danny wanted nothing more but to crawl into a hole and end the rest of his half life. It was just his luck that his group of friends and himself were being monitored by Supergirl and Dove. Dove he could handle, the older teenager wasn't as nosy as Supergirl. The blond super heroine seemed to enjoy poking his buttons and calling him cute stuff. What was it with girls anyway…?

With his attempts of avoiding ghost fights, bullies and thoughts about his sister and friend, Danny hadn't realized that time had slipped past them so quickly. Before the teens knew it, the week had ended. The ghost boy couldn't help but idly wonder if the heroes were making any progress at locating the Joker and his team of villains. They had been awfully quiet since the first appearance and hadn't shown themselves since then.

With Dove and Supergirl keeping an eye on them, the League had sent the Atom to look over his parents and Shayera to Tobias. The winged heroine had looked fairly pleased with the arrangement, quietly observing Tobias around in his office and home. The Atom was fascinated with his parents' inventions and theories, often found deep in discussion with them whenever he returned home.

Sam's parents hadn't been pleased with the situation, thoroughly blaming the Fentons' 'ability to attract nothing but trouble' and attempted to barricade their daughter in their mansion. Their efforts proved futile since Sam's grandmother Ida often gave Sam leeway and turned a blind eye to whenever Sam was sneaking out.

Tucker's parents were more accepting about the situation and gave the heroes their full support. Both Maurice and Amanda Foley didn't see the need of punishing Tucker for something that was beyond his control and allowed their son to continue his usual daily activities with his friends, as well as giving Tobias, Maddie and Jack their support and goodwill.

Danny gave a tiny smile at the Foleys' kind gesture. Maurice and Amanda were like second parents to him and he knew Tucker felt like his brother whenever they hung out at his place with his family. It awed him for some reason, that their family and friendship bonds were so close and tight knit; it also felt heartwarming that he knew that he had an extended family he could turn to.

The boy sighed and stared up at his ceiling from his position on his bed, staring intently at the streak of light that adorned it from the rays of the moon. His mind was simply filled with too many thoughts for him to sleep in peace. He groaned and turned to his side, thumping his head onto his pillow hard while closing his eyes in a vain attempt at sleeping. When sweet oblivion refused his entrance, Danny groaned once more before crawling off his bed. After stuffing his pillows beneath his blankets to make it look as if he were around, he transformed into his alter-ego and took flight into the skies of Amity Park.

The ghost boy flew through each of his friends' houses, quietly checking up on them as they slept. He'd thought that all the houses would be dark and all occupants were in the land of dreams, but almost dropped down from the air in shock when he nearly bumped into a still awake Tobias at the Angeles' house. Quietly he watched as the man walked from the kitchen with a mug of hot coffee in his hands and into his study.

Curiosity got the best of Danny as he quietly hovered towards the door and stuck his head in to peer into the study. Towers of paper were stacked neatly on the desk, not a pen or stray sheet to be found on the floor. Danny took a quick look around the room and took notice of the two frames that sat on the table. As curious as he was to know what the two photographs were, Danny wisely kept himself away from it from poking his nose into finding out.

Danny quickly phased upwards to Brad's room above the study and watching him for a moment as the middle sibling slept. After passing through the bathroom that separated his room from Casse's, Danny was startled to find her in a fitful sleep, tossing about her bed with her sheets tangled with her limbs. He hovered over to her, fully intending to untangle her from the wrap of her sheets when her door creaked open.

The ghost boy fled to the darkest corner of her room and eyed the door warily. Tobias quietly strode in, taking in the sight of his youngest child in a wrestling match against her sheets and blanket. Danny watched as the older man silently strode over to her, gently untangling the sheets from her limbs and laid the blanket back over her, tucking her in neatly as her fit finally ceased.

His eyes softened as he continued watching Tobias from the corner as he gently placed his palm over Casse's forehead and stroked her cheek. To Danny, it was obvious that Tobias loved his children, but what bothered him was why he wasn't showing it very well. The door gently creaked shut as Tobias left the room; Danny lingered for a moment, letting his mind capture the image of a loving father caring for his daughter and horded it in his treasure box of memories.

He then found himself breathing in the crisp cool air of the skies as he continued his flight around Amity. Danny still found himself sleepless as he neared the end of his first round of flight around the town. He groaned lightly and hovered in the air; crossing his legs into a lotus position and rested his cheeks in his hands while staring at the endless space of sky.

He continued to stare into the space for a moment before releasing his legs from its position and continued his night flight. Danny found it oddly disturbing that it was quiet. Maybe the ghosts were taking a holiday, or so he wished. He dipped down towards the empty streets and silently glided about the lamp posts when a house caught his eye.

'_That's odd. I thought this place had been deserted for years?'_ He couldn't recall such a house built around in Amity Park. The space he was staring into had previously stood an old worn down home with no occupants. Not even the owner of the large plot of land was known and yet the mayor had done nothing to the desolate piece of land.

But now there stood a quaint little house with a soft glow emitting from the windows that alerted Danny that someone was there. He didn't know why, but he felt compelled to go into the house, as if something was drawing him in like a magnet to a metal object. The teen didn't think much of it until he realized that he had walked through the open gate.

The gate creaked shut and the door to the house slowly swung open, as if wholesomely inviting him to enter. Danny tensed up, unsure if it was a trap laid out by the ghosts. For a while he stood at the gates, poised for the oncoming ambush that never came. His glowing green eyes took a glance at his surroundings before slowly walking down the pathway and towards the door.

Once he had reached the door, his shoulder tensed up again; still uncertain of the situation. Hesitantly he stepped in, flinching as the door snapped shut behind him. With the thought of traps at the bottom of his feet, Danny hovered a few inches off the ground for safety reasons. He looked up to see the soft glow of a light from down the corridor on his right where the door was wide open. The bleach haired teen flew over to it, activating his invisibility along the way and cautiously peered into the room.

It was a rather simple looking room, with the glow of a single candle positioned at the middle of the room lighting it up. The rest of the room was still shrouded in darkness and Danny slowly hovered into the room to get a closer look. He jerked involuntarily and whirled his head about the room as a voice spoke from the dark space beside the candle, causing him to further tense up.

"Welcome little Phantom. I was wondering how long it would take you to come in." The voice was unmistakably female and Danny roughly gauged the age to be around a young adult. He stayed invisible and silent, unsure of how to answer to this unknown person.

"Hide as much as you want little Phantom, I know that you're here." Danny blinked and swore that the side of the table where the candle was standing had actually been empty. How did that chair and person come out of thin air? He couldn't see the woman's face, but he could see the rest of her body, with one leg elegantly crossed over the other with one elbow resting against the chair arm and the other lazily draped on the table with the candle.

He was fully aware that she was waiting for him to make his move, with her cheek resting on the back of her hand and the other hand draped on the table tapping the wooden article in a gentle rhythm. With no other option, he made himself visible but continued to hover some inches above the wooden floor. Danny stared straight into the shadows where he was sure the woman was, waiting for her to make her move.

The glow from the candle brightened, expanding its light to a larger circumference about the room and allowing Danny sight of the owner of the house. His gauge of the woman's age seemed close enough, a pale but youthful face with a single violet eye was staring straight back him with her black colored lips curving into a smirk.

As she stood, her midnight black hair fluttered and caressed her left shoulder, her blood red bangs hiding her right eye. She swept the creases off her black skirt with a black gloved hand before she straightened her posture, all the while not taking her eyes off Danny.

"Well, since you have found this place little Phantom, you must have a transaction in mind. The transaction otherwise known as… a wish." Danny was pretty sure she was smirking at his staring at her with a slack jaw. He was downright confused and his brain wasn't even working at that point of time to even wonder what on earth she was talking about. He didn't even know her name! How the heck did she know his?!

"Of course I know you little Phantom. Who you are as you present yourself to me now, and your other self as you present to others."

"Wh… Who are you?" The woman chuckled at his quirked question and at the evident fear in his voice. She simply rested her chin at her knuckles while still keeping eye contact with Danny.

"I have been known by several names, yet none so far have stuck on for more than a century. I have been called The Sorceress, The Witch or simply The Wish Granter. Tell me little Phantom, what would you have called me at first sight?"

Danny didn't feel like he could trust his mouth to speak up. His feet finally made contact with the floor and commanded them to stand firm in their position. He steeled his expression and wiped off any traces of his fear and indecision. The woman simply smiled at him, cupping her hands together by her front. Their eyes continued their lock before Danny spoke up more firmly.

"Who are you?"

"It seems that you have gained your courage." Danny continued to watch her carefully as she strode over towards him in the dim lighting and stopped right in front of him to bend down to meet his eyes better, "I am Zeraphina. So little Phantom, what is your wish?"

Internally, Danny steeled himself before laying out his wish to the sorceress; watching as her eyes gleamed and her corners of her mouth curving upwards to widen her smile at his request. A place for the transaction of wishes… he knew he should not solely rely on other people's abilities and that prices would have to be paid if a wish was to be granted. After stating his wish, he stared back at the sorceress, waiting for the price of the wish he had just made.

Her lips parted, but Danny couldn't hear her words even though her lips were moving. He desperately tried to focus and to speak to tell her that he couldn't hear, but his mouth failed to be used and his mind was slowly shutting down. His eyes drooped dangerously, even as he tried his best to keep them open. The dark started to invade his sight. He panicked, trying to move his limbs…

And bolted straight up from his bed into a sitting position; sweating profusely. He breathed in deeply and expelled the breaths in short spurts. His heart was racing and he felt clammed up. Danny swept a hand to his forehead and wondered if he had been dreaming of that meeting with the Sorceress. If she even existed in the first place.

He turned his head to peer at the clock. Four in the morning. It was much too early. He groaned and was just about to allow his body to drop backwards onto his bed with he felt something invade his sense of touch. Danny looked down at his hand on his lap to see a plain white card with a tiny black feather taped to it. He stared at it for a moment, bringing it closer to his face for inspection before he flipped it over. His eyes widened at the three words that were neatly written at the back of the card before it burst into flames, disintegrating the card to ashes and dropping the feather into his hands.

'_Remember little Phantom.'_

* * *

Sam watched Danny with the vision of a hawk, worrying endlessly about her friend's exceptionally quiet attitude for the day. His expression was often vacant and blank, needing to be snapped out of his reverie to avoid any accidents while they walked. The rest shared her concerns when they had first picked him up from his home, his face paler than usual.

"Danny, are you sure you had enough sleep?" Danny sent Brad a weak smile and simply shrugged at his friend's question. From a little ways behind them, a disguised Supergirl and Dove watched over the group carefully.

"Depends on the definition of 'enough sleep'. Went to bed early, but guess I'm still kinda worried…"

"If that's your definition of 'kinda', I don't want to know what your full blown worry is." Supergirl pointed out, stepping right behind him and placing her hand on his shoulder, "I know you tried to hit the sack early last night, but you didn't look like you were sleeping very well."

"Woooonderful. I have a superheroine spying on me at night. Should I be afraid?"

"Yep. Stargirl's going to want to know about you cute stuff." Danny groaned lightly and wondered what on earth he had done to receive such punishment. If he were as cute as Supergirl was describing him to be, he'd be one of the A List, period. He seriously thought she was over exaggerating his so-called 'cuteness'.

Danny sighed as the group continued walking, silence quickly enveloping them again. He knew that the rest of them were giving him concerned glances and he appreciated the concern really, but it couldn't ease him away from his worry about the events that would take place later. The Sorceress had forewarned him in advance of the Joker's and his team of super villains' next move.

'_Tonight,'_ he thought to himself as the group trotted down the sidewalk with no clear destination in mind, _'Tonight they'll strike and she's given me the chances to get it all done and over with… I have to make it count.'_

The group continued in their mindless loitering of the town before ending up at the park in the late afternoon. Remnants of the fight still lingered in the area; the see-saw broken in half, the trees looking barer then they had ever been before. It was strangely nostalgic, looking at the damage and still not knowing what became of their sisters/friends during the battle.

Silence was starting to become either another best friend or an extremely annoying pest to the teens, being a persistent follower in their activities. Clinging onto them like leeches, they sucked up whatever conversation that never surfaced between them. Silently they watched as the sun sank from the sky, the day passing just like the past two days had been.

"It's about time for you guys to get on home. Come on." Dove said quietly, gently urging the group from their spots around the park and guided them out of the said area with Supergirl's help Danny idly stole a peek at his watch and internally counted down the seconds until…

"Dove; Supergirl. Do you read me?" The group halted their steps at the crackle of the two heroes' ear pieces. The duo quickly pressed a finger to the pieces while giving the younger teens a finger to their lips as a gesture to remain silent.

"We read you Mr. Terrific. Any problem?"

"Big one. The kids still with you?"

"In our sights, but why?"

"Joker's made his move and is attacking Gotham right now. Dr. Fate seems to get the idea that maybe the kids could snap the girls' out of whatever spell they're under and we have to keep it under wraps from their parents."

"You're joking. You want to keep this under wraps from Doc Angeles? He's creepy when he's mad!"

"We've got no other option and Green Lantern's given the order for them to be teleported over. Give the kids a heads up and I'll teleport them a street away from the fight in Gotham. Stand by."

Dove and Supergirl glanced at each other for a moment before turning to face the teens who were trading confused looks with each other. Danny blinked owlishly as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and fingered the black feather that rested at the bottom of it. The smooth texture of the feather seemed to ease him a little as Dove hesitantly spoke up from the silence.

"Well… We just got word that the League wants to try having you guys snap the girls' out of the spell… or whatever it is that's making them go on a rampage. But uh…"

"The battle is happening in Gotham right now and Mr. Terrific is going to teleport you guys… right about… now."

With that as their warning, they didn't have enough time to prepare for the sudden teleportation and found themselves feeling nauseated and disorientated on the dark raining streets of Gotham City… without Supergirl and Dove. Brad shook off the remnants of disorientation from his mind and took a quick look at their surroundings, noting the street that they were on.

"Great, we're on Hightonview Boulevard with no fricking clue of what the heck is going on and it's raining" The blond looked over to his friends and sister, whom had cleared their heads of the dizzy spell and nauseating feeling in their stomachs and stared up at the crying sky, "Now what?"

"This is your city, not ours. We don't have the faintest clue about the streets so you two have to guide us here." Sam pointed out, taking in the dreary sight of the deserted streets. Danny shakily got up to his feet as a strange looking cross appeared just above the group and materialized into a man. Dr. Fate descended to the ground and looked at them intently.

"You must be the children. Come with me, the battle is currently underway a street away from here. But be cautious, the Joker and the girls are not alone this time."

"So who's working with the retarded and mentally decapitated clown?" Brad questioned as the teens broke into a light jog with Dr. Fate gliding in the air just above the ground. "Besides his ditzy mindless sidekick that is."

"The Joker has allied himself with the likes of Lex Luthor and the half Injustice League. The magician Tala is responsible for your sisters' brainwash and sudden experience in the martial arts. We've managed to find out that the collars have been infused with magic and are the source of it as well as a strange visor over their eyes which we have yet to determine its function."

Dr. Fate halted in his flight and swept his hand upwards to prevent the teens from running any further. A few feet away from the group, they could see the battle between the both Leagues underway. Danny made a mental note of the heroes and villains on the scene before he reached into his pocket and fingered the black feather again.

From within the pocket, he felt the feather seemingly dissolve from his fingertips before something gently crawled up his fingers and wrapped itself around his wrist. Slipping his hand out of the pocket, he glanced down to his wrist to see a black bracelet of black feathers entwined around it. He closed his eyes for a moment as a wave of dizziness overcame him before it vanished the next instant.

He broke his gaze from his wrist before looking up to see Dr. Fate pressing a hand to his ear to communicate with someone.

"Green Lantern, the children are here. Try luring one of the girls to the end of the street."

"Got it Fate. Flash! Get the blond kid to the end of the street!"

"You got it GL!"

A blur of red entered their vision as the Flash zipped around the battlefield, throwing taunts over his shoulders once in a while as his opponent raced after him. Danny swore that his mouth had dropped open in shock and his cheeks had bloomed a bright cherry red at who his opponent was and what she was wearing. Beside him, Tucker mirrored his reaction and Brad stared incredulously at her, his cheeks slowly tinting red at the sight.

"As much as I dig the black and how good it looks on her, but why the hell did those crackpots make Lee wear that short gothic Lolita dress?" Sam grimaced as the Flash got too cocky and failed to dodge a kick from Lee's booted leg and flew backwards closer to the group at the end of the street.

"I don't want to know what they made Jazz wear…" Danny moaned out weakly, burying his face into his hands to hide the red that was flushing in his cheeks at the thought of what the super villains would have made his sister wear. The boys had quickly turned their heads away when the short skirt of the Lolita dress Lee was wearing rode upwards as her legs continued lashing out kicks that connected with the Flash. The girls couldn't tell if Dr. Fate was amused or not with his face covered with his helm even as he released a quiet chuckle at the boys' reaction.

Flash grimaced and dodged another kick that was aimed at his head. He ducked as the leg swept above him and quickly stepped backwards as her other foot flew upwards and grazed his chin with the heel of her boot. He quickly gauged the distance he needed to lure her through while zipping to the side to avoid a dangerous side kick to the groin. His eyes met Dr. Fate's and the sorcerer nodded before he turned to beckon the kids forward.

Casse fidgeted nervously while Brad turned his head to the side to yet again avoid stealing peeks at his sister's underwear in front of them. The pair slowly drew closer to them, the Flash continually throwing taunts that didn't seem to phase the girl as they inched backwards and away from the central battlefield.

They had almost reached when a sharp whistle echoed in the air, causing the brainwashed teen to halt in her advance before slowly stepping away from Flash and back closer to the battlefield. Flash frowned before he spotted someone from behind the girl's shoulder. Tala had her hand stretched outwards, her mouth opening and closing in a strange chant. The black clad girl had turned her heel and dashed straight back into the fray of the battle much to Flash's dismay.

"Uh oh. Houston, we have a problem."

"I can tell. Why's the blond kid back in here? Did it even work?"

"Nope. Didn't even come close enough to give it a shot. Tala's around and controlling them in the shadows. She must've figured we were going to try getting their siblings and close friends to snap them out of it and called her back to the main fight."

"Call Terrific and get him to send down some back-up; best shot would be Etrigan the Demon to keep Tala busy. Keep the kids away from the battle and we'll try again."

"Roger that. Heard that Terrific?"

"Already contacted and he's on the way there. You might want to skedaddle back into the fight because Batman's coming along too." Flash made a face at the mention of the Dark Knight.

"Yikes. Bats isn't very happy now is he?"

"Major understatement. I just got myself grilled for teleporting the kids down there. Stand by Flash."

"Thanks. Dr. Fate," Flash turned his head to look at the sorcerer who stood with the group, "Mind keeping an eye on them? We're going to give it another shot after we get Tala distracted from controlling them."

"Of course."

Flash grinned and waved a tiny two fingered salute before running back into the fight. Danny watched as Casse's shoulders slumped down in dejection and Brad's hand curl into a fist. He looked straight forward at the fight, finally spotting his black clad sister from where they were. She was locked in a battle with Vixen, dodging the claws and landing a few fists on her opponent and gaining some bruises.

Without warning, Danny dashed forward towards the battle, ignoring the cries of protest from his friends and call of warning from Dr. Fate. The only figure set in his sights was Jazz and he was determined to reach her to attempt snapping her out of the spell.

The Sorceress had given him two chances; one was to try reaching out to both Jazz and Lee and retrieving them without her help, but she warned him that the possibility of this was very low, but he was still willing to try. The second was that if she so needed to 'grant' his wish, he would have the chance to gather the payment in one shot.

Dodging Luthor and his cronies as well as the Justice League members, Danny surged forward; grabbing Jazz by the waist and hurling both their bodies away from the fight. Brad quickly caught on to Danny's impromptu and insane plan and mirrored his action. Running forward and pushing Lee out of the central battle in an attempt to reach out to them now.

Green Lantern scowled angrily, blasting his opponent (who so happened to be Star Sapphire) viciously away and knocking her into a building as he spotted the rest of the teenagers run forward towards the other four with Dr. Fate covering them as much as he could in his pursuit. Quickly, Lantern flew towards them and generated a shield to prevent any attack from hitting them when the villains had attempted to strike at them with their sudden move, particularly the Joker.

Danny had never realized just how strong Jazz was, or was it just the influence of the spell working on her that made her stronger? Either way, he ended getting tossed aside when she had grabbed the back of his shirt and flung him over her shoulder. Brad received similar treatment with Lee as well as an elbow to his chest.

He didn't know if it was a spur of the moment thing or if Tucker and Casse had wishes to get the same treatment that he and Brad got. He saw them fling themselves at Jazz and Lee respectively and clung onto their necks for dear life when both girls started to trash about in an attempt to throw them off their backs.

Jazz had been successful; grabbing Tucker's arm and flipping him off her back before hurling him away. Danny barely had time to think before his body quickly reacted to the action. He grunted as Tucker's body collided with his, causing them to crash and skid across the tar surfaced road.

Lee had not been as successful, still having Casse dangling precariously on her back and now having Brad in front of her with his hands firmly gripping her wrists to prevent her from using them. This didn't prevent her from using her legs to kick and Brad had to simultaneously dodge her deadly kicks while keeping his grip firm on her wrists.

Danny opened his eyes to see Jazz walking up towards his and Tucker's sprawled bodies on the ground, her fist clenched and seemingly ready to strike. Both boys simply looked at her with pleading expressions, hoping that she would snap out of it but finally figured that the spell must have been too powerful for them to break free. They closed their eyes as her fist rose and was just about to slam down on them when a loud clang met their ears. Slowly, the two boys opened their eyes and gaped in shock.

Sam had grabbed a stray metal pipe and had swung it down with all her might that smacked the back of Jazz's head. Danny could see a trickle of blood crawling down Jazz's bare neck and wanted nothing more but to scream bloody murder. The raised arm fell back down to her side limply as the sound of shattering glass echoed into their eardrums before Jazz fell to her knees and collapsed onto the ground in a heap.

Both boys hurriedly disentangled themselves from each other's limbs. Tears stung the edge of Danny's eyes as he lurched forward towards his sister, ignoring the stabs of the sharp glass of the broken visor that lay littered on the ground and cradled her head onto his lap. Tucker ripped off a section of his wet sleeve and used it as a make-shift cloth in an attempt to stop the bleeding at the back of Jazz's head and proceeded to tear off more strips of his remaining sleeves to make bandages.

Another clang was heard as Sam's trembling grip on the metal pipe loosened, allowing the object to clatter onto the ground noisily as she stared at the crumpled form of the older teen resting on her brother's lap. She stared down at her hands in terrified fascination as they shook violently. The Goth's mind started to goad at her, using her guilt of hurting her best friend's sister. She hadn't realized the tears dripping from her chin, her black eye mascara streaking down her cheeks with her tears and the rain.

Tucker's hand slowly reached forward to touch Jazz's pale cheek and quickly withdrew the same instant he had grazed it. His eyes widened fearfully before he turned her over onto her back, despite the Danny's protests and quickly placed his hand under her nose. His hand shivered and withdrew again, visibly shaking as he turned to look at the downcast Danny.

"Danny… bro… She's… not breathing…"

Casse, who was still playing rodeo on a rampant Lee's back, shrieked as one of Lee's kicks met it's mark, forcing the wind out of Brad and kicked him away from her when his grip on her wrist loosened. The youngest Angeles scrambled to get a better hold on her sister's neck, grabbing the visor and yanking it off Lee's eyes before she was tossed aside with the visor flying out of her hand.

The object smashed against the ground and shattered into pieces while Casse landed painfully on her side. Tears started to form in her eyes as she looked up to see her sister's back clad figure. Why couldn't they reach her? Why was she trying to kill them? Why did this all have to happen in the first place? Casse blinked her eyes furiously for a moment before she saw Brad run towards Lee again, but he almost slipped in shock when she simply fell backwards.

With a strangled yelp, the blond boy leapt forward but missed catching her falling body. The oldest Angeles crashed onto the floor with a thump and lay there motionless. Casse quickly scrambled to her feet, her tears free falling from her eyes as she dashed forward and skidded on her knees to their fallen sister. Brad was tugging at the collar but found that the object wasn't budging an inch before he quickly scanned Lee's body for injuries and cursed colorfully.

"This has got to be some bloody joke…! We didn't even hit her! Why the hell did she just fall backwards like some rag doll?!" Casse's hand trembled as she fearfully reached forward to touch her sister's shoulder. As soon as her hand touched the bare skin, she flinched and immediately drew it back, her eyes widening in shock.

"... D…Dwarf… Brad…? She's… She's so cold…"

The Justice League's battle with the Joker and Luthor's Injustice League was drawing to a close, many of the Injustice League members knocked out of the fight. The only ones standing were Luthor, the Joker, Harley Quinn, Tala and the Ultra-Humanite.

"It's over. Release the girls."

None of the remaining members spoke, only Luthor giving Batman an arrogant smirk that meant 'It's far from over'. The Joker spied over Green Lantern's shoulder when he had cautiously let down the shield and burst into hysterical laughter, his psychotic smile growing larger and larger.

"Aww… what's the matter little kiddies? Lose a little someone?"

"What the flying (fuck) did you do them?!" Brad roared angrily, his hands griping Lee's cold bare shoulders and pressing her close to his body, trying to warm her ice cold body. Casse had thrown herself over her sister's body, sobbing hysterically while her hands grasped onto the fabric of the dress tightly.

Danny was doing the same, clutching onto Jazz's body while rocking her gently, crooning softly as the tears finally escaped his eyes and dribbled down his cheeks. Sam had fallen to her knees in hysterics; Tucker quickly grabbed her shoulders and hugged her tightly as the Goth screamed bloody murder.

The League reacted immediately. With Etrigan, Green Lantern and Vixen keeping an eye on the remaining members of the Injustice League, the rest of the League members ran towards the teenagers. Batman took Lee's cold limp wrist and felt for a pulse before his hand strayed over her nose to feel for breath. Dr. Fate had done the same the Jazz and the sorcerer was absolutely puzzled.

"No… she is not dead… She may not be breathing and her body temperature may be cold, but she still has a pulse."

"It's the same here. I got her pulse but no breath. Her heart's still beating but there doesn't seem to be any warmth at all."

"Eh…? Wait a minute… didn't you set those visor thingies to kill the girls if it gets taken off?" All eyes fell onto the Joker who, as well as the remaining members of the Injustice League, was looking at an indignant Tala as he pointed towards the two shattered objects lying on the ground.

"Of course I did. I performed the spells perfectly by the book and those two should be dead by now!"

"Then you must have made a mistake then."

"I make no mistakes you overgrown gorilla! You were there when I recited the incantation and I have the book to prove it!" The incensed witch waved the tattered old book in her hands in the Ultra-Humanite's face to prove her point.

"What did you do to them?"

"Oo… Let me tell you then! Since the girls are no longer usable to us… don't you think so Lexxie?"

"Humph. Do whatever you want clown; the girls were simply experimentations." The Joker clapped his hands with glee before launching the story of their brilliant plan to overthrow the Justice League with Harley Quinn extending her excitement along with him.

"Let's see now… Ah yes! The idea struck when we found this little book that the witch is holding in her hands right now. Controlling people to rid us of the Justice League…! Oh ho ho! How very exciting!" Batman's cowl covered eyes narrowed dangerously as the Joker continued, "We did a little experimentation earlier… about oh…three weeks ago back in that same little town the girls came from."

Danny's head remained downcast as he listened to the Joker's sick explanation. He had a gut feeling that their specimen they had used was his dad when he had that spontaneous garage sale. It started to make sense why he had that dangerous clown look back then.

"Sadly that didn't go too well. The control we had over the bloke broke off after four hours. So! We devised a few strategies! We needed to amplify the magic and we did that using the collars that would extend the period of time that they'd be controlled! Of course we also needed to find some more lab rats to test it on."

The Joker pranced about, pirouetting on his toes for a while before continuing his little display.

"And guess who we found! Two little tossed aside older sisters, abused by their younger siblings and oh so misunderstood!" The clown exaggerated his actions as he spoke, before whipping out a tape recorder with a malicious grin spreading across his lips, "And can you guess what these two would do?"

With a click and crackle, the tape began to play something. Danny involuntarily flinched when he realized that the Joker had been stalking the girls. His stomach churned as the recorder played out parts of a conversation that he had once had with Lee and the other he didn't know Jazz had done.

'_So… how far would __you go to protect Brad and Casse?'_

'_Far enough to kill if it meant that my siblings will be safe.'_

'_I'd do anything, absolutely anything, to make sure that Danny's out of harm's way. Call it the older sibling complex, but I really hate to see him hurt in any way.'_

The recording stopped and the Joker flippantly tossed the device from one hand to the other, grinning as he continued where he left off.

"Ah… it was simply perfect! And all we had to do was to catch them! The simplicity of it was that they listened to everything we said… of course we had to do some tweaking… But that's what the visors were for!" The clown fished out another strange device from his pocket before pressing the bright red button on it. The five Injustice League members shimmered in light, making the heroes tense and brace themselves for an attack or escape. When the light dimmed down, all eyes widened and Flash couldn't help but utter out one single thing.

"What the hell?!"

His exclamation caught the teens' attention, making them look up at the space where the villains were and their mouths dropped open. Where the five villains once were, now stood identical copies of the teenagers. Brad found it sickening to find out that the Joker taken his appearance to take control of Lee. He cringed at the sight of the malicious grin that looked very much out of place on his face. Harley Quinn had taken Casse's, still grinning her silly carefree grin and spinning on her toes.

Tala simply rested her hand on her hip with a perfect imitation of Sam's irritated scowl to 'Tucker', who was actually the Ultra-Humanite. A stone of dread dropped in the pit of Danny's stomach as he realized that _Luthor_ took his image. He felt sick when Luthor smirked, twisting Danny's face into something so sinister that the ghost boy couldn't bear to look at his own face anymore. The Joker grinningly pressed the button again and reverted their appearances back to normal.

"Of course, it made things so much easier! The collars not only extended the amount of control time, but amplified their physical strength and will to protect their precious little 'siblings'… Oh the irony! When in fact they were trying to kill their real siblings… ahahhaha!! And it's all thanks to this beautiful book!"

"And that's the book I'll be taking." All heads (with the exception of the teens), whipped around to find the voice that had spoken up from nowhere. Tala gripped the book tightly as her head looked around furiously for the one who wanted to take it from her. Her head snapped to her front where a boy simply appeared out of thin air in front of her, clad in a black and white hazmat suit with an eerie white glow surrounding his figure.

His bleach white hair stuck onto his face from the rain that had finally ceased and hid his eyes from Tala's, although there was an eerie green glow where his eyes should be. The witch took a quick step backwards as her eyes widened in fear, how did this boy appear before her without her magic alerting her of his presence?

"And who may you be?" Luthor snarled, readying his gun to fire at the boy who simply continued to bore his eyes into Tala's with a frighteningly stern look. Tucker and Sam gaped in shock before their heads whipped back to look at Danny who was still cradling Jazz in his arms. Brad's eyes simply widened at the sight of Amity Park's quiet hero.

"Phantom…?"

His quiet and confused question didn't go unnoticed to Vixen who had heard him over the pounding of the rain. The heroine's gaze went back to looking at the back of 'Phantom' who was still hovering off the ground while still staring at Tala. The rest of the League tensed, unsure if he was an ally or a foe. Phantom then began to drift in the air, circling the five villains as his ghostly voice echoed eerily in the air.

"Hell is empty; all the demons are running amok on earth."

In the blink of an eye, he was gone. The five glanced around cautiously, trying to find his position. The Ultra-Humanite tensed when he felt a tap on his shoulder and quickly spun his heel with his fist raised and ready to strike. But he was too slow as a glowing green fist collided with his jaw, sending him flying backwards and crashing into a building. The fist disappeared, leaving the remaining four wary of their invisible adversary.

"Humanity died eons ago. We're all left with savages and barbarians."

The Joker tried to tiptoe his way out but Phantom appeared right in front of him with his arms folded against his chest. The clown squeaked and gave a tiny wave before a bright blast of green sent him smashing into a building. Harley Quinn and Luthor tried shooting at Phantom, but all he did was to activate his intangibility and allowed the bullets to fly through him before he made his next move.

He grabbed Harley's jester hat head and smashed her face down to his bent knee. As her head bobbed upwards from the brute force of the smash, his fist had clenched and pulled back glowing in his ghostly green power. He let his fist fly and sent the sidekick clown flying back into the same building her 'mentor' had smashed into. Luthor attempted to fire at him again, but Phantom simply turned himself invisible once again.

"The balance of the world went on a whack a long time ago. The bloody 'take-over-the-world' morons should stop multiplying already."

Again, Phantom appeared right in front of Luthor and kicked the gun out of the billionaire's hand. Once that was done, he disappeared and reappeared just behind Tala who had been ready to blast him with a dose of her magic. His breath tickled her ear as he whispered.

"Pop quiz little witchy. How can you kill someone who's already dead?"

She flinched violently and shrieked when his powered fist connected with her shoulder. Her grip on the book loosened and Phantom grabbed a hold of it before it even so started it's decent to the ground. Tala spun her heel, gnashing her teeth angrily and readied a spell but was promptly thrown back by the force of Phantom's ghost ray slamming into her stomach.

Before Luthor could aim his spare gun at Phantom, his hand was stopped and he turned to see Superman gripping his wrist tightly. Swiftly, the Man of Steel pulled his fist back and slammed it against Luthor's jaw, knocking the bald man unconscious. Phantom tilted his head to the side to take a look. Apparently the parents had arrived with some extra back-up and the ghost boy watched as Maddie sank to her knees and clutched onto her two children tightly, weeping softly. He needed to finish this quickly.

Phantom silently floated over, ignoring Jack's withering glare that was trained on him when he reached them. He bent down and reached for the collar, turning it intangible and easily slide it off Jazz's neck. He proceeded to do the same to Lee and griped the three items in his possession tightly. It was time to…

"Hand those things over. Those are dangerous and you shouldn't be holding them." Phantom raised his head to stare straight at Batman, his voice nothing but a monotone as he replied back to the Dark Knight.

"I need these items for something." Etrigan narrowed his eyes and snarled at the boy until a smell caught his attention. The demon sniffed the rain scented air and honed in on the smell. His eyes caught sight of a black dove that swooped from the sky and perched itself on Phantom's shoulder, cooing gently while it nuzzled his cheek.

"What for? You need them to do your own controlling?" Green Lantern snapped, striding forward to grab the items from the teenage ghost before Etrigan stopped him. Lantern stopped in surprised but scowled angrily at the demon.

"Let the boy have it, I know why he needs the items. On with you boy." The black dove that sat on his shoulder cooed again before taking flight into the sky again. Phantom walked down the street a little before holding out the two collars and the book.

"I've got your payment."

A swirl of black feathers appeared before him before it materialized into the figure of a woman in a sitting position. To be more precise, the Sorceress Zeraphina. She appeared exactly the same position when Phantom first met her in her home. Her legs elegantly crossed over each other with one hand propping her cheek and the other draping lazily on her side. Her black lips were still in her knowing smile as she lifted her head from her hand and raised the hand forward.

The collars and the book lifted from Phantom's hand and glided over to her aerial seat in the air. Casually, she flipped the pages of the book with her magic before snapping it shut, her smile never leaving her face. She turned her face to look at him with a single twinkling violet eye

"Excellent work little Phantom." The book and the collars glowed briefly before it disappeared from their positions, "Now you must make one more decision. Which memory shall be erased?"

Phantom took no notice of the quizzical looks that were being sent his way when he spoke up firmly to the Sorceress.

"This entire event. The memory of their forced villainy." He wasn't sure if it was possible, but Zeraphina's smile seemed to grow wider at his reply.

"How chivalrous of you little Phantom. You want to spare them the grief and guilt of their actions, though forced and manipulated as they were. Very well."

She took her hand and placed it on her lips before swishing it back out with a strange noise coming from her lips. It sounded like a strange melody when red swirls escaped her mouth and dove at the motionless bodies of the girls. Maddie clung onto Jazz's body tightly as the swirl curved around Jazz's head and fished out a strange glowing white orb from it before gliding back into the Sorceress' hands. Jack was not pleased.

"What are you doing?! What is all this?" Zeraphina simply smiled and placed a finger to her lips to silence him as two bright orbs glided to her hands. They twirled about her hand for a moment before two jars appeared out of thin air, storing them into the jars as they were sealed tightly. She then pointed a slender finger at Phantom,

"Bring your hand out little Phantom." The ghost boy did as he was told, bringing up his outstretched hand. Two different colored flashes of light appeared at the Sorceress' fingertips and shot towards him, stopping just at his hand and hovered above his palm. "It should not be a problem for you to differentiate between them. Hurry along little Phantom."

The white haired teen nodded his head before gliding back towards them with the two lights in his hand. Maddie looked at him curiously as he gently placed a teal teardrop light at Jazz's chest before he glided off to place the other light on Lee. The lights glowed teal and red simultaneously before slowly sinking into the bodies.

The instant the lights sunk in, Maddie felt Jazz's skin grow warmer and saw her chest rise and fall quietly. She praised the lord for sparing her daughter and wept happily while still clinging onto both her children. Maddie heard Casse release a happy squeal and knew the youngest Angeles must be hugging her sister tightly, even if she was unconscious. She lifted her head up and confirmed her thought when she saw Casse sprawled on top of her sister. Relief spread through her body like warm cocoa being swallowed down her throat. Cautiously she looked up to look at Phantom, her eyes curiously wanting to know the reason for his actions.

"Why? Why are you helping us?" The boy's green eyes blinked owlishly for a moment, staring straight back at her with his head tilted to one side with a quizzical look crossing his face.

"Why? Well… They're my friends, and I promised I'd protect my friends."

"It still wouldn't explain the lengths you're willing to go through to do so." Dr. Fate mused lightly from his position. Again, he simply blinked before his expression turned somber,

"Because they don't treat me differently. They don't run at the first sight of me. They don't see me as a dead person and… they're warm." Phantom brought his hands up to his face to stare at them closely as he continued speaking, "They are… precious people to me. Just like how Jazz and Lee feel that their siblings are precious to them to protect them. I don't want them to be hurt, so I'll fight; I'll fight to protect them with everything that I have. I am not all powerful and I am not well esteemed in my self proclaimed heroics of fighting my kind in Amity Park… But they give me strength, understanding… their warmth… as long as they can still smile true smiles and be free, then that's more than enough for me."

Maddie absorbed this information as Phantom looked forlornly at his hands, turning his palms over to stare at the back of his hands before flipping them over again to stare at his palms. Her eyes wandered over to glance at the teenagers who were touched by his little speech. With her children still in her arms, she looked back up at Phantom, almost willing for him to look at her. When the ghost boy did so, she surprised him by giving him a soft and gentle motherly smile.

"Thank you. Thank you for saving them." Jack quietly laid his hand on his wife's shoulders and nodded in Phantom's direction, mirroring his wife's gratitude. Tobias had gathered Lee into his arms, carrying her bridal style from the ground with his lab coat draped over her body. He nodded in Phantom's direction, giving him the same head bow three weeks prior. The black clad boy attempted to do the head bow once more, but found himself bowing his entire upper body instead. His lips curved into a childish pout as he folded his arms across his chest in indignation after he had straightened his posture.

"Nuts. I still can't do that head bow without the rest of my body following my head." Casse and Sam burst into hysterical laughter, though it was hiccupped slightly from their previous crying sessions. Tucker quickly stifled his laughter with his mouth, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably with mirth. Brad amusedly shook his head at the ghost boy, his lips quirking into his casual smirk. Maddie released a chuckle from her lips at the sight of the ghost boy's adorable pout before shifting her gaze to Danny, who seemed much too quiet for her liking.

Danny was simply staring unblinkingly at Phantom, his eyes glazed over slightly while his head rested on his mother's shoulder. He still had Jazz's head on his lap, his fingers idly stroking her soaking bangs. She figured that he was just too tired and gently whispered into his ear.

"It's alright sweetie… you can sleep…. Jazz is ok now…" It took a little cajoling but his eyes had finally dropped shut and his body weight leaned heavily against his mother as his breath evened out as he seemingly fell into a light slumber. She smiled softly, caressing his hair gently before planting a kiss to his forehead.

When they were told that the kids had been sent out to the fight, her heart had nearly stopped and she had feared the worst. Looking back at her reaction just prior to their arrival to the scene, she found that she had lacked the faith in her children to protect themselves and promised herself that she would keep her faith in them, just as Tobias did with his.

Speaking of the brunette, he hadn't been very pleased to find out that the League initially wanted to keep the information of sending their kids into a fight from them. She had a feeling that he was going to have a nice long talk with the seven founders; he did have a way of making his point crystal clear and sending it across.

Immersed in her thoughts, she almost didn't catch Phantom flying up into the sky before shooting off into the direction where she could only believe to be towards Amity Park. The strange black clad woman was still floating in the air in front of them, her expression very much amused as the boy's figure disappeared from sight.

Superman took control of the situation, ordering the villains to be rounded up and the Amity residents to be sent up to the Watchtower for medical treatment. The heroes hustled to their jobs, leaving Batman, Superman and Etrigan the demon standing to the front of the sorceress. As soon as the civilians were teleported, the demon smirked, finally stepping forward to greet the smiling Sorceress.

"It's been a while Sorceress."

"Two centuries to be more precise Etrigan. I see you're doing well."

"Likewise to you. Still granting them wishes?"

"But of course. You, of all people should know that I am also quite selective of my customers."

"And mighty lenient in terms of getting ye payment. You sealed the items and locked them away now didn't you?"

"Such dangerous artifacts…" the dual hair colored Sorceress murmured, twirling her fingers in the air, her expression turning stern, "They cause disruption in the balance of time. They were not meant to exist. Because of their existence, time and space have been fluctuating in dangerous intervals, threatening the very existence of the time stream. I've locked them away in a space where they will do no more harm."

Wisps of red curled themselves around her fingers, caressing her glove smoothly as the three League members kept their gaze on her, waiting for her to continue. When she didn't, Superman finally spoke up from the silence.

"If it did, why didn't you stop it? You seem to know what is going on and have the power to prevent it." Etrigan barked out a laugh at the Kryptonian's query before turning his smirking gaze to him.

"The Sorceress is bound to a contract. With one with so much power as she, she alone can cease the existence of all existence. Her contract states that she cannot meddle in the affairs that could threaten the time stream unless one who finds her requests a wish to be granted. Of course, prices must be paid. Humph. And a very picky granter she is."

"Of course. The price of granting their wish weighs as heavily as the weight of their wish. As such, little Phantom simply wished for a way to save those two girls and I gave him one. I cast a spell that nullified the killing effect of the visor so that once it was removed from them, they wouldn't die. But rather, a part of their souls would come to me, as long as they had pulses, they would live; but they would not wake until those separated parts returned to them."

"And? His payment was the collars and the book?"

"Indeed they were. It would break my contract if I were to simply barge in to take those items myself. Little Phantom became my errand boy, obtaining them for me as the price for his wish. However, there was one other consequence to the spell I had cast to nullify the killing effect of the visor. When a part of the girls' souls came to me, a memory must be taken from them. Taking a part of the soul is like taking a part of your inner most being, making you incomplete as an entity. An exchange must be made in return of the parts of their souls; little Phantom understood this with my explanation and as you have heard, requested that the memories of their temporary villainy to be erased."

"That's not all now isn't it Sorceress? There must be more."

"Hahaha… yes Etrigan. Of course there is." Zeraphina descended to the ground but hovered at eye level to the heroes while lazily resting her cheek on the back of her hand, "As I warned little Phantom, the only memories that I would take would be that of the mind. Even if their minds have had that memory wiped away from it, their bodies would remember their actions. The inner power they had used in fighting… those are all retained in the body's memory. Even if the mind forgets, the body shall remember. Don't be too shocked when you find that those girls are able to use a high level of martial arts despite their inexperience in the field."

"I'll keep that in mind. An all powerful sorceress like you seems far too relaxed for my liking."

"Ah, but I still have many limitations, Knight of the night. For one, I cannot revive the dead. To do as such, one must sacrifice another life, but yet still it shall all end with one who shall no longer walk the earth. And the price for such a wish is much too high, almost equal to that of selling your soul to the demons of hell… of course, that includes Etrigan."

"Bah. And you're still picky on your customers. Not everyone with wishes can find ye."

"One can never be too picky. Spare me the wishes of world domination, I've heard too many of those in the earlier parts of my career. You'd feel the same."

"Why the boy though?"

"He came to me. His desire to save those girls led him to my domain, though unknowingly. Besides, little Phantom has a much larger role in the future." Idly, the sorceress eyed them with her violet eye, her lips curved into a knowing smile, "There will come a time in the future, where you, the Justice League, must seek little Phantom's assistance in saving the earth. There will come a time of uncertainty where all that is good begins to be questioned. His road to maturity of his hero status is long and harsh, but only time will tell how the events unfold."

Black feathers swirled at her feet, before rising upwards and her figure slowly broke away into a sea of feathers before disappearing completely; her last words echoing in the dark street and rang in the ears of the heroes.

"To change oneself, is to change the future. Be good to remember that."

* * *

Danny had never felt so drained in his entire life. All he had done for the past two days was lie boneless at the side of Jazz's bed at the Watchtower and sleep. He hadn't even mustered the strength to explain himself to Tucker and Sam who undoubtedly wanted to question him on how he managed to make himself appear in two places at the same time. However, Jack had managed to drag him to the showers to wash up and change into a clean set of clothes before the teen dragged himself back to his sister's bedside and continued his boneless activity of sleeping.

The Sorceress had been right; splitting himself into two separate beings had been taxing on his body but he was grateful that she had idly waved off the price for giving him that ability for the night. The bracelet of feathers dissolved into nothingness as soon as his ghost counterpart flew away from Gotham and returned to his body. At least no one would make the connection between him and Phantom for the moment. His mother and friends would definitely vouch for him.

Speaking of his friends, no matter how much Sam and Tucker protested, they were both sent back to the warmth of their families. Danny could tell that Sam was still ridden with guilt at her impulsive act of attacking Jazz but quietly assured her that desperate times called for desperate measures, and she did what she thought was right. Nevertheless, it didn't stop Sam from forcing herself onto a short lived fasting when Tucker put a stop to it as soon as it started. Both his best friends would visit after school, handing Danny, Brad and Casse's homework to them and quietly doing the said pieces of work in the room.

Both Lee and Jazz were still unconscious, though their wounds had been tended to and they looked considerably much better than when they were first admitted. It was another silent day in the infirmary with the only sound in the room being the scratching of pens and pencils on paper.

Danny's mind drifted off again, idly tapping the pen on his chin as he stared blankly at his blank piece of paper. He had plenty of things to think about; one being allied with a powerful sorceress with limits to what she can do. The second being his need to know just how much longer it would take for both Jazz and Lee's body to recuperate to their normal energy levels. And thirdly, the ghost attacks that were bound to happen in his absence in Amity Park.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice a gentle shift in Jazz's hand by his own. It wasn't until he heard a quiet moan from beside him that he finally took notice. Jazz's eyes fluttered open before squeezing shut at the light. Danny yelped in shock, tumbling off his perch on the side of her bed and crashed onto the ground in a heap. The rest blinked owlishly at him as he jumped up, dashed to Jazz's side and grasped her hand.

"Jazz?"

"Mm… Danny…? Wha… What's going… on?" Danny strongly felt like grabbing the nearest person to him and rejoicing with them by prancing about the room. He quickly stopped himself as the nearest person to him was actually Brad and he doubted the blond would appreciate being swung about the room in a strange eerie looking waltz even if he knew that Danny was clearly elated at his sister's rousing. Instead, he gave a whoop of joy and did his own solo dance.

"Hang on… let me go find someone…" Just as Danny was about to fly through the door, J'onn had stepped in with a smile on his lips.

"I have already contacted the doctors and they will be arriving soon with the other six founders and your parents. Your thoughts of elation are rather loud Mr. Fenton, and difficult to block." Danny had the decency to blush at the Martian's comment, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment while his friends who were spread around the room snickered into their hands.

They did arrive pretty quickly, with Maddie dashing over to Jazz's bedside and smothering her confused daughter with hugs and kisses. Jack had given Jazz his customary bear hug, almost to the point of choking her when he squeezed her too tightly. The thrilled parents had to be taken away for a while for the doctors to examine Jazz. The end of it gave the report that she would be able to return to school as soon as she felt fit enough.

In the swell of his happiness, Danny had almost forgotten about the other person who was still lying unconscious in the bed next to Jazz's. The balloon of happiness began to deflate once he turned to grin at his friends but instead saw Casse look at Lee's still form forlornly. His grin dropped and shoulder slumped slightly in dejection; his happiness slowly faded off a little.

Quietly, Casse had slipped away from Sam's side and over to her sister's bedside, grasping the hand tightly in a silent prayer. Her movement hadn't been left unnoticed by the other occupants of the room. Jazz watched Casse in her silent praying in confusion before clutching her head in pain. She just couldn't remember what had happened. Her memory had a blank space between the strange hand reaching out at her and waking up in a strange room to her brother's worried face.

"What's going on…? What happened…?" Jazz quietly questioned her mother so as to not disturb the suddenly silent room. Maddie calmly squeezed Jazz's hand before hugging her oldest child close.

"It's something… that you're better off not knowing sweetheart. Believe me. You're much better off not knowing about it…"

Her mother's gentle soothing only served to pique her curiosity more, but with Maddie's gentle shake of her head, Jazz dropped the subject as the room lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.

That silence was broken when a soft and weak voice shattered it.

"… Pixie? Why the sad look?" Casse's eyes snapped open and turned to the bed to see a pair of tired red eyes watching her from the top of the bed. The youngest sibling sniffled loudly as Lee slowly pushed herself into a seating position; tears brimming in her eyes before she flung herself at her sister, bawling loudly. Lee gave a weak squawk of protest at the sudden weight on top of her as Casse clung onto her tightly, babbling incoherent sentences that didn't seem to make sense to her frazzled mind.

Lee slowly turned her head when she felt a touch on her shoulder to see Brad on the other side of the bed. Her brother wrapped his arm around her shoulders with his other arm wrapped around Casse's shoulder; Brad enveloped his sisters in a tight hug. Tobias strode over from the doorway and leaned forward to gently place his palm on Lee's forehead, stroking her cheek for a moment before caressing her hair. Lee closed her eyes and her lips curved into a smile of contentment.

The balloon of happiness began to swell again in Danny's chest at the display of affection. It was times like these that tested the bonds that they had with their family and friends. With their strong bond, Danny was absolutely sure that they would all survive the future trials and come out stronger than ever.

And he was going to be damned sure that he'd never mistreat his sister ever again.

* * *

**Authoress' Ending Notes**

1) Phew! That chapter has to be the toughest chapter I've ever written. I think I might have gone overboard in the drama section though.  
2) Yeee! I finally got the Justice League in! I might consider this fanfic a multiverse because of a stray thought of having it cross over with the Teen Titans as well. But we'll see about that later :D  
3) Thank you, thank you and thank you to **AmeliaTomashi**, **Adran06**, **TPcrazy**, **Skyheart92**, **inukagome15**, **Calovan** and **Moonlightblackrose** for reviewing the previous chapter! Cookies anyone? These are **TPcrazy's **evil cookies that came after me during the week :D  
4) **Adran06**: I love the possibilities that you've come up with! Sadly you won't see a new hero/heroine around in the story just yet... I'm trying to focus more on the relationships between the characters more than having just another person get powers and go on gung ho into the fight. I found that plenty of stories start off with someone getting a power and doing the fighting with the main protagonist of the fandom. So yep, trying out something different, but do continue with the string of possibilities that crop up! You may never know when I might nip one as an idea (insert evil laughter)  
5) **Calovan**: The reason why Batman was mentioned more is because the Angeles are affiliated to him (and as Bruce Wayne he's the triplets' godfather). But the League will play a more important role later on in Danny's superhero career.  
6) **inukagome15**: Hah! Caught ya! It wasn't necessarily a Brad/Lee sibling chapter, because I have evil plans for them later (crackles and rubs hands together deviously). I guess this chapter touched more on Cassy's relationship with Lee rather than Brad with Lee. I'd spoil Brad's character a little too early if I brought out his thoughts now. Check out later chapters and he'll slowly be revealed :D  
7) Yes, Zeraphina is my randomly made up OC who mirrors xxxHolic's Ichihara Yuuko. Differences are that personality wise she's nothing like Yuuko (other than the knowing smile), very much more selective in her customers for wish granting and very lenient in terms of getting payment. Anyone figured out the reason why I had xxxHolic's famous phrase in the story now? XD But no, she is not going to be a part of the main cast. She's a background character who pops up at different times.  
8) Updating will be slow now since I've got Uni work to do (and I'm a whore for writing bloody long chapters). And I'm working on another project for the AT series :D Stay tuned for it!  
9) Thanks for reading and do drop a review if you're free or if you've seen a mistake that I've made! :D

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	6. Growing up, Growing apart

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress' Beginning Notes: (sigh) I'm not completely happy with this chapter, it kept on morphing here and there whenever I tried to change it to make it simpler. I apologize for the wordiness and ... strangeness of this chapter. I really hope I made sense in this chapter, reflection of various characters in one chapter and squishing two separate events can be confusing. Do send me a message if you find if anything is overly awkward in the chapter. Thank you for being patient for the chapter as well, and enjoy!

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 5: **

**Growing up, Growing apart**

* * *

Casse groaned and stretched her stiff limbs before turning her gaze back at her finished homework with a triumphant grin. She was fairly pleased with the work she had written and gave it a quick glance through, promising herself that she'd ask her sister to give it one final check for her in the morning. Casse stuffed her work into her folder and prepared her school bag for the next day, humming wistfully while she worked. A series of knocks broke Casse out of her little daydream before she heard a voice from behind the door.

"Pixie, are you going to head to bed yet?" Casse muffled her giggles when she heard Lee's voice. Seriously, she was one huge mother hen, but Casse wouldn't have her any other way. She was glad that Lee was doing much better after that whole fiasco with the Joker and her being brainwashed.

"Yea I will soon!"

"Did you finish your English piece for Lancer's class?"

"Yes Fairy, I did! Could you look through it for me tomorrow?" Casse turned her chair to face her door when she heard Lee twist the doorknob and push the door open. Despite the fact that the kidnapping incident had only been two weeks ago, Lee was recuperating fairly well. Of course it was due to the fact that her two siblings constantly keeping an eye on her, much to her chagrin. Even Tobias seemed to hover behind her more often than usual once he reached home after work.

With Lee's insistence that she wasn't about to be kidnapped anytime soon again (though Brad begged to differ which earned him a withering look from her), they toned down their protective watch over her. But only Tobias kept his end of the bargain, her siblings didn't. Both Brad and Casse just wouldn't stop hovering around her in and out of school.

Casse grinned at the memory of Lee's exasperated expression when she found both Brad and herself hovering behind her at her locker during a period break. It was even more hilarious when they saw Danny stalking his sister like a blood hound the same time they were hovering behind Lee at her locker. Sam and Tucker had cracked up at both Jazz and Lee's incensed looks that were sent in their stubborn siblings' way, but none of them were willing to budge one bit.

Despite her skin's sickly shade, Lee was still ready to give a smile. She immediately returned to her usual activities once she was given a clean bill of health by the doctors. Casse made an attempt at making dinner but found that she was in desperate need of cooking lessons; she almost burnt the kitchen down in her attempt. She had scowled and pouted when Lee gently persuaded her to leave the cooking to her and that she'd give her lessons in cooking in the future after the disaster.

Lee's head poked into her sister's room before she pushed the door open a little more to stand inside a little. Her eyes looked a little tired, but they still held her spark.

"Why don't I take a look at it now? I'll put it on your table once I finish."

"Nuh uh! I know you're going to spend the whole night correcting my mistakes so that's why I said tomorrow morning!" Casse impishly stuck her tongue out at her amused sister and pretended to clutch her folder close to her chest in an exaggerated expression of 'no touchies!'. Lee burst into pearls of laughter at Casse's expression, eliciting a smug smirk on her younger sister's face.

"Oh fine, alright. I'll look at it tomorrow. Don't go to bed too late ok? I don't want to think what Brad will do to you if you oversleep again." Casse waved a dismissive hand at her sister's statement and tossed her hair dramatically.

"Pish! He can't do anything to me, I'll rig up my own tricks and turn the tables on him!"

"I'd like to see you try Pixie." Both girls burst into laughter at the muffled sound of their brother's voice from behind the wall of Casse's room. After she bade her siblings good night, Lee left Casse's room with a gentle click of the door. Casse heard some ruffling from her bedroom wall before she heard another click of a shutting door, knowing that Brad had returned to his room.

After she had finished packing her bag, Casse dug deep into her drawers and pulled out a book. She idly flipped the pages of the book that were filled with both words and messy sketches before reaching an empty page in the middle of the book. She grabbed a variety of colored pens and scattered them on her table before doodling on the corner of the page. With her doodle done, she reached for another pen and scratched its tip on the surface of the page.

-

_Dear Diary,_

_It's been like, over three weeks since I've last written. Everything's just been so hectic! Two weeks ago, Fairy got kidnapped by that psychotic clown back in Gotham with Danny's sister Jazz and got brainwashed! It was just so… surreal. How'd those crackpots end up in Amity Park anyway? I guess we'll never know._

_-  
_

Casse paused in her writing for a moment, grabbing a red and blue pen from the table and sketched rough drawings of Lee and Jazz in the clothes the villains had made them wear during their short lived villainy on the page. After the sketches were done, she grabbed her black pen again and continued writing,

-

_I never came close to thinking that Fairy would go far enough to kill to protect Dwarf and me. It just never entered my mind until the Joker went around doing that crazy explanation of his on why they kidnapped them__ and showing us the recording that he made (I wonder who she was talking to in the first place in the tape though, it sounded an awful lot like Danny but he said he never had a conversation like that with her when I asked him about it… Eeks! Is she dating someone behind our backs?! D: ). Guess it shows how much I know my sister… and know how much we mean to her. T.T_

_I think I made__ myself look like a ginormous wimp during that time; I was crying a lot. But everyone was crying at that time too anyway, we thought they (Jazz and Fairy by the way!) were dead. They weren't breathing, they weren't moving and they just felt so cold! I was really terrified then, whatever that old batty counselor back in school said came running back into my mind. (By the way, that old batty counselor Spectra, she's gone for some reason. Can't say I miss her though, she's so FAKE! D: )_

_-  
_

Casse grabbed a pink pen and scribbled a few smiley icons behind a few words and sketched a rough piece of Spectra's face before using a gray pen to doodle lines over the drawing to deface the image. Satisfied with her little defacing of Spectra's face, the blond grabbed her black pen again and resumed her writing.

-

_Spectra said that I was__ way too clingy and told me that my siblings would leave me in the dust. She also said I was too childish and that I'll never amount to anything in the future with who I am now. She went about trying to sugarcoat her words but I know I'm not that dumb to see what she really meant! (I wonder if the University standards have dropped drastically in the past few years, how could they let her qualify to be a school counselor when all she's done is bite our butts?) I talked with Fairy about it and she didn't look very happy about what Spectra had talked to me about. But she said that the both of them wouldn't leave me and neither would dad for that matter. She also said that I had full control of my future and will always amount to something. She said it didn't matter if I was childish, it just simply means I'm pretty much innocent (though I did tell her that Dick taught me how to cuss, she looked pretty livid about it. Oopsies! Watch out Dickie boy! XD)_

_Anyway! Back to that kidnapping thing. Guess what? Phantom came and helped us! I dunno how he followed us__ (or how he even knew about it), but he did look pretty awesome when he kicked the Injustice League's butt. He just seemed a little off though, but I guess that's because he looked pretty furious; he practically radiated the vibes of 'I'M GONNA PWN YOUR ASSES NUBS!'. I really want to thank him properly when I see him next; it's thanks to him that both Fairy and Jazz are A-OK! now. And I'm gonna give him as many smiles as I can! Hehehe… I didn't realize we also made this huge impact on Phantom that drives him to protect us. It's definitely worth getting into some trouble once in a while, he's really in need of friends! So what if he's dead? He's still existing right?(Psst, he also looks pretty cute when he's pouting, he tried head bowing like dad but ended up with a full body bow instead. Heheh! :D )_

_-  
_

Casse grinned impishly before digging through her scattered pens for a green one. After successfully getting her hands on it, she sketched a picture of Phantom with his arms folded across his chest with a pout on his lips. She then grabbed a blue pen and doodled a smaller version of herself making funny faces at the other picture. She giggled at the drawings for a moment before picking up her black pen again.

-

_By the way__, I tried cooking the other day. Can't say it was a success though, it was a downright complete disaster! I guess it was a good thing Fairy was back at home when I was giving it a shot, she managed to stop the fire from the stove. (Did I mention that we still use a gas stove and not the new electric ones? Fairy never liked the electric ones for some reason.) I had to promise her not to try that again without supervision and said that she'd give me cooking lessons later. I felt a little bad; Fairy was supposed to be resting but she went straight back to doing chores once she got home. But come to think of it, neither Dwarf nor myself can cook at all. Are we really that dependent on her? I guess it's time to change that! I'm gonna dedicate myself to learning how to cook!_

_We got a call from Uncle Bruce the other day and he spent at least two hours lecturing Fairy about being on her guard. I'd never wish for anyone, even if it were Dash (the stupid jockwad__, or maybe I would…), to suffer through one of Uncle Bruce's safety lectures. It was as if we were back in Gotham, dodging the masses because of being related to Uncle Bruce. Fairy managed to suck it all up, though she looked kinda pained when Uncle Bruce was talking. I guess it would've been longer if Alfred didn't butt in. Hail the lord for Alfred! He's a real life saver! He idly mentioned that he failed to tell Dick and Babs about the incident (Fairy was VERY grateful!) but warned us that they might fly off the handle when they did find out. I say the later the better! Fairy is never gonna live it down if both Babs and Dick come after her about it._

_Oops, I gotta fly! It's getting late and Fairy will probably get out of bed to check up on me if she sees my l__ight on! Just a few last things though: Surprisingly the ghost attacks dulled down a little during the past few weeks, although I gotta wonder if Phantom had anything to do with it. Did he kick their butts before we got to know about the attack? I dunno, but at least he's justified his actions for wanting to protect us! I'll probably write more tomorrow… I've got so many things left to pour out!_

_(P.S: Both Fairy and Jazz have no clue on what happened, all they do remember is that they were kidnapped and that's about it. Phantom really wanted them to forget about the incident and I'm grateful for it! Fairy would never forgive herself if she found out what she'd done, even if she had been brainwashed!)_

_Till next time!__!_

_Casse_

_-  
_

Casse smiled at her latest diary entry in satisfaction before shutting the book and hiding it back in the far bottom end of her drawer. She grabbed her pens and tossed them back into her pen box. The blond stretched her limbs one last time before trotting over to her door to switch off the lights. Once that was done, she flung herself onto her squashy bed, shifted about after her body hit the mattress and fell asleep.

* * *

Morning had come much too soon for Casse's liking. The blond simply wanted to snuggle under her blankets and continue to sleep but had foreseen that her brother would, without a doubt, chase her out of bed with one of his many pranks. She really didn't want to take an early morning shower and catch a cold in the process.

Casse's hand smacked her alarm shut and slowly rolled her body out of bed. Her sleep fogged brain didn't comprehend that she had begun to teeter off the bed and crashed onto the wooden floor with a loud thump. The thump didn't go unnoticed to the rest of the occupants of the house and soon, Casse vaguely heard Lee's voice float from the outside of her room.

"Pixie? Are you ok?"

"Mmmfle…" She didn't hear the door creak open but her ears met with her sister's quiet laughter before she felt a tug at her arm. Casse blinked her eyes owlishly for a moment and began to rub them furiously with the back of her hand as she settled herself in a sitting position on the floor. The running water of the faucet echoed through the open doors as she tried to wake her still sleeping brain.

"Come on lazy girl, it's time to get up." Lee's laugh met her ears again as Casse felt a warm damp cloth wipe across her face and rub her eyes. Her hands grabbed the cloth and scrubbed her face furiously, relishing the warmth of the cloth before it turned cold. She tore the cloth away from her face and released an energetic cry before lunging at her sister with a morning hug.

"Morning Fairy!" Lee laughed for the third time in the morning, this time at her sister's 180 degree turn from a sleepy, fuzzed brained teen to a chirpy grinning ball of energy. It never ceased to amaze her just how fast Casse could change attitudes. The older sibling returned the hug before poking her sister in the shoulder.

"Alright then, up you get. Freshen up and come downstairs for breakfast. Didn't you say you wanted me to take a look at your essay?" Casse nodded her head vigorously and scrambled up from her seated position from the floor over to her school bag with her folder. She dug through the papers and fished out her essay, handing it over to Lee with a wide grin spread across her lips.

With the warning of not getting pancakes for breakfast if she were to dawdle some more, Casse fled to the bathroom in a hurry, shutting the door with a loud snap. With her sister's essay in hand, Lee gave a small chuckle before heading back down to the kitchen to make more; just in case Brad did finish the already made pancakes.

Casse shocked her skin with a few quick splashes of cold water before rubbing it dry with a towel. She repeated this for a while, hoping that her bad night's sleep didn't show on her face. The blond did her basic hygiene routine for the day and tottered back into her room, rummaging through her wardrobe for her normal attire and flung the found articles onto her bed. She quickly swapped her night attire for the said clothes and dashed down to the dining room to grab her breakfast in a hurry.

Much to her delight, Lee had placed a plate of freshly made pancakes on the table just as she ran through the door. Casse flew into her seat and grabbed the first slice before Brad could so much as look up from his essay to see the new plate of food. Casse knew her siblings were giving her amused looks but pretended not to notice; attacking her pancakes with much vigor, savoring the flavor as much as she could.

Breakfast continued in silence, with the only noise noticeable in the room being the noise of chewing and utensil clattering. Casse vaguely noticed Lee pull out her essay and make tiny marks on it with a pencil. Just as she had finished wolfing down her fourth pancake and reached out for a fifth, Casse noticed Lee tilt her head to a side for a moment before a grin spread across her lips. Brad noticed the grin from the other side of the table and raised his brow in question.

"What's gotten you amused? Other than Pixie being a pig and attacking her fifth pancake." An indignant shout came from Casse at the mention being called a pig but Lee merely laughed quietly before reaching out to pat Casse's fluff of hair, her grin not faltering.

"I guess I really should have expected the topic, but… Fairytales Pixie?" A choke was heard at the other end of the table at the mention of the essay topic while Casse folded her arms across her chest and gave her sister a pout.

"Well Lancer didn't specify! All he said was 'write about your most favorite things'." Casse purposely inserted the quotation marks in copying Lancer's exact words from the day before, making Lee shake her head in amusement while Brad rolled his eyes.

"You could've gone with drawing but no, you had to go with the fairytales."

"So what did you write about then Dwarf?"

"It's pretty obvious Pixie. Music, my guitar… What else would I write about?"

"Penchant in looking for trouble maybe?"

Lee rolled her eyes, allowed her siblings' playful banter eat off the silence and went back to marking off Casse's grammatical mistakes. The oldest sibling couldn't help but wonder how much things had changed in the past two weeks. It was as if her kidnapping had been a catalyst to a change that irked her greatly. Not that it was a bad sort of change, but Lee couldn't help but ponder over her two siblings' sudden need to be more civil and respectful to their father as well as to keep their bantering down to a minimum.

Even with the casual tossing of random remarks at each other, breakfast was finished quickly; both younger siblings taking the initiative to clean up the plates and utensils after the scrumptious meal. After the chore was done, Lee handed Casse back her essay. The youngest sibling couldn't help herself to be curious on what her sister wrote for her own essay and questioned Lee on her topic. The other blond pretended to ponder for a moment before sheepishly replying to her.

"Well… I sort of wrote about music too. But unlike Dwarf, I wrote more about singing and songwriting." Casse's lips split into an enormous grin and her eyes glinted mischievously as she bounced on the spot.

"Going to do a duet with Dwarf?"

"Pixie, we've never even had the time to sit down and discuss music let alone do a duet. Besides, I haven't sung in about two years or so."

Lee completely missed seeing Casse's grin drop and her expression turning to one of disappointment when she turned her head to check the time. The younger girl silently reminded her older sister that she hadn't sung ever since her two week long relapse when they were ten. Casse couldn't help but miss the days when she would pester Lee into singing her a lullaby before bedtime.

But things were different now. After being bed ridden for a fortnight, the doctors had advised against her doing sports and any exercise that would make her breathe too heavily. Sadly, that included singing and Casse was extremely bitter about losing the nightly comfort of the soothing lullaby that would ease her to sleep. She knew for a fact that Brad was equally bitter as she was for the loss but that was when he had also started to change. Heck, all of them did.

Casse hurriedly wiped the disappointment off her face and forced a smile. She was getting better at making her forced smiles look like any of her ordinary daily smiles, though both her siblings had often been perturbed whenever she did so. They could sense that something was off but never could quite put their finger on what. Thus it was normally left alone and Casse would be relieved that she had managed to evade them.

The triplets scurried to their rooms to grab their bags and headed off to school. Light chatter descended on them as they walked down the pavement towards Casper High. As they entered through the doors, the girls waved to their brother as he slipped off to his locker and they continued down the hall to theirs. They both met up with Jazz along the way and the older girl chattered with them quietly until reaching their lockers. The red head bade the blonds' a good day and trotted out of sight to her class.

Both Lee and Casse grabbed the necessary books for their homeroom period and were greeted by their group of friends and their brother just as they had closed their locker doors shut.

"Morning you two, what did you write for Lancer's essay?"

"Fairytales."

"Music." Tucker did a double take and twisted his neck to stare at Lee intently.

"You wrote the same topic as Brad?" Lee rolled her eyes and smacked Tucker's shoulder lightly before responding to him.

"Dwarf wrote more on playing musical instruments. I did mine on singing and songwriting."

A thoughtful look crossed Tucker's face as the rest of the group continued to chatter while walking to their classroom. Quietly, he sidled up to Lee and nudged her arm gently. The red-eyed girl titled her head to his direction with an enquiring look and Tucker couldn't help but mutter his request under his breath. Unfortunately, Lee couldn't hear him.

"What was that again Tuck?" Fortunately for Tucker, Lee whispered it to him, sensing that he was too shy to speak out loud. He inched his lips closer to her ear and whispered in.

"Do… you think you could listen in to some songs I've been mixing around with? I mean, I've been playing around with a DJ mixer program for a while but I'm not sure if they're any good and all…"

A look of surprise flashed across Lee's face and Tucker felt his cheeks grow warm. He knew that it would seem very out of character for him to actually be playing around with music but it was still technically a computer program thus an excuse to actually use it. But it was still definitely out of his normal techno-geek character. The world (rather only the school really) would definitely flip at his interest in things other than technology if word ever got out. IF.

But then again, the African American boy was glad that his pack of friends accepted anything he liked to do… Or maybe more for the triplets rather than Sam and Danny. In all honesty, Tucker knew Sam would just roll her eyes and wouldn't take his words seriously while Danny would most probably be his perpetually clueless self. As much as he loved his best friends, Tucker was glad that they now had a slightly larger circle of friends that he could talk to.

"Sure, why not? I'd love to hear what you've mixed up." Tucker shared a grin with Lee and gave her thumbs up as the group scurried into their classroom and headed for their seats. The bell rang shrilly as the last few students streamed into their classrooms and Lancer got up from his seat at the teacher's table, waiting for the morning announcements to sound.

The speakers crackled for a moment before the secretary's voice echoed through the sound system, dishing out the announcements in a monotone that could almost drive the school population to sleep if the said announcements were any longer. As the sound system shut off, Lancer faced the class with his usual stern look that meant 'it's time to get down to business.

"Alright now, take out your essays. I want to see them on your table. After that, I'll call each person up at random on the class roster so that you will talk about your topic in front of the class."

Danny swore that he saw Tucker momentarily freeze at Lancer's announcement. The raven haired boy dug through his bag for his essay and watched his friend from the corner of his eye carefully. Tucker seemed reluctant in taking out his essay, now that Lancer had mentioned about speaking to the class about their topics. The ghost boy couldn't help but wonder what Tucker had written about; the beret wearing teen had refused to give them a hint earlier when they met up at the school entrance.

The rustle of papers invaded the room before all was silent as Lancer walked through the classroom to inspect the essays on the tables. The bald teacher peered down at Tucker's essay, much to the dismay of the bespectacled teen and raised an eyebrow at the topic at the top of the page. Tucker shifted about his seat nervously as Lancer's eyes quickly scanned through the first page and received an approving sort of nod from the teacher before moving off.

Casse quirked her eyebrow in confusion at Tucker's behavior; she couldn't help but wonder what exactly his topic was that made him look jittery and nervous all of a sudden. Was he afraid of being picked to talk about his topic? She'd thought that Tucker would have written about technology and computers, seeing that he was such a whiz at them and that they were his favorite 'things'. It was his _zone_.

Once Lancer finished his round of the classroom seemingly satisfied with the essays, he picked up the class roster and blindly pointed at the list. The beer-bellied teacher then picked up a pen to make a mark in the column before calling out the student he had randomly picked.

"Mr. Baxter. Please do tell us about your topic."

The Casper High quarter-back smirked and smoothened out his jacket exaggeratedly before standing up. Dash talked mainly about sports of which somehow halfway through his presentation, morphed into talking about his 'exceptional' skills in the said events. Lancer managed to stop Dash halfway through his ego booster and called up other students to talk to the class.

So far, majority of the A List girls had talked about shopping, latest fashion and make-up, which sprung up a debate amongst the said group of girls when they were called up to start talking. Lancer almost regretted in picking them and quickly stopped the debate before it went any further. Danny predictably talked about space and astronomy when he was called up, surprisingly not holding back in expressing his enthusiasm for the topic. Lancer had been pleasantly surprised and pleased at the result; most of the class had been taken into the topic as Danny went into careful details about the solar system and stars.

Being true to her individualism, when Sam was called up, she spoke about her favorite Gothic books and of the supernatural. Her talk had been going along just fine until Paulina made a derogatory remark about Sam's choice of topic. Lancer had to step in and split the two girls apart in their heated argument; Sam had managed to claw Paulina's arm with her nails and continued to hiss and spit at the Latino girl when Lancer forced the Goth back into her chair. Lancer paid no heed to Paulina's whine about Sam's inflicted injury on her and told the A List girl to go to the nurse's office after his lesson. Until then, she was to remain in her seat and refrain from making anymore remarks.

Paulina sulked unhappily for the rest of the periods that the class had with Lancer.

Casse bounced on her toes as she was called up, endearingly chattering about fairytales like any excited kid. A child at heart, she sped through the course at full speed and with all the enthusiasm she had; not caring for the incredulous 'what a child!' looks she was getting from her peers. The youngest Angeles' eyes took a quick glance around the room to see Lee giving her an encouraging smile while Brad simply gave her a nod. Good enough for her to continue on her little parade of her favorite fairytales, namely Peter Pan and carefully omitting the horrendous origin of her nickname that her siblings had for her. It sprung amused looks from their three friends who knew the origin but carefully hid their laughter as she chattered. Not that she minded really.

She was pleased when Lancer gave an approving nod and sat down when he stopped her talk. Casse truly enjoyed fairytales and hoped that anyone and everyone could find their happily ever after. Who wouldn't? The blond ponytailed girl concentrated on the next speaker's topic, waiting eagerly for her siblings' turn. She wished she was as musically inclined as they were, but she never was able to grasp music as well as they could. Casse loved music but found her dream of playing instruments cut off when she found that she didn't have what it took to play any. She settled in for listening to her siblings play/sing instead, that was content enough… wasn't it?

Casse constantly assured herself over and over again that she was fine with being the only non-musically inclined sibling and content enough with simply listening to her siblings' brand of music. Yet her heart couldn't help but ache a little and she'd give them envious glances when they played. However it was only directed to Brad now; Lee no longer sang or had much to do with music in close to four years.

Her feet bounced eagerly as Brad stood up with his essay in hand. Not everyone noticed it, but Brad's eyes shone brightly as he spoke about music. Lancer noticed it and quickly jotted a note on his class roster, smiling as Brad continued his speech of creating music with instruments. Casse knew for a fact that music was a way of escapism for Brad, and a way of expressing himself through playing it. She loved how her brother would play his music with feeling and place every bit of his being into the pieces; amplifying the meaning of the music that he played. It wasn't very hard to see that Brad enjoyed and loved music with a passion.

"Mr. Foley? Would you now stand and speak about your topic?"

It was odd to see Tucker so nervous and shy. Casse tilted her head slightly as the dark skinned boy slowly got up from his seat, gulping audibly at the class's attention that was trained no him. He fidgeted with his fingers nervously, his eyes staring straight down at his essay for a moment before mustering his courage and quietly talked about his topic.

Everyone, including Danny and Sam, was stunned to hear that Tucker enjoyed playing around with music; mixing different tunes together into a mash that he thought was catchy. He seemed to shrink back slightly at the stares that were sent his way and almost looked like he desperately wanted to flee from the classroom in fright. Some not-so-quiet whispers floated about the room as Tucker spoke, believing that the Apocalypse was dawning on them since the techno-geek was being out of character. Casse's temper flared at the whispers and she found herself glaring at the students who weren't making themselves inconspicuous enough in their debate.

Tucker had never looked so small and meek before, snapping his mouth shut after finishing his talk. The bespectacled teen was surprised to hear Lancer give him a tiny round of applause that was followed by his friends' clapping. His cheeks flushed heavily when he saw the encouraging expressions they were giving him before ungracefully dropping to his seat, glad that he had gotten it done and over with.

Casse couldn't help but feel a little melancholic when it was Lee's turn to present her topic. The sapphire-eyed girl could see a flicker of emotions in her sister's eyes but couldn't exactly identify them from her view point. But she knew there was a definite note of sadness when Lee was speaking. Casse ignored all other noise that the rest of the class was making and concentrated solely on her sister; hanging onto every word she said.

Lancer overall seemed pleased with the results of the essays and presentations. He motioned for the class to hand up their essays and to do their work silently until the end of the period. Silence overruled the room, save for the occasional rustle of papers from Lancer and some students.

With her cheek resting on her palm and elbow propped on her table, Casse idly doodled cartoonish versions of her family and friends on a piece of paper. The time ticked by slowly and the blond was extremely glad when the bell rang shrilly. The class packed up their items and began streaming out the door when Lancer raised his hand to halt the movement.

"Would Mr. Angeles, Ms. Angeles and Mr. Foley please stay behind? I'd like to talk to the three of you."

"Um… which one of us Mr. Lancer? Casse or me?"

The room burst into giggles while Lancer raised his eyebrow in amusement. It became difficult for the teachers whom called each student by their surnames to pick on which student they wanted, if other students in the class bore the same last name. It was a regular occurrence for the two sisters; Lancer just had a bad habit of not clarifying which 'Ms' he was talking about which would leave them both confused at who he was calling. Even Brad got a kick out of teasing his sisters about it.

"The older one, not the younger one. I'll send them out once I'm done with them." The teacher made a sweeping motion with his hand and the class resumed filing out of the room in a blaze of chatter. The three mentioned students simply shrugged at their friends/sibling before Danny, Sam and Casse filed out of the room with the class and waited outside the room.

"What do you think Lancer wants to talk to them about?"

"Don't know. Can't believe Tucker's actually interested in music. I'll never be able picture him doing DJ stuff; it doesn't fit him at all."

"I think it's a good thing." Casse shot back at Sam's remark, "Just because he's been labeled 'techno-geek' doesn't mean he can't like DJ-ing and enjoy music!"

Sam rolled her eyes and stared pointedly at Casse.

"Says the girl who wrote about Fairytales." Casse scowled at Sam angrily but held back her temper and the urge to fire scathing remarks back at the Goth. She simply crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, turning her head away from her two friends to avoid them seeing her angered expression.

Casse didn't understand why it was so bad for stereotyped people to have other interests outside of their zone. It wasn't as if the world was going to end if they had some other interests! The blond thought that Sam was simply a huge hypocrite; for the one hammering so hard for individualism, she still was criticizing her best friend on his interests outside of his usual 'techno-geek' just because 'it didn't fit him'.

When the door swung open to reveal the three, Casse really wondered what Lancer had talked to them about. Tucker looked frighteningly pale, Lee had a vibe of nervousness radiating off her while Brad was simply… blank. Behind them, Lancer patted Tucker's shoulder encouragingly.

"Think about it. I'd like your answer by the latest after school if possible."

"… Sure… Mr. Lancer." Casse's eyebrow shot up at her brother's hesitant tone. He rarely showed any hesitation from what she could remember; it was strange to suddenly hear it in his voice. The topic wasn't broached while the six went their separate ways to their lockers to fish out their next period books. The red-clad girl was extremely curious but didn't know exactly if it was the right idea in outright asking them or to beat around the bush before asking. Casse wasn't surprised that her sister had picked up her curiosity and laid her hand on her shoulder before gently whispering into her ear.

"I guess we'll tell you guys about it during lunch. Need to let the shock settle in our systems for a bit."

Casse was satisfied with the answer and kept her mouth shut from asking the question before lunch. She could only hope that Sam hadn't bullied Tucker into spilling the beans when he was definitely shell-shocked and close to having a nervous break-down. If the Goth WAS bulling Tucker, Casse was sure that Brad would intervene; seeing that it involved him as well. Now the blond couldn't wait for lunch to come.

* * *

In all his years of knowing Tucker, Danny had never seen his best friend look so clammed and sweaty before. Alright it wasn't as if he had never seen Tucker nervous before, but rather it was how long the mood lasted. This mood usually lasted for a maximum of twenty minutes but for this particular day, it lasted up until lunch time since the end of second period. It was a full four periods and it was starting to worry him. Tucker also refused to give details and had his mouth zipped shut whenever Sam tried to dig the information out of him.

But it was equally surprising when Brad promptly told Sam to lay off Tucker during her fourth try at getting the information in the third period. Wonders never cease.

The six outcasts took their lunches to the outdoors, quickly grabbing a table at the far end of the campus where there were fewer prying eyes. They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, Danny, Casse and Sam waiting for the other three to speak up. Tucker was staring down at his food intently while Lee idly shifted hers around in the box.

And Brad broke the silence with an audible groan, his voice strangely muffled as he buried his face in his hands, "This stinks."

"Well, we don't know what stinks unless you tell us." Sam pointed out with an irritated scowl. She received a glare in return from the blond boy and engaged in a stare-down match against him. Obviously, she was still smarting from his previous intervention of her attempting to grill Tucker. The African-American boy looked like he wished to plant his face firmly to his food and suffocate himself at the glances that Danny and Casse were alternating between him and Lee.

"… Lancer asked us to be a part of a special project. He didn't give any specific details on what it's about; just that he would like us to join."

"That's it? Geez, it doesn't seem like a big deal. Tuck's probably going to be a tech for whatever the project is about but I don't know about you two." Sam rolled her eyes skyward, thinking that the three were overreacting. Tucker finally buried his face in his hands that muffled his response to her.

"Not when he says 'the school's reputation hangs in the balance of the success of this project, but I'm sure there won't be anything wrong happening if the three of you join'."

_That_ silenced the group immediately. Lancer wasn't one to sugarcoat over details and definitely meant whatever he said. The project had to be major if he had gone to say that. Casse could feel the atmosphere tense violently when her two siblings shuddered slightly at the thought. Lancer was obviously pinning his hopes on them too.

A pang of jealousy stabbed the youngest Angeles' heart. Her siblings were asked to do a special project and she wasn't a part of it. It felt disconcerting since they (the triplets) did a majority of their activities together, including ganging up on the other sibling. Casse watched as Lee poked her food about while resting her cheek on her palm and Brad was staring off into an empty space at the fence.

Tucker's expression was unreadable, much to the blonds' chagrin. She knew he must have felt hurt after Sam immediately deduced that he was going to be doing technical work for the project with so little details explained to them. Sometimes, Casse wondered just how much Sam and Danny knew Tucker, even though the beret wearing teen often showed that he didn't mind being disregarded by them.

Lunch continued in awkward silence until Tucker pushed his tray away from him, his food looking suspiciously untouched. Lee immediately picked up on that and raised an eyebrow at the dark-skinned boy who still refused to lift his gaze from the table. Brad eyed him warily as did Danny. Sam continued to eat her salad without so much as a glance to Tucker while Casse looked up from her food to look at him with a worried expression.

Tucker expelled a quiet sigh before speaking, not lifting his head up from his staring at the table, "Hey Lee, think you could listen through what I was asking you about before class started?"

Four pairs of eyes honed in on the eldest Angeles who took a moment to remember what Tucker was asking about. Once the thought struck her, she nodded in his direction.

"Sure Tuck. Any place you feel comfortable with?"

"… Gym?"

"Ok. Meet you there in a bit." The bespectacled teen finally lifted his head and nodded to the dark blond, picking up his tray and quickly trotted off without a second glance. Once Tucker was out of sight, Lee sighed heavily and trained her gaze to Sam.

"You know, sometimes you're really insensitive Sam. I don't know if you even realize that at least half of your comments hurt Tucker's feelings; he just doesn't want to tell you that it does." Lee packed her unfinished food back into her bag and stood up from the table before Sam could open her mouth fire back at her, "I'll catch you guys back in class. Don't wait up."

Sam scowled at the blue clad girl's retreating back with a heated glare before releasing an irritated 'humph' and folded her arms across her chest.

"As if she knows him that well. Why can't she stop poking her nose into other people's business?"

Sam was too busy scowling at the direction where Lee had headed off into to notice both Casse and Brad's glares that were directed at her. Danny flinched at the intense glares that were shooting from their eyes and was glad that he had managed to spot Jazz coming out of the cafeteria, hoping to use her as a distraction. The older Fenton didn't have a lunch tray or bag with her, which told Danny that she must have finished eating her lunch before coming out.

"Hey Jazz! Over here!" The glares had dimmed down once Danny had called out to his sister; the distraction worked. The red-head spotted and trotted over to them, tousling her brother's messy raven hair with a gentle grin before turning to greet them.

"Hey there strangers." Jazz was greeted with a chorus of 'hellos' and noticed two of the group missing, "Where's Tucker and Lee? I thought I saw them come out here with you guys when lunch started."

"Tucker asked Lee a favor," Danny informed quickly, to avoid any snippy remarks from Sam, as Jazz sat down in the seat next him where Tucker had sat earlier on, "So they went to the gym. We're catching up with them when lunch is over."

Jazz made a 'hum' sort of noise in understanding and nodded to Danny. Casse and Brad returned to eating their food while Sam stabbed at her vegetable leaves viciously before popping them into her mouth. Jazz raised an eyebrow at the sudden quiet atmosphere and turned to give her brother a look. Danny simply gave her a helpless shrug and returned to polishing his tray of food.

Idle chatter descended on them, the tense atmosphere still lingering among them, until the bell rang. The group threw off their litter and bade Jazz a good day as the older teen waved and walked back to her class.

Classes resumed as per normal and before they knew it, school was over. As the students filed out of the classroom, Brad walked over to Tucker and Lee, engaging in a quiet conversation with them. The blond boy made an idle gesture of 'go ahead' to the remaining three while continuing to talk to his older sister and Tucker in hushed tones. Sam, who was still irritated about lunch period, simply turned her heel and walked out of the classroom without a second glance back. Danny hesitantly followed behind the Goth and Casse exited out last, leaving the three in the classroom alone with Lancer.

The corridor was filled with excited chatter and Casse felt strangely lonely without any one of her siblings by her side as she trotted over to her locker. The blond picked up bits and pieces of conversation that floated about as she jerked the metal door open and stashed her books inside the locker. Most of the students were talking about the new singing sensation 'Ember McLain'. Strange. For a new singing sensation, Casse had never heard of her at all.

Of course, the A List girls were making it very obvious that they had gotten tickets to the latest concert that was supposedly being held in two weeks time. Casse rolled her eyes in annoyance when she heard their loud conversation as the group of three girls, Paulina, Valerie and Star, passed by her.

"It's like, totally hard to get and I got her tickets! How cool is that?"

"Oh, by the way, I bought that new outfit that resembles Ember's! I'm so stoked about it; I'll be wearing it for the concert!"

"She's definitely the new fad!"

Now Casse didn't like a lot of popular things; she had her god brother to blame for it. Whatever Dick thought was good (which were also suspiciously popular) would often turn out to be absolute trash, so she was never one to follow any fads. Same went for her siblings. So if the A List were gushing over this 'Ember McLain', she was most likely to be a trashy singer.

The red clad girl finished stuffing her books to her locker and taken out the appropriate ones that she needed for homework. Casse blended into the throng of students towards Danny's locker and spotted Sam leaning against her brother's locker as Danny rummaged through his.

She squeezed herself out of the crowd and tapped Danny's shoulder lightly. The raven haired boy had given a tiny yelp and jumped at the sudden touch. Casse smothered her giggles behind her hand while Danny mock glared at her as he shut his locker door shut. The sapphire-eyed girl casually leaned against the lockers beside Danny's and struck up idle conversation with them.

"Heard what the new loud gossip is around?"

"You mean that new 'singing sensation' that's been circulating? What's her name again? Ember McLain?"

"Prep squad's not letting down on their loudspeakers hooting out that they got tickets to her concert. I wanted to plug my ears when they passed by me."

"I hate anything the A List says is good," Sam muttered firmly, scowling at the throng of chattering students, "Whatever is popular, I don't like."

"Big surprise there," The three jumped slightly when Brad seemingly appeared out of nowhere from the body of students and made a motion for Sam to move off from his locker, "You go opposite from whatever they like or want because you like your 'individualism'. Would it cramp your style if you happen to like something the preps like in the future?"

"Don't tell me you actually _like_ Ember McLain." Sam pointed an accusing finger at Brad who simply ignored it, dumping his books into his locker without taking anything else out. The blond boy slammed the door shut and rolled his eyes when he turned to face Sam, directing his gaze straight into her eyes.

"No. I do not like Ember McLain for three reasons. One, her music sucks. Two, she definitely is no rock star no matter how punk she makes herself to be. Three, she looks like some rejected monster out of a movie that stunk so bad that it can't be rated."

Casse burst into laughter at her brother's mentioned points. Danny looked very amused, stifling his laughter with the back of his hand. Sam simply smirked, triumphant that someone else was also going against the norm with her. Brad simply rolled his eyes in exasperation before a thoughtful look crossed his face.

After tapping his chin for a moment, he snapped his fingers once he regained the thought he was looking for and turned his heel to face his locker. He opened it once again, fished out a single notebook before shutting the metal door. The blond turned his back to his locker to see his younger sister and two friends give him an amused look.

All he could do was eye roll at them again as Lee and Tucker found their way to the group.

"Why do I get the feeling we just missed something?" Tucker stage-whispered to Lee loudly and raised an eyebrow in amusement. The dark-skinned boy had returned to his jovial attitude before the school day had ended. It never ceased to amaze Danny at how easily Tucker let comments that would usually sting heavily slide off him.

Lee quickly muffled her giggles behind her hand, tilting her head downwards as her shoulders shook slightly as she laughed. The group chattered about homework for a moment before Sam proceeded to question their after school activities. Tucker and Lee looked slightly apologetic while Brad shook his head to the other three.

"Sorry, the three of us are going to have to pass. Promised Lancer we'd meet him in about…" Brad took a quick glance to his phone's display screen, "Ten minutes. For the special project he was telling us about."

"You guys accepted it?"

"What's this special project about anyway?"

Danny and Sam chorused out at the same time; Danny in surprise that they had accepted and Sam more curious about the special project then anything else. Casse had stayed strangely quiet at Brad's explanation, simply staring at the three with a stunned expression. Lee quietly sidled up to her sister and placed her hand on Casse's shoulder, squeezing it gently before directing her next words to the whole group.

"I'm sorry. We still don't have all the details but Lancer doesn't want us to talk about the project to anyone else. And he said it included our friends."

"Including your younger sister?" Lee gave a pained sigh at Sam's snappish enquiry. If the Goth girl couldn't get any answers that she wanted, she'd become cold and accusing. Brad saved Lee the trouble of answering by doing it for her.

"Yes. He said it even included Pixie. Shove off Sam. Just because you don't get any details doesn't mean you can go PMS at us. You're beginning to sound like the petty pink phooney when she can't get what she wants." Sam snarled angrily and glared straight into Brad's equally piercing eyes, stabbing his chest with a finger while inching her face closer to his with each word she spat out.

"Don't compare me to that shallow girl! I do NOT sound like her and I am NOTHING like her!" The blond boy hardly flinched at Sam's livid words and stared straight back at Sam. However before he could retort back, Lee had quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Sam.

"Alright, we're going to be late in meeting Lancer. Come on Dwarf. Pixie, you'll be ok? I'll give you a message to check up if Lancer makes us stay overtime, but definitely will be back before dinner time." Casse quickly twisted her lips into a forced smile and nodded to her sister.

"No problem Fairy. Good luck with the project!" Lee forced her own smile in Casse's direction as she continued to pull Brad away, the boy still glaring at Sam with his arms folded across his chest.

"Tell you what; I'll cook your favorite tonight. Japanese curry and fried pork cutlets." Casse's forced smile turned into a genuine grin and her eyes twinkled merrily as she nodded her head vigorously at the mention of her favorite dish. She had a feeling her sister wanted to make it up to her for having to leave her out of the special project. But Casse knew it really wasn't her fault; Lee would tell her almost everything if possible.

But it still stung her badly that her siblings couldn't let her be a part of what they were doing.

Casse watched as Lee dragged Brad along while Tucker gave them a wave before trotting after the two. Sam threw her hands up in irritation and scowled in the direction they had left in.

"Humph. Who cares about that stupid project anyway? It's bound to be something stupid if Lancer asked them to join," Casse looked ready to defend her siblings and Danny was just about to do the same for Tucker when Sam turned her heel and began to stalk to the school entrance, "We've got better things to do!"

"… I'm going home." Sam stopped her steps in shock before seeing blond flash by her as Casse stormed out of the school building and out of sight. While Sam stared, Danny coughed and groaned as a wisp of blue air escaped his lips. He rubbed the back of his neck as he tilted his head skyward and sighed. After the action, he tapped Sam's shoulder and caught her attention.

"Gotta go. Ghost sense tingled." Sam snapped out of her reverie and nodded in understanding.

"Go on. I'll meet you at the park then," Danny gave a grateful nod and grinned impishly when Sam shouted to his retreating back, "And stop quoting Spiderman!"

* * *

Danny flopped onto his bed, utterly exhausted from his harrowing day. He still had to patrol around the town just in case there were any stray ghosts running around. But lately all he had been seeing was the little green ghost dog that he had affectionately named 'Cujo'.

The ghost dog was definitely a whole lot more trouble than he seemed at first sight. And not to mention sneaky. Danny still didn't know how Cujo could find his way back into the real world after the ghost boy had sent him back into the Ghost Zone. It was one of the many mysteries of Cujo that Danny couldn't figure out. Another example was the Axion tag on Cujo's collar.

This lead Danny to reflect on the event that happened after he had parted ways with Sam. The ghost boy had been vexed to find that Cujo had been the source of mischief again down by the Amity River. Danny had been one hundred percent certain that he had sent Cujo back into the ghost zone the night before AND had locked the ghost portal firmly. It was mind boggling and frustrating.

To make matters worse, Cujo had actually gone on a wild rampage once Danny had reached him; turning into his larger monstrous form of a canine and left nothing but destruction at his wake. It irked Danny slightly that Cujo had gone bounding off to the Axion laboratories and had literally torn the place apart. But it wasn't as disturbing as seeing Valerie's father getting chewed out by his superior for the so-called 'fool proof' security system that had been installed at the labs. Last he heard as he dragged Cujo away was a faint 'You're fired!'

Danny really didn't want to know what would happen to Valerie and her father after that. All he knew was that Mr. Damon Grey's job as the head of Axion Laboratories Security was the sole reason why Valerie could afford all her expensive jewelry, clothes and other lavish items. He couldn't imagine what would happen to the A List prep now that her father was out of a _good_ paying job.

He sent Cujo back into the Ghost Zone again after he had met up with Sam at the park. The Goth thought that Cujo needed to be trained but was startled to find that the ghost dog was already well trained. They had gone over a few ideas that surfaced but all seemed as impossible as the next. Finally, they had given up at thinking over Cujo's actions and went back to their respective homes for the night.

The ghost boy stared up at the ceiling, counting the spots that danced in the reach of his eyes for a while before he hauled himself out of bed. Quickly stuffing the pillows under his blankets just in case, he switched to his alter-ego and fled the room and into the endless sky.

Danny idly floated around town, drifting in the wind and allowing the gusts to propel him forward to a destination unknown. He drifted far enough and found himself floating by his best friend's window. Silently, Danny activated his invisibility and intangibility before sticking his head through the wall to peer into Tucker's room.

He wasn't very surprised to se Tucker awake, nor did it surprise him that Tucker was fiddling around with his computer. But he WAS surprised at the fact that Tucker wasn't playing DOOM or any other video games. The screen of his computer illustrated an image of DJ decks as he bobbed his head to a beat Danny couldn't quite hear since Tucker was wearing large DJ-like headphones that was plugged to his CPU.

A tiny smile graced Danny's lips as he studied Tucker's relaxed expression. The dark-skinned boy continued to bob his head rhythmically with one hand clasping the headphones and the other on the keyboard, tapping various keys that activated something on the program. Danny was amused to find Tucker's feet tapping along in tune with his bobbing head but silently cheered his best friend good luck before quietly slipping out again to give Tucker his space.

His next stop was at Sam's mansion but he quickly drew himself out when he found her sleeping. Danny had been creeped out at the events that occurred in school. Ever since the kidnapping incident, they had all changed. But Sam had become easily irritated and biting which was troubling. Danny didn't know the reasons for it, but he noticed that Sam became very testy when it came to talking to Lee.

It was definitely way beyond his knowledge. Maybe it was a girl thing. Or maybe Brad was right that Sam might be stuck on a long PMS.

And Danny knew that Sam would definitely kick his butt into the next few centuries if she ever found out that he had actually thought that.

He drifted in the sky before diving down to the Angeles home, making sure that his two abilities were still on before phasing into the house. Danny hovered around Tobias' study for a moment, allowing his curiosity to get the better of him and peeked at the two photographs that stood on the older man's desk. He smiled at the photograph of the triplets, frowned and attempted to study the other old and frayed photo more closely.

It was not only falling apart but the photograph was also yellowing with age. Danny instantly recognized a younger looking Tobias and the playboy billionaire of Gotham, Bruce Wayne in the photograph. He just couldn't identify the woman standing between them, but she looked like a mix of Casse and Lee. Danny pondered for a moment before it finally clicked; the woman in the photograph must be the deceased Mrs. Angeles.

He marveled at the woman in the photograph for a moment. She looked rather plain and simple but her smile in the picture radiated much warmth and love; her eyes twinkling with both mischief and gentleness, her arms hooked between both men. Danny memorized the picture to his mind, though he knew that he shouldn't be too surprised to see that Tobias still had no smile, even back in the past.

Danny quietly flew upwards to Brad's room, surprised that the blond boy was awake and fiddling around with pieces of paper. Upon closer inspection, the bleach haired teen blinked at the music score sheets in his friend's hands. The pale skinned blond was tapping his pen on the score sheets in a rhythmic beat that sounded strangely familiar to Danny, but he just couldn't pin-point it.

Danny allowed himself to observe his concentrating friend for a while before proceeding to check on the two female Angeles. Casse was just as awake as her brother and seemed to be hunched over a book and a variety of different colored pens at her table. Danny didn't know why he couldn't hold his curiosity at bay and silently peeked over the blond girl's shoulder to take a quick look at what she was doing.

And jerked his head away immediately as soon as he realized that she was writing in her diary. He felt ashamed that he had been peeking at Casse's diary, managing to catch at least a paragraph of her entry for the night. He'd even caught a glance at the various cartoonish doodles that were littered all over the pages that gave him more knowledge of what she was writing. Danny quickly scrubbed his mind and flew out of Casse's room and into Lee's in an attempt to forget about the confused and lonely entry.

But he instantly regretted his action once he phased through the wall. Danny flushed a deep shade of red at the sight of Lee emerging from the bathroom clad in nothing but a towel wrapped around her body. He silently flailed his arms about comically, forgetting for that moment that he was both invisible and intangible to her and quickly buried his face in his hands in embarrassment.

It took him a little over a minute to realize that he was invisible but he still didn't lift his head from his hands, listening to the other teen shuffling around her room. Danny waited for some time before peeking through his fingers to see if Lee was dressed. Thankfully she was; clad in her nightwear with the towel slung around her neck, sitting comfortably at the side of her bed with sheets of papers in her hands and a nervous look on her face.

Another twinge of curiosity hit him and Danny cursed himself for being so much like a kitten. He found himself floating in front of Lee, tilting his head to look at the sheets of paper in her hand. Confusion seeped into his mind as he scrunched up his (invisible) face while making out the words on the paper. It looked strangely like a song but Danny couldn't be sure. He studied the sheet a little more until he decided that he should stop snooping around his friends' private lives and flew off into the night sky.

The breeze felt cool and calm; Danny allowed the air currents lift him higher and propel him forward. It also gave him time to think about the other instances that were happening around Amity Park. He hadn't had the faintest clue of who Ember McLain was until today when almost the entire student body was chattering gossip about her. It was strange that for such a 'singing sensation', Danny hadn't heard of her. He wasn't sure if Tucker knew about her but he was certain about Sam and Brad's after that scuffle they had at the lockers after school.

He'd have to keep a constant vigilance just in case; the singer sounded much too suspicious that reminded him strongly of Penelope Spectra. Danny shuddered and scowled at the remembrance of the teen misery eating ghost. Overnight appearances of ghosts to humans were starting to grate on his nerves.

A blue wisp of air escaped his lips suddenly and Danny groaned, knowing that there was never going to be a single night of peace. He righted himself from his lying position in the sky and went in search of the culprit. He didn't know if he should be amused or extremely annoyed when he found out whom or rather, what it was that triggered his ghost sense.

Cujo was sitting on his haunches at the park, barking away at the sight of Danny with his tail happily wagging about. Danny wanted nothing more but to pound his fists to the ground and shout 'why' when he caught sight of Cujo. It was an exaggeration really, but he was definitely vexed at Cujo. He landed silently on the ground and found the hyper green ball of energy launched at his chest, knocking him backwards and onto his back while Cujo slobbered his face with drool.

Danny commanded the dog off him and Cujo immediately obeyed, hopping off his chest and sat by Danny's side with his tail still wagging about. The ghost boy groaned and wiped as much of the drool off him before giving up, turning intangible to allow the slobber to drop to the grass and got back up to his feet. He turned to see Cujo's big bright eyes trained on him and sighed irritably.

"What am I going to do with you Cujo…?"

The puppy didn't seem to sense his master's vexation, and simply barked and pranced about Danny's feet before taking off into the direction of Axion laboratories. Danny cursed his luck ten fold and shot after the canine, hoping that he could catch the pup so that he wouldn't make an even bigger mess than he had already made the afternoon.

He'd managed to grab Cujo by the scruff of the neck and hauled him away from Axion labs before he got too close. The pup whined pitifully and pawed at Danny's hazmat suit. Danny paid no heed to the pawing and flew back to Fenton Works without delay. He stopped at the ghost portal and opened the door before staring straight into Cujo's bright red eyes and spoke sternly to the pup.

"STAY in the ghost zone this time; I can't babysit you forever Cujo." With that said, Danny gently flung Cujo back into the Ghost Zone and made sure the portal door was sealed off properly. He yawned and stretched his limbs for a moment and stole a quick glance at the digital clock down at his parents' lab. It wasn't too late but Danny still hoped to get some decent hours of sleep. He lazily floated back up to his room and transformed back to his normal form. He instantly fell asleep the moment his body hit the bed.

As soon as he fell asleep, his room door creaked open gently to reveal Jazz. The red-head smiled upon seeing her brother's sprawled form on his bed and shook her head in amusement. She toed over to his bedside quietly, arranging the pillows in a more comfortable position and tucked her brother into bed, covering his body with his blanket. Jazz planted a gentle kiss on Danny's forehead, glad that her brother didn't have any injuries from his nightly patrol and silently walked out of his room and shut the door with a tiny click.

* * *

Sam was apparently still steaming about the scuffle that took place between her and Brad AND the fact that Casse simply blew them off after the other three had left. The Goth girl had refused to talk to anyone but Danny, purposely ignoring the other four and rudely butted them out of a conversation. Danny would give them apologetic looks when Sam did this.

Lee and Tucker gently waved it off, both seemingly not disturbed by Sam's attitude. Brad however, had snorted at her behavior and Danny swore that he heard the blond boy mutter something that sounded like 'She's becoming petty phooney number two, only in purple' and too ignored Sam since she did the same to him. Casse had stuck her tongue out at Sam when the action was done to her and stuck by her siblings' side instead.

Lunch was becoming an extremely horrible event, the group was split between them. Sam and Danny had sat alone at one of the outside tables while the other four had made camp under the big oak tree. Danny watched as Tucker snatched a piece of meat from Casse's lunch box and proceeded to dance away from the blonds' reach, doing a very humorous version of the chicken dance in the process and stuffed the meat into his mouth at the same time.

Danny's lips curved into a smile when Casse launched herself at Tucker and pretended to 'beat the stuffing out of him', all the while grinning and laughing away. It felt a little strange that their little group had split in such a way; Tucker not being with them as the original trio. He wondered just how far apart he had grown from his best friend.

He couldn't wonder about it too much. A blue wisp of air escaped his lips just as he let out a sigh. Danny clamped a hand over his mouth and his eyes darted about the area quickly, trying to find the ghost. Sam had seen the blue wisp as well and did the same, though her eyes easily slid away from the other four. Students who were in the cafeteria suddenly came rushing out, screaming and yammering away. The ghost boy was glad that the four had quickly moved out of the way of the stampede of students.

Danny wanted to face plant in his food once he saw the perpetrator phase through the wall. He also noticed a livid look on Valerie's face before the dark-skinned girl disappeared in the crowd. He didn't have any time to think about it before he dove for cover and changed into his alter-ego under the table.

He lunged forward and grabbed the collar around the larger canine's neck, the proceeded to pull the not-so-tiny pup away from the school grounds. The ghost boy would have succeeded if it weren't for the interference of a new face – with plenty of ghost hunting gear and a shot that hit him smack in the posterior. Danny yelped in pain and lost his grip over Cujo's collar. He grabbed his wounded butt and shot a scandalized expression to the unknown but unmistakably feminine figure riding on a jet sled.

"Hey! Mind shooting that gun somewhere else? What the heck do you have against my butt?!"

"I'm against you!" Danny wasn't about to take his time figuring out why her voice was so familiar when she aimed her gun back at him again, "The name's Red Huntress. Remember that ghost boy, 'cause I'm the one who's going to make sure you and that dog of yours don't cause anymore trouble to the town!"

Before the red armored woman could do as much as to pull the trigger, Cujo had come rushing forward to protect his master. The giant dog bite down on her jet sled and shook the screaming ghost hunter around before releasing the sled when Danny whistled for him to stop. Red Huntress slammed against the wall of the school and glared daggers at spot where the two ghosts had last been seen. She pounded her fist on the ground angrily before scurrying off in a hurry.

In the pandemonium, no one took notice of the scampering ghost hunter or the missing ghosts that had been in the school vicinity. The students were still screaming and making such a huge fuss that it made it difficult for Tucker to find his best friend. The African American boy finally spotted the mop of black, who was hurriedly sealing the cap of the Thermos and quickly stashing it in the bushes.

Tucker had already lost sight of the triplets and hurried over towards Danny, squeezing through the mob of bodies and falling flat on his face once he had managed to get through. He quickly motioned to Danny to drop the Thermos into his backpack, which he unceremoniously dumped at Danny's feet and took a glance at the chaos that was happening.

Danny was grateful that Tucker showed up and hurriedly nicked the Thermos from the bush he had tossed it into and stuffed it into Tucker's backpack. By this time, Lancer had appeared, bellowing out instructions through a loudspeaker to gain the student body's attention. While Lancer occupied the students, Danny saw Sam sidle over to them, her irritation from the day before seemingly forgotten as she spoke to the two boys.

"Is it me, or did that Red Huntress sound like Valerie?"

"A better question would be how the heck did she get all that gear, if it was her." Tucker pointed out, eying his two best friends warily. "Did I miss something big yesterday? Because the last I knew, Cujo wasn't such a monstrosity." He paused for a moment before his eyes trained on Danny, "Speaking of the pooch, you actually capped him in the Thermos?"

Alarmed, Sam turned to look at Danny who sighed and nodded his head to confirm Tucker's question. She was about to protest about cruelty to animals when Lancer bellowed for the freshman to return to their classes. Not wanting to incur Lancer's wrath, the three quickly kept in stride with the other students of their class, meeting up with the triplets' halfway and continued classes as per normal.

Once the bell rang for the end of school, the students immediately got up, chattering about their after school activities. The six outcasts noticed that the A List girls were completely ignoring Valerie, who was viciously stuffing her books into her bag with an angry look. Tucker and the triplets were bewildered at this while Sam and Danny regarded her with a sympathetic look. The ghost boy sidled over to Tucker and whispered into his ear a brief summary of the previous day's events in his absence.

Tucker flinched slightly after Danny finished whispering into his ear and his gaze turned sympathetic towards Valerie who simply stuck her nose in the air and left the classroom. Brad raised an eyebrow at her behavior and muttered out loud for the rest to hear.

"What crawled up her ass?" He got elbowed by his older sister, who shot him an exasperated look. Brad made an 'oomph' noise in response and rubbed the wounded area on his chest while Casse rolled her eyes at her brother, sidled over to him and poked his shoulder.

"You know Fairy doesn't like us cussing Dwarf."

"Oh, so should I tell her about your cuss fest a few weeks ago so that she can elbow you too?"

"What cuss fest?" Both younger siblings flinched as their sister's stern gaze trained on them. Danny and Tucker hid their laughter as they shrank back from the looming form their sister, Sam's lips curved into an amused smirk, "What happened that made you guys cuss? Do I need to wash both your mouths with soap? Or should I be as bad as Alfred and use disinfect instead?"

"No! It's nothing! We were just joking!" Casse squealed in fright and quickly dove behind Tucker while Brad slowly backed away from their older sister. She looked pretty menacing with her hands placed on her hips, tapping her feet on the floor and her stern glare looking harsh enough to pierce right through them.

A cough interrupted them and the six teens turned to see Lancer by the doorway of the classroom. He had an eyebrow raised at the distance the group had with Lee but shrugged it off before addressing them.

"I'll be seeing you later Mr. Angeles, Mr. Foley and Ms. Angeles. We have about three weeks to complete the project." Three audible groans were emitted and Lancer gave the three mentioned students an amused smile when Tucker whimpered as three other sets of eyes trained on them.

"Thanks for reminding us sir…" Danny, Sam and Casse were surprised when Lancer released a chuckle and shook his head at their exaggeration.

"It won't be too bad." The bald teacher assured them before directing his gaze to the remaining three, "I do hope that the three of you understand that they cannot tell you what the project is about; the other students who are involved in this project have to do the same as well. I've had to tell them repeatedly not to leak any information to anyone, yes including to the other Ms. Angeles."

Lancer paused for a moment before giving Sam, Danny and Casse a smile, "But I'm sure you will be pleasantly surprised when the project is over. Twenty minutes Mr. Foley, Mr. Angeles and Ms. Angeles." With that, the beer-bellied teacher strode out of the room, leaving the six teens in an awkward silence. The silence was broken by Sam who gave a pained sigh as she gently massaged her temple.

"I guess… I'm sorry. I just don't like the secrecy thing."

"Or is it maybe because Tucker's involved in the project and you're not?" Brad countered with a look. Sam shot him an annoyed one in return before grudgingly nodding her head. Yes, Sam was jealous that Tucker was picked for the special project. It was rare that they would split up to do different things and she didn't like the feeling of Tucker's growing attachment to the triplets, more so his seemingly budding relationship with Lee.

Yea, she was jealous for another reason as well; jealous that Tucker seemed to be having better luck in the romance department than she was. Sam had become infatuated with Danny after the accident that gave him his powers, but the perpetually clueless boy had no idea about it and it was starting to pull her patience a little. Flares of jealousy would spark whenever he chattered with the two Angeles girls or any of the other girls for that matter, besides his sister.

Her mind had plenty of irrational wishes but she never spoke them out loud in fear of Desiree hearing them and twisting them into something sinister. But she still wished though, wished that Danny would be her loyal and unique boyfriend as well as many other unmentionable things that would probably crumble any of her current friendships to pieces.

The Goth girl watched as Lee fussed over Casse, the older sibling feeling awfully bad for leaving her younger sister by herself yet again and would have to continue doing so for almost a month. Sam bit back a remark when Danny offered to keep Casse company if it would ease Lee's mind a little. She chewed her lip viciously when Tucker jokingly accused Danny of an ulterior motive to woo Casse, which earned Danny a headlock by the brother. She quietly seethed in her mind as she glared at the jovial group silently.

'_Danny is MINE!'_

The triplets filed out of the classroom first, Tucker insisting that he wanted to 'interrogate' Danny for a moment before he would join Brad and Lee to find Lancer. Once the three blonds were out of sight, Tucker dug into his bag and tossed Danny the Thermos that had been stashed there since lunch. The Fenton boy grinned and gave his best friend a thumbs up before turning to look at Sam who still had a dark look clouding her face. Worried for her, Danny tapped her shoulder to catch her attention and stared into her eyes.

"Are you ok Sam? You looked kind of… like you were too deep into your thoughts. Not exactly spaced out but…" Sam quickly shook her head and forced a fake smile on her face, assuring Danny that she was fine before pushing him out of the classroom. Tucker observed her for a moment, frowning at her strange behavior. He had an inkling of a feeling about Sam's dark moods but didn't think about it too much. When Sam was ready, she'd tell them.

* * *

Casse, Danny and Sam decided to spend their afternoon at the Nasty Burger, listening to the gossiping A List girls who were littering around the joint. Sam sat herself firmly beside Danny, coolly sipping her drink as the boy conversed with the blond girl opposite him.

The three overheard the A List girls talking about Valerie and her currently low-paid dad; the prep girls making loud snotty remarks about it even when Valerie was in the vicinity of the Nasty Burger. The gossips that spread were that Valerie and her dad had to make a garage sale of their lavish items and move into a shoddy apartment in the bad side of town. Danny was surprised that all that was actually true and even more so that the gossip had circulated in less than a day.

Once the ex-A List girl stomped off in anger, the gossip had switched to the latest fad, Ember McLain and her oncoming concert that was happening in two weeks time. Sam scowled at the poster of the said singer that was plastered over the Nasty Burger walls and wholly agreed with Casse when the blond muttered that her brother had been right in saying that the pop star looked like a rejected monster out of a bad movie that couldn't be rated. Danny muffled his laughter at the two girls' grossed out looks.

He had released Cujo earlier before coming to the Nasty burger, since the pup was whining loudly and shaking the Thermos violently in his attempts of getting out. Danny had sat the ghost dog down and glared into the pup's eyes, ordering Cujo not to go towards Axion Laboratories and stay out of trouble with the threat of being capped back in the Thermos looming over the pup.

And Cujo promptly dashed into the general direction of Axion Labs once the lecture was over, leaving Danny feeling utterly defeated and in wonderment on why he even tried.

Music started to blare in the Nasty Burger and many of the teenage patrons cheered at the song that was being played. Danny saw Casse cover her ears in mock pain when Ember McLain's song 'You will Remember' came out from the speakers. Sam raised an eyebrow at the lyrics and Danny simply blinked.

The blonds' wide blue eyes pleaded with her friends to leave the Nasty Burger, which both agreed instantly and the three left the joint as the teenage crowd screamed with the lyrics 'You will remember!'.

Once they were out of ear-shot of the restaurant, Casse rubbed her ears furiously, wanting to dispel the echoes of Ember's song from her mind. Danny watched in amusement as the girl hiss and spit viciously about it.

"It totally stinks! It's such a horrible, horrible song! Yuck!" Sam raised a questioning eyebrow at Casse's outburst, the red clad girl still muttering under her breath.

"Have you heard of her before?" Casse shook her head at Sam's question, finally standing straight before replying.

"Nope. Didn't hear about her until yesterday. Bugged Dwarf to let me hear the song last night and I totally understand why he said her music sucked. I didn't even last for the first minute of the song, neither did Fairy. Dwarf said he only got through thirty seconds of it before he totally thrashed it" The blond turned her head to see a large poster of Ember McLain that was out in the streets and made a face, "Ick, it's as if she's trying to be some punk rocker but sounds more like a stupid prima donna that we're better off without!"

Danny laughed at Casse's statement while the girl contemplated out loud about vandalizing the overly disgusting poster in front of them that held Ember's smirking face. Sam had seemed to relax a little, chipping in a few ideas on Casse's thought until shrieks and screams were heard in the air that was followed by ray gun firings and curses. A wisp of blue air escaped Danny's lips and his eyes darted about quickly in trying to find the culprit.

The teens immediately went into a defensive stance at the noise. With Maddie's insistence that the kids should have some sort of training to protect themselves, the teens were placed under her tutelage for self defense. It was also a decent cover up, since Danny knew about Lee and Jazz's sudden ability to do kung-fu.

He also had to admit that his mother was one heck of a sensei; in two weeks he found himself in slightly better shape then he was before, with faster reflexes that helped him a lot in his ghost hunting activities.

Screaming citizens streamed past the three until they spotted… a tiny green dog bounded up towards them with a cursing Red Huntress trailing after him on her jet sled. Casse's defensive stance dropped when she caught sight of the pup. Her lips split into a wide grin at the prancing Cujo and knelt down on the ground with her arms spread out when the ghost dog turned his head to see her.

"Come here boy!" The pup barked happily and bounded over to Casse's outstretched arms, unwittingly missing getting shot at by the Red Huntress. Cujo jumped into Casse's arms; the blond cooed the pup and tickled his tummy with the tips of her fingers. The ghost dog made noises of contentment, squirming about in Casse's arms with his tongue lazily lolled out of his open mouth.

Danny blinked and gawked at the sight of Casse pampering Cujo with coos and tickles. The pup was clearly enjoying the attention that she was giving him and literally begged for more. He had never really seen Casse as an animal sort of person but he guessed that he shouldn't have jumped to such a conclusion. It almost felt heartwarming to see her play with the little ghost pup until the looming danger snapped him out of it.

The Red Huntress was now aiming her gun at Casse and Cujo and started charging it while barking out to the blond. "Move out of the way! That ghost is a menace, and I'm gonna make sure he doesn't wreck any more lives!"

Casse gathered Cujo into her arms and stood, staring straight into the barrel of the ecto-gun before her and raised an eyebrow at the Red Huntress. Her gaze shifted to the little green bundle cradled in her arms before looking back up at the ghost hunter. She continued glancing between the two while Danny hurriedly ran forward towards her, afraid that the Red Huntress would shoot her by accident.

He had come to realize that the Red Huntress was a newbie at ghost hunting, with her terrible aiming and fumbling of her gear. It was definitely something to worry about especially when she could injure civilians with her basket aim. Sam obviously picked it up as well, eying the ghost hunter warily from her position but made no indication that she was going to move.

Before the Red Huntress could pull the trigger, loud music blared across the streets, luring most teenagers of Amity to the sidewalks. Danny made a quick decision, not noticing that his ghost sense had triggered again, and grabbed Casse's free arm as well as Sam's. He dragged them into the sea of bodies that were congregating, fast losing sight of the Red Huntress who was trying to gain control over her jet sled in shock of the sudden stream of teens.

Danny could see both Sam and Casse wincing at the music of Ember's impromptu street concert. Even Cujo started whimpering in Casse's arms, trying to cover his ears with his paws. Wow, seemed as if even the pup knew what good music was.

He dragged the girls out of the mass of bodies and motioned for them to make haste to the park while still holding their hands. Once they had reached the park, they stopped to catch their breaths. Casse panted heavily before sitting down on the ground hard, gulping in air like a drowning person. Cujo hopped out of the blonds' arms and nudged her leg with a whine.

Sam, who was in better shape than the other two, looked at them in slight amusement as they tried to catch their breath. Danny was leaning against a tree heavily, perspiration evident on his skin while forcing himself to take slow and deep breaths. The Goth watched the ghost dog nudge Casse's leg and arm with his nose, whining at her pitifully while tugging at her pant leg and sleeve. It was evident that Cujo adored the blond a lot after her pampering of him at first sight.

Casse lifted her head slightly and patted Cujo's head, slowly scratching the back of his ear before doing the same to his chin. The pup's tail wagged happily before he bit down on her sleeve and tried tugging her into the direction of Axion Laboratories. Sam had a bad feeling about it and gave Danny a look. The ghost boy regained his breath and followed Sam's line of vision of what Cujo was trying to get Casse to do. He had to think fast about bringing out his alter-ego. Danny wasn't so sure he was ready to tell Casse about his dual identities just yet.

"I think he wants you to follow him Casse." The blond lifted her head again to stare at Danny and back down at Cujo, "I think I'll try finding Phantom just in case. I remember our resident ghost boy has been complaining that his dog never listens to him and only wrecks havoc at a certain area."

Without waiting for a reply, Danny trotted off and quickly hid behind a bush. He stayed in the bush for approximately ten minutes before he changed into his alter-ego and flew back towards the two girls. Cujo had settled himself onto Casse's lap and leaning his head against her hand that was scratching his head. Sam was leaning against the tree he had leaned against before he left. Danny swooped down towards them and floated a few inches off the ground.

"Hey girls, what's up? Danny went to check out that crazy street gig for a while; said he thought he saw his sister there." A lie, but it was something that pretty much sounded like him at least. His eyes fell onto the happily barking Cujo and placed his hands on his hips, scowling at the pup, "And there you are Cujo. Please don't tell me he's been creating trouble again."

Casse had burst into laughter, cuddling Cujo closer to her chest while Sam rolled her eyes at his mock pleading. The ghost dog barked happily, hopping out of Casse's arms and tried tugging her towards Axion Laboratories again. Danny sighed, exasperated at the pup's insistence before throwing his hands up in defeat.

"Oh alright, we'll go to the dratted Axion Labs. Don't drag Casse into this!" The little dog whined and proceeded to give Danny the true definition of puppy eyes, much to his chagrin and to the girls' amusement, "Oh no you don't. You've already caused too much trouble Cujo. If you trash the labs again, I'm going to have to ask Danny to give me a permanent Thermos to keep you in there."

Cujo whined again but surprisingly obeyed, bowing his head sadly at his master. Casse took pity on the little creature and pampered him with pets and coos before the two ghosts left for Axion Labs. Danny hoped that Sam could keep Casse company long enough, and he hoped he could find out exactly what Cujo wanted with the Axion Labs quickly.

Despite the Red Huntress's re-appearance at the lab grounds and distracting shots that were fired at random, Danny had finally figured out what Cujo had wanted from the Axion Labs in a record time of thirty minutes. He was downright furious with himself when he finally realized that all Cujo had wanted was a squeaky toy. Not just any squeaky toy mind you; _his_ squeaky toy. One which had been stuck in the old dog kernels at the back of Axion Labs that the pup had been aiming for.

Dear god, he wanted to kill the rest of his half life for not figuring it out sooner. It would've saved him from the wrath of an newfound enemy, whose identity he had figured out when he fought her at the Axion Labs, and torture of keeping Cujo out of trouble. And not forgetting the hours he could have spent catching up on some sleep or doing homework. Danny had a feeling that fate really hated and loved to screw with him.

Cujo had disappeared once he had gotten a hold of his squeaky toy. Danny was glad that the whole group hadn't been involved in this event; it would have proved to be much more difficult to hide his identity. He quickly floated to the park and changed back to his regular self in the bushes. The ghost boy groaned lightly, his head filled with way too many thoughts.

One was about his stupidity of not understanding Cujo, where he spent five days trying to keep up with the pup only to figure out what the creature really wanted in half an hour. Another was on ways he had to now dodge a revenge-seeking Valerie Gray as the Red Huntress. Thirdly on trying to figure out exactly how Valerie had gotten all her ghost hunting gear. The fourth was on Ember McLain and how much the singer suspiciously resembled Spectra in suddenly appearing in the human world. The fifth, finding both Sam and Casse before the blond got suspicious.

He quietly added a sixth thought to the mix. Finding out why Sam had suddenly become so irritable with their group of friends. Danny found that Sam was extremely pleased if she got to spend some time with him alone, without Tucker and the triplets. He found it a little strange, but didn't pursue the thought too far; he had to concentrate on finding the two girls first.

Danny didn't take too long to find them; they had been headed towards Casse's home once they had given up on 'finding' him in the mob of teens at Ember's street gig. They hadn't lasted two minutes with the crowd. He caught up with them, huffing that he had gone back to the park to find them after he lost sight of who he thought was Jazz. He felt bad using his sister as an excuse but Casse had waved it off, telling him that she would have done the same if she had spotted a Lee-look-a-like as well.

He teased the blond a little, asking her if she would do the same for her brother. Casse laughed and waved her hand at him again, saying that Brad didn't need her to look out for him. As they laughed, Danny noticed a slight change in Sam's posture. Though her face seemed calm and neutral as always, her shoulders were tensed and her fingers were digging into her forearms. It was truly puzzling for Danny.

They dropped Casse off at her place, the blond pointing her finger at them and said she didn't need babysitters. She jokingly shooed them off to have their own time and stated that she was fine on her own as long as she was at home. Danny retorted that it didn't seem to appease Lee very much at the thought of Casse on her own at home.

Casse kicked his leg in retaliation. Her sidekick was totally _vicious_ and Danny had no one else to blame but his mother for teaching her that move.

He chivalrously accompanied Sam back to her mansion, trying to figure out his best friend's change in attitude. Once Casse was out of the picture, she seemed to have calmed down and looked more… happy? Danny couldn't differentiate very much since Sam could always mask her face, but he could tell that she had relaxed considerably with the loosening of her shoulders and fingers.

It was far too complex and painful to think about it any further with the growing headache in his mind, and Danny figured that he would try piecing the puzzle another time as he walked his friend home in silence.

* * *

One and a half weeks later, Tucker was still laughing at the anti-climatic end to the Cujo saga and Danny could readily laugh along with him. At first he had been annoyed about it until he finally saw what was so funny when Tucker explained it to him. They say dog is man's best friend, so shouldn't it be mutual understanding between the two? Danny found himself joking along with Tucker at the irony of the statement, since both he and Cujo didn't really have any sort of understanding between them.

Despite being tired after doing the special project every afternoon, Tucker still readily patrolled the streets with Danny for ghost attacks. The ghost boy was happy that he was finally bridging the gap that had grown between them in a short span of time. Sam was still being difficult to read though and she had opted to stay out of patrol for some nights that Tucker would come.

"Hey Tuck?"

"Yea bro?"

"Do… you think Sam's acting a little weird?" Tucker paused for a moment, allowing his scooter to veer right slightly before he replying to Danny, carefully choosing his words since he was not sure about the entire situation.

"Well, yes. She has been a little reclusive for a while but I think it'll blow over pretty soon."

"You think so?"

"Hey, it's only a speculation. I'm not her and everyone has different thoughts."

"Sorry about that. It's just that I've been getting these really weird vibes that something big may happen." Danny paused before correcting himself, "Ok, scratch that. Something big WILL happen. And it's not the good sort either."

"You developing a sixth sense or something bro?" Danny could practically see and hear Tucker's grin from the Fenton Phones.

"Maybe. Possibly an extension of my powers? I don't know, but maybe we could check it out after your project's over. Speaking of which, how is it going anyway?" He heard Tucker laugh over the phones and peered down to the streets where Tucker rode his scooter right below him.

"It's doing well. We're all on schedule but Lee's getting overstressed with herself." He heard Tucker pause for a moment before he saw his best friend halt his scooter on the ground. "Hey Danny, you said you were suspicious about Ember McLain being a ghost?"

Danny stopped in mid-flight and hovered in the air. "Yea. She seems too much like Spectra, only she's the overnight singing sensation and not the stupid school counselor."

"Well, maybe we get to find out more. I just spotted her down the street near the broadcast station. I don't think she's seen me just yet because I'm right behind a huge truck. What are your orders sir?" Danny groaned at Tucker's mock military voice and snorted over the phones.

"Stay there. I'll go check it out."

"Aye aye captain!" The perfect pirate impersonation was enough to send Danny into pearls of laughter. He quickly composed himself and flew forward, activating his abilities and eavesdropped at the conversation the blue haired singer was having with herself. As he drew closer, the blue wisp of air escaped his lips, alerting Danny that Ember McLain was indeed a ghost.

"Yes! And I'll be number one! No one's going to stop me and my loyal fans will help me take over this town!"

'_What is it with villains and taking over the world anyway?'_ Danny grumbled internally, silently watching as Ember pumped her fist in the air with her guitar slung around her shoulder. A sinister smirk was plastered across her pale face as she rubbed her hands together menacingly before she phased through the wall of the broadcast station.

Danny stealthily followed her along, keeping silent the entire time as she strummed her guitar with loud tunes that captured the attention of the teenage employees of the station. He frowned when the teens overpowered the older employees, shutting most of them in their offices and chanting Ember's name repeatedly like a mantra. It seemed to feed Ember's ego when he saw her grin triumphantly at them, treating them nothing else but adoring fans.

He felt his stomach turn when some of them had gone down to the point of groveling at her feet as she walked past them. Danny felt that he had seen enough and quickly turned spectral tail out of the broadcast station. He pressed a finger to the Fenton Phones to contact Tucker.

"Tuck, Ember's going to be trying to use the teen population to take over Amity."

"… What IS it with villains and world domination?" Danny snorted slightly, sensing a déjà vu since he had thought the exact same thing earlier on, "What do we do about it? I went on thinking that she was going to use the broadcast station as another advertising agent for her concert that's happening this week."

"My thoughts exactly. I think we're going to have to bust her chops at the concert itself. And from what we have figured out, the age-group she's out to control have to listen to her song one full time live without any pause so that she gains complete control over them. She's already influenced more than half the teenage population in the town into coming to her concert."

"Thankful that Jazz isn't one of them?" Danny gave a sigh and landed beside Tucker at the back of the truck that was hiding him and nodded.

"Definitely. Although I don't know if that's a good or bad thing." The bespectacled boy tilted his head to the side as he looked at the other, a frown marring his face as he scrunched his nose thoughtfully.

"Why's that? At least she won't be controlled. It was enough of a nightmare that the Injustice League did that to her and Lee about a month ago."

"I don't know." Danny gave Tucker a shrug with confusion splayed over his face, "On one hand, I'm grateful she's not going to go through another brainwashing and mind controlling event, but on the other hand it could be a residual effect of that spell she was under before." He ran a hand through his tousled white hair and sighed again.

"I guess I'm just looking at both sides of the coin. Looking a gift horse in the mouth would be a big mistake."

"We've grown up because of that incident." Tucker murmured wisely, patting Danny's shoulder comfortingly, "We're more cautious than we were before because we've seen how bad things can get. We've felt the fear of losing someone, we've felt the hopelessness and helplessness. Everyone is bound to change because of one thing or another. Either way, we're still going to have to move forward but whether we learn from our mistakes is an entirely different matter."

Danny nodded at Tucker's words before sending an amused grin at him.

"Since when did you get all Zen?" Tucker mocked a fake 'shushing' noise at him and pretended to cover Danny's mouth with his hand. The hand succeeded in muffling Danny's laughter while Tucker humorously exaggerated his next words to his best friend.

"Hush! Don't give away my secret! The Zen stays between you and me, and you and me alone!"

* * *

Casse felt strangely neglected but she was starting to feel a little bit more independent with herself. She felt a little proud that she could keep herself occupied with her own work and activities without the presence of her siblings. But she would be glad when the project was over; she'd be able to hog her siblings for as long as she wanted after that. She didn't like the thought of growing apart from them, especially when she felt that they already had a gap between them. And possibly she'd try to nab Tucker from Danny's grasp as well. Casse had the vibes that there was a certain spark of chemistry between her sister and the beret wearing boy.

Scheming sounded like a very good idea now since she had the spare time to do so, especially since she still loved being a meddling younger sibling.

She had started to decline hanging out with Danny and Sam in the afternoons after school now. Casse could be very observant when she put her mind to it and she figured that Sam didn't want her around with them. She thought that the Goth was very strange; being the first to welcome them into their circle of friends when they (the triplets) first arrived and now she looked as if she wanted nothing more to do with them.

Casse grimaced when she caught sight of her random doodles on the paper in front of her. She had been so caught up in her thoughts about Sam that she had drawn the Goth in the form of Maleficent from the fairytale Snow White, including the dark sinister smirk on her face. Hurriedly, the blond tore the paper into tiny pieces and piled it to one side of her desk.

With a fresh piece of paper spread out on her table, Casse allowed her hand to draw freely once again while she went back to her thoughts; although it was becoming more difficult to concentrate on her thoughts with the buzz and whispers hanging around the classroom. Most of the chatter was on the Ember McLain concert that was happening later that day which Casse immediately ignored.

Bored that Lancer had given them his last two periods to do their own work; Casse randomly doodled and wrote on her pieces of paper. She thought that she might feel better after writing her feelings out but realized that she didn't have her diary with her. Casse deflated at the realization and settled in for random sketching and friends/siblings observation.

Danny seemed to be immersed in his thoughts, idly allowing his hand to draw freely on the paper in front of him. Casse noticed that Sam was stealing many glances at Danny and accidently met the Goth's eyes to see a strange glint in them. The blond tore her eyes away from Sam's intense glare immediately and went to observe her siblings and Tucker. Casse didn't feel comfortable around Sam anymore; the Goth was strangely enough, becoming scary.

She watched as Tucker tapped his pen on the table gently, bobbing his head in tune to the rhythm he was creating. Casse grinned at the relaxed expression his face wore and turned to look at Brad. Her brother was doing a similar action, only without the bobbing of his head. Instead he was tapping his cheek with his index finger with his chin resting on his palm, his face calm and serene. She watched him for a moment before turning her gaze to her sister, who had a troubled look on her face.

Casse blinked when she saw Lee rest her cheek heavily on her palm and sigh, ruffling the papers on her table slightly. A look of worry passed by Casse's face as she observed her sister bite her lip, her eyes looking troubled and nervous as she shuffled through the papers. Lee had been looking tired and nervous for the past few days and Casse had no clue as to why. Brad had assured her that it was only because Lee was playing a big role in the project Lancer had them in and promised Casse that it would blow over very soon.

Her brother's words could only do so much to assure Casse whenever she saw Lee bury her face into her hands and groan.

The youngest Angeles wanted to curse the clock for ticking so slowly when it was down to the last ten minutes of school. She kept as many of her papers into her bag and tapped her finger on the table impatiently for the accursed bell to ring.

Brad and Lee exchanged amused looks with each other as Casse cheered with the rest of the class when the bell rang, signaling the end of the school week. The rest of the students had filed out, eager about the concert that was happening later on in the day. Casse bounded over to her siblings, casually latching onto her sister's shoulders from behind. Lee's tired and nervous look instantly faded as she turned her head to smile at her grinning sister.

"One more week Pixie," the darker blond said gently, "One more week and it'll be back to normal ok?"

Casse gave her sister a genuine grin and nodded her head happily. She couldn't wait for the project to end. She'd try to plead with her siblings to get a pet to keep her company but remembered the last time they had such a conversation, Brad had completely flipped at the idea. Her brother didn't like animals as much as she did but tolerated them at the very most and avoided them as much as he could.

"So, what are the rest of you doing this afternoon?"

"Please don't tell me you're going to that trashy singer's concert," Brad murmured, rubbing his temples in agony, "I've just about had enough of hearing about how 'incredibly awesome' it would be from all those screeching preps."

Casse laughed at her brother's agonized look and shook her head, "Nope, I'm going to stick myself at home and bury my head under the pillow to block out any of the noise if it gets live broadcasted through the streets."

"You're not hanging out with Danny and Sam?" Casse felt Lee's shoulders tense after she had said she was going to go home. The younger blond saw her sister twist her neck to look at Danny and Sam in alarm. Danny simply shrugged while Sam rolled her eyes and scowled back at the red-eyed girl.

"We have stuff to do." The Goth said vaguely, waving her hand dismissively, "She'd probably be bored if she followed us anyway."

"Don't worry Fairy," Casse quickly assured her sister, unlatching her arms from Lee's shoulders and leaned in to rest her head on the other girl's shoulder, "I'll be fine alone. Really!" The younger girl pouted at the skeptic look that was sent her way courtesy of her older sister.

Brad snorted and moved forward, gingerly clapping his hand on his older sister's bare shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Better give Pixie a little space to grow Fairy." He quipped, dropping his hand back to his side.

Lee looked torn for a moment before groaning and raising a hand to wave it in defeat. She looked much too tired to even try to argue back. The six separated once again and with Danny's insistence, both he and Sam were accompanying Casse back to her home much to both girls' chagrin, though for different reasons.

Danny made light conversation with Casse and tried to get Sam to talk as well but found his best friend silently seething for a reason that was beyond him. There wasn't anything else he could do, so he continued to chat with Casse about various things as well as try their luck in speculating about the special project, throwing in ideas that steadily grew more ridiculous as the conversation progressed.

Once Casse had been dropped off at her place, Sam's attitude had instantly changed. The change of attitude was just as baffling as Cujo escaping from the Ghost Zone on a daily basis. Which meant that Danny should not think about it any further; he believed that he would only succeed in giving himself a bigger headache in trying to find out.

He spent the afternoon with Sam, refining their plan of usurping Ember from her 'crowned glory' of singing sensation. Tucker would join them once he was done with the project for the day, which so happened to be the exact same time the concert would start. They would have to wait for him to arrive before they could execute the plan.

The time was drawing near for the concert to begin. Danny and Sam situated themselves in the alleyway close-by to the outdoor venue, eying the mob of teenagers that came streaming past them warily. Many of the female teens were wearing clothes and make-up similar to Ember's while the male half of the mob had donned on blue wigs and 'I Love Ember!' t-shirts with Ember's face printed on the front. Danny thought that Ember was much too egoistic for her own good. They could turn it against her in the battle.

Danny mused to himself slightly, waiting for Tucker to arrive. Events were rushing past them in such a whirlwind that he had barely any time to adapt to it. Sam was becoming increasingly distant from the group save for him, Tucker getting more attached to the triplets and Danny just simply being stuck in between. He wondered if the Joker incident was the catalyst of change for them, but why did it have such a strange and drastic effect? Sam's attitude definitely didn't seem to be a result of it for sure.

He felt strangely hypocritical. He swore that their bonds would remain strong but somehow it was weakening instead. Although he did know that the triplets' sibling relationship did strengthen as well as his own with Jazz, but it seemed as if his friendships was suffering instead. But why? He rounded up all his thoughts and they all fell on one person.

Sam. Was Sam the cause of the weakening friendships? She had been the instigator in bringing the triplets to their circle of friends, but why was she suddenly becoming so hostile to them, particularly to Lee and Casse? Maybe he'd try to speak with Jazz about it, she was much better at reading people, his female companions in particular, than he was. He prayed that she'd be able to help him shed some light on the strange changes.

Danny jerked out of his thoughts abruptly when loud music began to roar from the venue and a blue wisp of air escaping his lips at the same time. He made a quick glance to his watch and noted the time. Sam had done the same and instead of calmly waiting for Tucker, she released an angry sigh and tapped her booted foot impatiently.

"Where is he? He'd better not be fooling around." Danny turned to look at her, failing at keeping his face calm and neutral.

"He'll take some time to get here. Remember, he did say he was ending at the same time the concert was going to start and Lancer always sticks to the timing." Sam didn't meet his eyes and had turned her head away from him before throwing it up in annoyance.

"Yea, whatever."

Danny frowned at Sam's reluctance to look into his eyes. She was creeping him out for some reason and the strange vibe that he had talked to Tucker about a few nights ago had flared up unexpectedly. He released a small grunt as his head started pounding exceptionally hard. But he was definitely glad when Tucker showed up when he did and diverted Sam's attention that would have been trained on him.

"There you are! You're late!" Tucker panted and groaned, calmly pointing to his wrist as he glared back at Sam.

"Try running from one end of town to the other!" The bespectacled boy grunted and wiped the sweat from his forehead, "I had to shake Lee and Brad off and I got here as fast as I could without the scooter!"

The two bickered for a moment, Sam's anger looking suspiciously irrational until Danny put a stop to their fighting.

"Ok! Can we please concentrate on pulling the plug on Ember by the end if the night without any fighting between us?" Tucker sighed and sent Danny an apologetic look while Sam stubbornly folded her arms across her chest and 'humph'ed.

"Sorry about that. Long afternoon." Tucker rolled his shoulders backwards a few times before fishing out his PDA, "Let me guess, I need to do some rewiring and re-routing of technical stuff as distraction?" Two surprised looks were sent his way and the dark-skinned boy threw his hands up exasperation.

"Oh come on guys. A concert with a gazillion devices that I can hack into and cause mayhem. No other distraction better than that. _Duh_." Danny's lips split into a wide grin and nodded to him before taking a quick glance at their surroundings and changed into his ghostly alter-ego.

"Yo bro, catch." Danny quickly reacted and caught the two items that was flung at him. He blinked when he realized that it was a belt and the Fenton Thermos. The ghost boy raised an eyebrow at Tucker who simply zipped up his bag and gave him a grin.

"Put the belt on. It'll make sure the Thermos doesn't get knocked away from your waist if it's attached to it. I used one of your parents' blueprints, so you need to power it up with some of your ecto-energy. It's just like the Thermos; it's a one time charge and it'll work like a charm." Danny's grin grew wider and thanked his best friend for the ingenious invention. It would definitely save him the trouble of asking either one of them to hold the Thermos while he battled.

He clipped the belt on and attached the Thermos to the side. Danny quickly summarized what he and Sam were going to do to Tucker while he did the distraction. They quickly turned on the modified Fenton Phones that would block out Ember's music and still allow them to communicate with each other. Sam was going to go up front in the crowd and meet Tucker at the back stage while Danny would battle Ember.

With their jobs in mind, they scattered. Danny made himself invisible to the naked eye and scanned the crowd. Sam was weaving through the mob of students and Tucker was trying to slip through to the backstage. Plans never did go according to their course of action anyway.

"… Uh, I think I'm going to need some help here."

"What?! Why on earth would you need help on doing your techno-stuff?!" Danny winced at Sam's hiss through the Fenton phones while Tucker sighed angrily.

"Because she's gotten Dash and Kwan as her security officers back here! They're freaking trained bulldogs guarding the back door!"

"… Oh." He could hear the slight embarrassment in Sam's tone when Tucker had grumbled out that it was his two frequent tormentors from school who were the hurdle he had to go through to reach his goal, "… Sorry."

"I'll be right there Tuck. Stay hidden. Sam, don't worry. Just wait for the signal ok?"

"Fine."

Danny quickly flew to the back door where he saw Tucker hiding out in the shadows and Dash and Kwan in security men garb, looking exactly as how Tucker described them to be. Well trained bulldogs guarding the back door. He had to make it fast; Ember was close to finishing her long winded song of 'You will Remember!' and would soon have full control of the teens present in the venue.

He lunged forward, grabbing Dash by his underarms and literally swung the screaming teen away from the back door. He proceeded to do the same to Kwan who seemed to have gained some sense that something invisible was attacking him and tried to flee. The Asian teen was too slow as Danny quickly covered his head with a trash can and rattled it hard. This caused Kwan to become disoriented and off-balance before he fell unconscious on the ground.

While Danny fought, Tucker quickly slipped through the back door and proceeded to work his magic. It didn't take very long for Sam to see the lights flickering dangerously and the sound system abruptly cut off, Ember's song stopped halfway. The crowd booed at the technical disruption, Sam realizing that the teens weren't totally under the ghost's control just yet, but still enough so that they hadn't left. She saw the singer snarl angrily and bark orders from the stage at individuals who were standing at the sides.

As the crowd continued to boo, Sam managed to get to the front and crawl over to the wings of the stage. She cursed for a moment, hissing into the Fenton Phones on Danny's whereabouts. Tucker was too busy rewiring the equipment to answer her but Danny chose to just appear at the same moment at the stage and shot a ghost ray at Ember.

The Goth quickly scurried over to the back to see Tucker busy at work with masses of unconscious bodies surrounding him, hacking into the systems in front of him. Somehow, her earlier anger and irritation had simply vanished. She leaned forward to peek at the screen of his PDA as Tucker worked.

"Any idea on breaking the waves yet?" Tucker shook his head, still working on the systems. He didn't take notice of Sam's sudden change of attitude and muttered unmentionable words under his breath.

"Warn me if Danny's in any trouble with Ember. I don't think she's a push-over. I've nearly got a lock on the system here that has the calibration for her song."

Sam nodded and peered out to the stage to see Danny dodging large flying pink fists that were expelled from Ember's guitar as she struck a note. The raven haired girl winced when Danny was shot down when Ember rattled her guitar, playing notes at a rapid pace that didn't leave him enough time to dodge them all. She vaguely heard Ember's yell over the din of the venue and raised an eyebrow at her nicknaming of Danny as 'dipstick'.

Danny had recovered quickly in mid-air, shooting rapid balls of ghost energy at the singer, taunting her that the music she played was terrible. Ember had screamed angrily, stamping her foot on the stage like a child throwing a tantrum. Her tantrum had grown worse when Danny had managed to nab her guitar and swiftly broke it into half with a kick.

Juvenility was at it's best. Ember screamed and jumped up and down in rage like a spoiled little kid. She grabbed the microphone stand and flew after Danny, swinging it back and forth in a bashing motion while trying to hit him.

"Got it!" Sam turned to see Tucker pump his fist up in the air in triumph. She scuttled over to him as he explained what he had found.

"We need another sound wave to counter Ember's. It has to be an apposing sound wave which most likely means a different genre of song, classical or something." Sam stared at Tucker incredulously.

"That's it?"

"Well, the only complication to this is that it has to be done live. At least, I think so."

"Just throw in a song and give it a shot! Pop princess is throwing a tantrum since Danny totaled her guitar."

"Ooo, ouch. I know Brad would kill if anyone did as much as to scratch his guitar." Tucker fumbled with his PDA for a moment, trying to pick the right song to play through the speaks that were now connected to his handheld device. It didn't help him when he suddenly heard Danny cry out in pain over the roar of the crowd and Ember's loud declaration of finishing him off. Sam was grabbing anything that was in her reach and was going to run out and defend Danny if Ember was going to really finish him off. It made Tucker too nervous.

In his haste, he accidentally clicked a song that he knew he should have deleted after the artiste had shaken him to do so after he had recorded it. The crowd had stopped roaring and all was still as the calm soothing song that was sung in a different language played over the speakers.

Tucker was suddenly glad that the triplets were nowhere in the vicinity because they would be able to recognize the singer and he would totally be destroyed.

The song _'Fields of Hope'_ echoed throughout the venue, breaking off all control Ember had over the teens. Confused murmurs rose from the crowd as Ember screeched angrily, her plan for domination and stardom ruined.

While Ember threw another tantrum, Danny used it as the perfect opportunity to suck her into the Thermos. The ghost singer spewed out a massive number of expletives, ending with a threat to destroy the 'dipstick' as soon as she got out of the 'rat hole' before he capped her in to muffle her voice.

Tucker had immediately switched off the song once he had heard Ember's threat, knowing that the event was now over. He was only going to hope Danny and Sam wouldn't question him on who the singer was in the song as he hurriedly packed up his PDA. Sam was already giving him a look that meant that she wanted answers and Danny came flying into the wings of the stage with a questioning look.

He needed to distract them long enough to make them forget about the song. Tucker hoped like hell that they would fall for it.

* * *

Apparently, it hadn't sat well with Sam when he had tried to distract them from the song. Tucker was frustrated at how Sam's attitude could change at the drop of a hat with a total one hundred and eighty degree turn. The project was already finishing it's final stage and he was absolutely gleeful about it. Finally, it would be time to see the fruits of their labor! And hopefully everything would go back to normal once it was.

Danny, Casse and Sam had given them (Lee, Brad and Tucker) bewildered looks when they gave them tickets to a charity drive that was being hosted by Casper High. It made sense to the three, since the school courtyard was now sporting a huge stage and an array of chairs that were scattered all over the field.

When asked on what their roles were in the project, the three could only give them vague clues. Lee had given Jazz a ticket as well, though the older teen had wanted to decline the invitation until the dark blond insisted that the tickets that the three had gotten were courtesy of Lancer. The tickets were really just for the seats; the students were more than welcome to stand behind the seated area to watch the event.

Casse was looking eager to finally finding out what the special project was about when Lee teasingly told her that she would have to come to the event that was being held in the evening after school, to find out. The youngest Angeles bounced happily on her toes, chattering with Danny and Jazz with Sam occasionally chipping in some input. Tucker, Lee and Brad had been excused from classes to prepare for the event.

The four waited in line to get to the seating area when a shout for Casse was heard from the front. Casse stopped and gaped at the man standing there, pointing her finger at him in shock.

"Uncle Bruce?!" The tall stocky billionaire laughed at his goddaughter's incredulous look and pointed finger as he calmly strode over towards them and gestured to the usher.

"I'll bring them with me. The VIP stand is pretty empty so you can allow some other kids to come in." The four teens started to protest loudly at his sudden invitation but it fell to deaf ears when the Gotham billionaire calmly swept them along with him to the rows of red chairs situated near the stage. Casse made a choking noise when she saw Tobias sitting at the red chairs in a light conversation with a beautiful raven haired woman.

"Toby!" She could almost see her father roll his eyes at her godfather before turning his head to their direction, "Look who I found; our little Tinker Bell and her friends."

The woman burst into laughter while Tobias simply shook his head at Bruce. The entrepreneur gave the teens an easy smile before gesturing them to the seats. Danny almost froze in shock when he saw Vladimir Masters at the far end of the VIP stand. He swore that the older hybrid was giving him a smirk when Danny shakily sat down next to Casse who sat next to her father.

The woman gave them a warm smile and introduced herself as Diana Prince. When Casse had blurted out if she was flirting with her father, Tobias had raised an eyebrow at his daughter while Diana burst into laughter again. Bruce then teased Tobias that he had stolen his date. Tobias looked far from amused.

"Where are our split-personality Dwarf and our lovable fussy Fairy Godmother?" Bruce asked Casse from Diana's side, smiling when he saw Danny, Sam and Jazz quietly hide their laughter from behind their hands, "It's rare to see you three split up."

"They're involved in the event Uncle Bruce," Casse paused and made a face, "At least, that's what we think. They did give us the tickets for the seats." She turned her head to face the three adults, "Do you know what the theme of the drive is about?"

"I think it has something to do with music." Diana replied, flipping through a tiny book and browsing it for a moment, "The high schools were collaborating together and advertised the charity drive to businessmen. They've selected various students to perform for the event."

"And that's why I'm here." Then Bruce pointed to Tobias with a laugh, "I just decided that your father needed to get out more and of course, meet Diana."

"The wild beast has finally been tamed." Tobias mused, causing the teens to hurriedly stifle their giggles at Bruce's raised eyebrow "Finally been conquered Bruce?"

"Ha, ha. Funny Toby." Diana giggled at the two friends' exchange, kissing Bruce's cheek gently as the lights dimmed and concentrated on a single spot on the stage. The one who came out from behind the curtains startled the four teens.

"What the… is that Tucker?!" Sam gaped. He wasn't dressed in his usual traffic light coded clothes but had gone for simple black and white baggy clothes with equally simple designs. Sitting on his head was a red visor instead of his usual beret and a large pair of earphones hanging around his neck. Tucker swooped forward to the microphone stand and grinned into it.

"Hellooo everyone! Welcome to the High Schools' collaboration Charity Drive!" Loud cheers were heard from the mob of students from different schools that surrounded the stage. "I'm not exactly your host or emcee but the job just turned up… about five minutes ago." Laughter burst from the crowd at Tucker's easy jokes as he grinned widely at them before continuing.

"No seriously! I'm not supposed to be here now; I'm suppose to be helping my group set up!" More laughter and cheers echoed in the air before Tucker began his real announcement. "Ok then. The first school up is Gotham High! Jazzing to the tunes of Good Charlotte's _Dance Floor Anthem_, let's give them a warm welcome to the stage!"

It finally became clear that the schools had gotten their students to perform songs of their choice for the charity drive. Danny wondered if it was linked to the song that Tucker had played at Ember's concert. The students were cheering madly for their respective schools when they came to the stage, the mob jumping up and down to the upbeat songs and swaying to the slow ones.

It seemed unreal that Ember's disaster of a concert had been forgotten so quickly, especially when it had only been a week ago. But Danny felt himself relaxing slightly and allowed himself to enjoy the songs, though he was still on his guard because his arch-nemesis was sitting in the same row he was in, only further down. Sam had noticed this and squeezed his hand comfortingly, the boy giving her a grateful look before turning his gaze back to the stage where Tucker had bounced up again.

"Alrighty! We are down to the last school and can you guess which one?" The students roared their answer as Tucker grinned impishly at them, swaying on the spot humorously, "Was that alien speech guys? Cause it sounded like gibberish!"

The crowd gave another laugh at his antics before Tucker waved his arms about to catch their attention. "Yep, yep. It's Casper High's turn. And since we're the ones hosting the charity drive, we're giving you guys double the fun!"

"Yea, yea. Two songs from the friendly ghost school. Now get your butt to your station Tuck." Casse clamped her hand to her mouth and tried to desperately muffle her laughter when she heard her brother's voice snip at Tucker from the speakers. The dark-skinned teen pouted at the closed curtains while the audience laughed.

"Party pooper."

Nevertheless, Tucker had hopped down from the stage and to the tiny clearing with a white cloth that was in front of the VIP stand. He gave them a cheery wave when he spotted the group before ripping the cloth off the equipment at the clearing. Two DJ decks gleamed in the spotlight as Tucker slipped the headphones to his ears, attaching it to the decks and slipped two discs into them. He tapped the microphone in front of him to test it before speaking into it.

"Our first song up is Brie Larson's _Hope Has Wings_! But first, a word from our dazzling singer!" A muffled groan with background giggles and snorts sounded through the speakers before a shy voice piped up.

"Uh, well this is actually dedicated to all our friends and siblings who've been very patient with us because of the charity drive. And to everyone out there who has a dream; strive for it and you'll definitely make it!"

The curtains drew back once the music began to play. Tucker blended in the music from his discs with the live band, bobbing his head to the beat. Casse's jaw dropped open when she saw her two siblings at the stage, Lee singing the lyrics to the song while Brad strummed his guitar. They were accompanied by two seniors who played the drums and bass; Tucker seemed to be using the discs to fill in for any extra instrument for the song.

-

_**I will be carried by my dreams.  
Cuz hope has wings!**_

_**-  
**_

Casse sat there, mesmerized as the band from Casper High continued playing to the song. It was starting to make sense with the lyrics of the song as Lee punctuated the words with feeling, her face scrunched up in concentration while she sang.

-

_**Calling out my name!  
Finally, I can see,  
Now I'm on my way! (Now I'm on my way)**_

-

She watched Brad's relaxed face as he played his guitar, giving it his all with feeling just as Lee was doing with her singing. Casse was positive that she had seen a ghost of a smile that was playing on his lips and confirmed it when he and the bassist stepped into the light to echo the lyrics in the microphone in tune to Lee.

_**-**_

_**Hope shines the light – It's everywhere!  
Hope knows just how to take me there!**_

-

She let herself get lost in the music and lyrics, closing her eyes and relishing the emotion that was put into the song. It was like they were sending her a message to chase her dreams; not just any dream, but her dream of playing, though she doubted that they knew that. It was starting to all make sense as a bright smile graced her lips when she opened her eyes and cheered with the rest of the crowd as the song neared its end.

_**  
-**_

_**(Hope has wings, **__**Hope has wings)**_

_**La la la la,  
La la la la la la**_

-

As the song drifted off, the crowd cheered louder and the thunder of applause was deafening. Lee gave a shy and hesitant wave and smiled at the crowd while her band mates pumped their fists in the air, joining in the cheering with the crowd.

Tucker grinned, pumping his fist into the air once before he grabbed the microphone in front of him.

"And yes siree; that was _Hope Has Wings_! And now we give you our second and the last song for the night. We're rounding it up with Avril Lavigne's _Runaway_! Guys, if the going gets tough, stop, smell the flowers and take a toilet break – " The crowd roared with laughter while Tucker's lips split into a wide grin, "Then carry on that journey! But don't literally run away ok?"

Just as Tucker finished his sentence, the drummer started the beat and he played the discs on the DJ decks. Lee bobbed her head to the beat as she sang the opening of the song. That was when Casse noticed that Brad, the bassist and Lee were standing dangerously close to the edge of the stage. They didn't seem to make much of it up until the start of the first chorus where they startled everyone by jumping off the stage to join Tucker down at the grassy clearing.

The same time the three jumped off the stage, the sprinklers that were in the clearing activated. The four were doused from head to toe in an instant but they looked far more relaxed and energetic as they continued to play/sing the song.

_**-**_

_**I just wanna scream and lose control!  
Throw my hands up and let it go!  
Forg**__**et about everything and runaway.**_

_**Yeah!**_

-

Casse shrieked in shock but nevertheless continued to grin widely when she saw the calm and relaxed faces of her siblings as they continued singing and playing the music. Brad tossed his head about as he strummed his guitar to the beat of the drums, his face showing nothing but elation. Danny and Jazz cheered beside her while Sam sported the same Cheshire cat grin that was on Casse's lips.

_**-**_

_**I just want to fall and lose myself!  
Laughing so hard it hurts like hell!  
Forget about everything and runaway. **_

_**Yeah!**_

-

She watched as her two siblings went back to back with each other, Lee grinningly passing the microphone between them as he echoed her. Both fully immersed in the music and enjoying the cool feeling of the water as it continued to rain down on them. Casse blinked when Lee looked over in her direction and raised her hand, as if beckoning her to join them.

She wasn't about to refuse it.

_**-**_

_**I just wanna scream and lose control!  
Throw my hands up and let it go!  
Forget about everything and runaway.**_

_**Yeah!**_

-

Casse leapt over the railings that separated the VIP seats from the clearing and ran over to Lee who grinned back her. The two Angeles girls danced in the rain of sprinkling water, Lee still singing her heart out and Casse bothering their not-so exasperated brother.

_**-**_

_**I just want to fall and lose myself!  
Laughing so hard it hurts like hell!  
Forget about everything and runaway. **_

_**Yeah!**_

-

Even as the song ended, the two sisters continued to dance in the sprinkle, splashing their brother and the senior bassist. Both instantly declared war on them and a water fight ensured between them with laughter and cheers echoing in the air, many students yelling for an encore. The seated audience rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation to the group as the other high school bands filtered onto the stage and bowed to the crowd.

Danny nudged Sam's elbow gently, gesturing for her to join him in going up to them. The crowd of students were squealing and shrieking as the sprinklers around the courtyard activated, drenching them all in a shower of water. Nobody seemed to care that the event was over, having too much fun cheering and dancing to the beat of the songs that Tucker had begun to play on the DJ decks while completely wet.

Most of the adults had quickly scuttled out of the way of the water and watched in amusement at the throng of teenagers making a party of the ending ceremonies of the drive.

"Haven't seen Brad really smile in years," Bruce tilted his head over to Tobias, who was keeping a close watch on his three children. "It's like they grew up, but at the same time it doesn't look like it when you look at them now."

"Hn." Bruce rolled his eyes at his friend's response while Diana watched them from his side, her expression showing much amusement, "Amilee has overexerted herself again."

Diana felt Bruce flinch and turn his head to look at the teenagers, quickly scanning through them to find his godchildren. The raven beauty followed his line of vision and focused on the face of his oldest godchild, noting that the teen's lips were much too pale to be considered healthy. Bruce eyed his best friend warily from the side after he made his observation.

"You don't stop watching over them, do you?"

"I could say the same for you."

Diana's eyes grew wide and flickered between the two men cautiously. She caught Bruce's eye and the billionaire simply nodded in her direction. The adults turned their attention back to the teens who were continuing the party, though it was starting to dim down a little.

The sprinklers had long been switched off while they saw the African-American boy, who had played emcee to the event; shout through the microphone that it would be the last song played for the night. The teens shouted their thanks and danced to the last song as it played.

"Nostalgic?"

"Hardly. You were the biggest party pooper back then." Bruce replied easily, shooting the brunette and Diana a grin, "Just didn't know how to have fun."

"I failed to, and still do now, to see how flirting with women who were over three times your age could be considered fun." Diana's mouth dropped open as she blinked at Bruce, who had turned an interesting shade of red, "You always did have the charms to worm yourself out of trouble."

"I hate you Toby." Bruce grumbled, trying to look a little more dignified while Diana clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles. Tobias gave him an easy looking stare before his eyes went back to watching over the teenagers who were all finishing up their conversations. Most groups starting to leave the Casper High school grounds, giving Tobias an clear view of the seven wet teens at the middle of the clearing, huddled together, laughing like maniacs.

"Likewise Bruce."

* * *

Casse bounced out of the bathroom after a hot shower, rubbing her hair as dry as she could. She squeaked in surprise when she found a clean showered Brad sitting at the foot of her bed, idly flipping through some of her random doodles that she had made in class. She also saw him raise his eyebrow at one doodle that had all three of them playing musical instruments. Her expression changed into one of horror before she lunged forward to grab her doodles.

"Give it back!" She squealed out, reaching forward for the papers. Brad, being the typical meddlesome older brother, dodged her and drew his hand with the papers in it away from her reach. Casse was surprised when she saw the playful smirk on his lips as he launched himself off her bed, casually flipping through the doodles again.

"So… the triplet band huh? How long Pixie?" A wild blush streaked across her cheeks as Casse collapsed on her bed, hiding her face in her pillow. She refused to answer until she felt Brad's quick fingers poke and prod her ticklish spots. She released a loud shriek that echoed through the house and started to flail her limbs in a desperate attempt to kick Brad off her.

Lee hurriedly dashed to her sibling's room once she had heard the shriek. She relaxed once she saw that it was only a tickle fight between her two siblings and leaned against the frame of the door. She watched them with a grin on her face as Casse tried, and failed at getting their brother off her.

"Pixie, you're so freaking transparent." Brad declared, ceasing his tickle attack on his younger sister and returned to his original position at the foot of the bed, "Did you know that Tuck actually saw you staring at us when we were giving our presentations three weeks ago?"

Casse's expression morphed into a mortified one as she grabbed her pillow to muffle her scream of embarrassment into it. Lee released a quiet chuckle from the door way, exchanging knowing winks with her brother before she scuttled off with a mission in mind. Brad's smirk grew wider as he tugged at the pillow that was squashed against his sister's face before he gave up and ripped it away from her grasp. Casse's cheeks were a dark shade of red and she had forced her gaze to be anywhere else but her brother.

Amused, Brad tossed the pillow back at her to catch her attention, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about Pixie."

"I can't play! I suck at it!" The blond boy rolled his eyes as his sister grabbed her pillow and hugged it close to her chest. He poked her shoulder to get Casse to look up at him.

"Pixie, I sucked when I first started out too – "

"You did not! You were a complete genius when you started out!"

"… That's an exaggeration Pixie, but seriously," Brad shifted from his position and moved over to Casse's side to drape an arm over her shoulders, "It takes dedication and practice to play music right. And let's face it, you aren't exactly very subtle in hiding."

Casse groaned and buried her head into the pillow that she was hugging. She didn't notice Lee creeping into the room with a large object in her hands until Brad poked her side again, making her squirm and look up.

"And as the kind and loving siblings that we are – " Casse immediately tried smothering her brother with the pillow at his mocking words but he ducked and rolled off her bed, "We got you a little present."

The youngest sibling blinked when Lee laid the large rectangular object on her bed. Casse prodded it cautiously, much to Brad's chagrin. "Pixie, it's not booby trapped!"

"I never know if it's from you." She quipped back promptly before she started peeling off the tape of the box. Casse unwrapped the paper of the box and popped it open, her eyes widening as she drew the sleek dark red guitar soft casing out of the box. Her fingers flew to the zipper of the casing and opened it, revealing a red and black acoustic guitar nestled in the casing.

Her slender fingers traced the contours of the instrument before gently plucking at the strings. Lee watched her younger sister with a soft smile as Casse fiddled with her new guitar with eager eyes.

"You never spoke up about learning to play Pixie." She said softly, taking Casse's attention away from her present, "You basically declared you weren't going to be any good when you tried out Dwarf's guitar when we were younger."

Lee trotted over to Casse's bed, sat down next to the other blond and wrapped her arms around her little sister, "It's your dream. It may not become your future career but it would definitely make you feel better. And," Both girls turned their heads to look at their amused brother, "Dwarf's willing to give you lessons. It won't be easy but you'll become better once you practice."

Lee looked into Casse's eyes with a smile, "After all, we all have hopes and dreams don't we? Remember the song?"

Casse grinned back up at her, snuggling against her sister's shoulder with a content sigh as Brad hopped over to her bed and joined in the hug. She felt that gap she thought they had being bridged with this simple gift that they had given her.

"Yea… We are carried by our dreams… and hope really does have wings."

* * *

**Authoress' Ending Notes:**

1) The song _Fields of Hope_ sung by Tanaka Rie is an insert song in Gundam SEED Destiny; Lyrics that are bold and italicized are songs Brie Larson's _Hope has Wings_ and Avril Lavigne's _Runaway_. No, I do not own theses songs at all.  
2) I'm trying to make this fic with a much more darker look to the original DP line, mostly because I see Sam a little differently. I suppose it's because of her 'Goth' nature that I'm making her a little bit darker and a little more noticeable in her change of moods. I'm not a huge fan of DXS to be honest as well because I've always thought that Sam should be much darker than she was in the cartoon. So she'd feel territorial if she felt that someone was threatening her relationship with Danny, since she's much closer to him than with Tucker.  
3) Thanks **Calovan**, **nukagome15**, **Adran06** and **UncleKai** for reviewing the previous chapter. Thank you to the various members who have added this story to their alert/fav list as well!  
4) It's going to be unfortunate that my updating will become incredibly slow because of University. I thank you guys in advance for your patience! (and I'm trying to cut down on writing too much details.)  
5) Like I said in my beginning notes, I'm not too pleased with this chapter because I think I may have squished it too much, but I wasn't going to write pages of Valerie harping on revenge... well, not just yet that is.  
6) Various characters from the DC universe (most who make appearances in JL and JLU), will appear at times in the future chapters. I wanted to give you guys a little bit of information on the friendship between Bruce and Tobias. Of course, the entire thing will be in a later chapter too, but it can't hurt to give you guys something to think about :D  
7) I have no set pairings in my mind just yet for the characters (although I may seem to be pushing a Tucker/Lee thing as seen in this chapter), we'll just have to wait and see huh? Any thoughts on pairings guys?  
8) Thanks for reading and drop a review if you have the time and if you've spotted any mistakes that I should be aware of. Thank you!

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	7. Hollow Hearts

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress' Beginning Notes: Phew! Now this took quite a while! I have to thank **Sakuyamon** from deviantART for accepting my commission request in creating costumes for the chapter! It was terrible when I could not visualize the costumes properly to write out some of the descriptions! This chapter is dedicated to Sakuyamon (thanks with much love for the help!). And I'd like to finally point out, that this chapter onwards will be a turning point for the story, it will no longer stay close in continuity in the DP verse. More explained in the ending notes, but for now, please enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 6****: **

**Hollow Hearts**

* * *

Brad always looked forward to Halloween. It wasn't so much about the trick or treating. Really, the sweets were just bonuses; but they'd never finish all the candy since Alfred would lecture them about their teeth going rotten if they ate too much. Rather, he enjoyed the challenge of creating a complicated spooky costume and would always contest with Casse on who had the scarier one for the year. Lee would sedately play judge while choosing to make a much lighter costume in contrast to her siblings.

The contest started when they were ten, when Brad finally got fed up with the costumes their Uncle Bruce would get for them. It was the year that they had changed, and after the three had earned their nicknames. Needless to say, their billionaire godfather thought it would have been hilarious for them to wear the costumes of their namesakes. Brad had not been amused when he found out which costume he was given.

Of all the seven dwarfs of Snow White, he still wondered to this day why his godfather had chosen to give him _Dopey_. He ended up looking more like Grumpy who was forced to wear Dopey's overalls and large purple hat, with his arms crossed over his chest with his face bearing a huge scowl when Alfred snapped a memorial photograph.

He had yet to find and burn the copy of the photograph of that particular Halloween stashed in Lee's room.

"So, what do you guys do during Halloween?"

Casse's question brought Brad out of his thoughts and allowed his gaze to flicker to their three friends. He didn't realize it until now, but there seemed to be a gap widening between them. His sisters and himself would sit on one side of the table while the other three would sit opposite them, whereas before they would have no set seating arrangement.

Danny chewed his food with a thoughtful look across his face while Sam continued to stab her vegetables and crunch on them loudly. Tucker tapped his chin thoughtfully before he turned to glance at the triplets with his head tilted to answer Casse's question.

"Well nothing much actually. Just the usual trick or treating with us wearing lame costumes," The bespectacled teen then grinned and nudged Danny with his elbow, "Last year, Danny totally forgot about a costume and used one of his old bed sheets, cut holes in them and went around like a ghost. His folks creamed him at first sight."

Danny groaned and hid his face in his hands to hide his embarrassment while the triplets laughed. Sam however, didn't look very amused and pointed her fork menacingly at Tucker.

"You weren't any better Tucker and for your information, my costumes were NOT lame." Tucker blinked before throwing his hands up in a pacifying gesture in front of him, looking utterly bewildered at his Goth friend's tone. The rest of the table had gone eerily silent at her outburst.

"Whoa, don't need to take it so personally. Geez Sam, you've been kind of testy these days. Can't you take a joke anymore?" Sam huffed at him angrily, turning back to her salad and stabbed a piece of lettuce viciously. She ignored the confused looks the rest of them were giving her and went back to eating her food.

Shrugs were exchanged between them as they continued to have light conversation. Casse had started rambling about their annual competition of Halloween costumes, sparking interest with Danny and Tucker. Lee laughed quietly as the other two boys listened intently to Casse's excited babble of costume designing for the event.

Brad had returned to his food, though he still kept an open ear listening to his younger sister chatter away like a twittering bird. Her chatter had stopped abruptly and Brad's eyes were quick to pick up a looming shadow that had descended on their table. He brought his head up from his food and openly glared at the broad shouldered silhouette of Dash Baxter smirking at them from the end of their table.

"What are you up to now meat head?" Brad grumbled irritably, resting his cheek on his palm while continuing to glare at the jock. He didn't like the feeling that the blond A List teen was up to something and it wasn't something good either. Dash feigned ignorance before he rested his foot on the table, making Sam scowl at him angrily before shifting her tray away from him. Casse followed suit and edged closer to Lee with a skeptic look crossing her face.

"Aw, why is it you think I'm up to something whenever I come to greet you punk? You should be grateful that I've even considered gracing you with my… preseennence."

"Because you're always up to no good," Brad snapped back instantly, his eyes narrowing dangerously while Dash's smirk dropped, "And the word is 'presence', not 'preseennence' jockwad. 'Preseennence' is not even a word in the dictionary or did your thick skull finally crack and make your pea sized brain fall out?"

Dash had quickly composed himself and faked smoothing out his sports jacket, ignoring Brad's violent stab at his intelligence. He leaned forward, a wide smirk playing across his lips while resting his elbow on his propped up knee.

"Well I've got a pospoe… porops…"

"If I caught it right, the word you're trying to fish out is 'proposition'." Brad threw his hand up in exasperation, "For crying out loud, use words that actually decipher in your puny brains instead of using words that you can hardly pronounce! So cut to the chase: What do you want?"

The jock of Casper High had finally given up his fake pretense of being nice, scowling angrily at Brad for a moment before allowing a smirk to replace it. With his foot still pressing on the table top, Dash leaned forward resting his elbow on his raised knee and got straight to the point.

"The school hosts a Halloween competition every year and Lancer will give us more details about it later." Brad propped his elbow on the table and rested his cheek on his palm while giving Dash a bored look. The jock ignored the look and continued, "So here's the deal punk: I dare you and your little loser group to compete against my team in the competition."

"… And?"

"And what stupid Goth boy?"

"There has to be a catch," Tucker pointed out, catching on to Brad's unvoiced suspicions about Dash's motives. Knowing the jock, there was bound to be something horrible to be done to the losers. He rarely did anything 'nice' or 'evenly competitive'; they usually included an ulterior motive. "You've never issued this challenge to anyone Dash, not even us back in middle school. What's the big deal then?"

If possible, Dash's smirk grew wider. The edges of his lips almost reaching to the sides of his face that had the faintest resemblance to the Gotham villain, The Joker. Casse shivered at the comparison she had made in her mind and edged closer to her sister, feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the situation. Dash simply gave them a casual shrug before removing his foot from the table top, dramatically patting his jackets to remove the invisible dust.

"Smart move little geek," Lee frowned at Dash's leering expression when he addressed Tucker in a flippant manner, "'course the losers will have to face penalty that the other group will issue. If we lose, you get to penalize us with anything."

Everyone at the table could already see that Dash was exceptionally smug as he said that. He looked completely confident that his team wouldn't lose at all and seemed to have planned out what sort of penalty that he was going to dish out. Danny was starting to feel nervous with Dash's confident smirk aimed at them. He hesitated for a moment before he finally spoke up from the silence.

"And… what's the penalty if we lose?" The look on Dash's face became extremely devilish and Danny was beginning to regret even asking when the jock reached into his jacket to retrieve something.

"_This_!" The instant the object was revealed, three shrieks and three yells of utter disgust filled the air, catching the attention of the rest of the school populace. The six teens had fled to the other side of the table and flattened themselves against each other to be at the maximum distance away from Dash with their hands clapped over their noses and mouths.

The object that Dash had retrieved from his jacket turned out to be a piece of laundry that looked and smelt like it had seen better days. The pungent smell that was contaminating the air didn't seem to affect Dash at all, but it didn't mean the rest of the students out in the open were the same as him.

Majority of the girls had screamed and fled into the sanctuary of the school building. Some students fainted outright and the rest of them had mirrored the group of outcasts' actions and clapped their hands over their mouths and noses. Even the senior members of the sports clubs that Dash often participated in seemed a little repulsed at the vile object in the blonds' bare hands.

"Hanging out your dirty linen in the open in literal terms is going way too far… Baxter, that thing is utterly disgusting!" Brad snapped, his words muffled and oddly squeaked with his hands still covering his nose and mouth. Casse whimpered at the stench and pressed her back closer against her sister who started to lean backwards closer to their brother with the youngest Angeles' added weight leaning against her. Danny swore he could have seen Brad's face flush as Lee's back pressed against his side but decided that he had other things to worry about, such as keeping himself well away from the source of the stench.

Sam had placed all of her weight onto Danny's side, secretly enjoying the close proximity that they were sharing and wished it were under… better circumstances. The Goth girl could see Tucker's eyes watering in pain and Danny, like Casse, was furiously trying to increase the distance between him and the vile object that Dash was still holding. Luckily for them, the other students had informed Lancer about the air pollution and the bald teacher came striding out to the picnic tables from the cafeteria.

And immediately pinched his nose shut at the intrusion of unmentionable smells that filled his nostrils once he had taken a step out. "LORD OF THE FILES! Mr. Baxter, what in the name of Darth Vader is that object you're holding?!"

Before Dash could explain himself, Lancer had gotten a hold of the trash bin and instructed Dash to immediately dispose the dirty object. Not wanting to incur the wrath of the Vice-Principal, the jock obeyed instantly, dropping the soiled piece of garment into the bin. Once it was disposed of, Lancer faced Dash with an angry expression, although much of it was covered by his hand that was still pinching his nose.

"Detention after school Mr. Baxter. And you'd better not have any more of those things in any of your other school jackets either. Dispose of them immediately and take a shower now!" Despite the hilarity of the squeakiness of Lancer's voice, the anger was still palpable as he spoke which broke no room for any sort of argument. Dash glared balefully at the students and muttered a quiet 'tattle tales' under his breath before stalking towards the showers. The crowd of students parted like the Sea of Reeds, not wanting to have any sort of contact with the jock as he walked back to the school building.

"The air's still polluted… and I think I lost what's left of my appetite for lunch…" Tucker moaned through his hands, grabbing his tray with his free hand and dumped the food items into the trash bin. Grunts and groans of agreement from the other five sounded as they too did the same to the remainder of their lunches. Lancer was heard muttering about teenagers and disgusting dirty laundry as he swept the six back into the school building where the students quickly dispersed into their next classes.

Dash's dare was almost completely forgotten as the six continued on with classes until Lancer held up his hand to catch the class's attention just ten minutes before the last bell. "I'd like to inform you all that Casper High hosts an annual competition where students can sign up in teams of any number to decorate one of the classrooms with the theme being Halloween. Principal Ishiyama and the other teachers, including myself will judge the rooms on the scare factor and quality of your work. If you wish to sign up, please approach me at any time."

As Lancer finished his announcement, the last period bell rang, releasing the students from the captivity of the school. Noisy chatter quickly emerged as the students quickly filed out, Dash being one of them, grabbing Kwan along with him. No doubt to find the rest of his legion of jocks to sign up for the competition.

"So this was what jockwad was talking about." Brad muttered, casually sitting on the edge of Lee's table as his older sister packed her bag. "But it does sound kinda interesting. What do you guys think?"

"As long as Dash's dirty and smelly undergarments are out of the picture, I'm all for it." Tucker grinned, shouldering his backpack and turned his head about to look at the rest, waiting for their answer. Lee simply shrugged and nodded, as if gesturing that she was fine with whatever their decision was. Casse was nodding her head with plenty of enthusiasm, her eyes sparkling with glee and her mouth curved into a wide grin.

Danny flashed his friends two thumbs up in agreement and turned to look at Sam who had yet to voice anything. The Goth had pursed her lips tightly, her brows furrowed in deep thought. For a moment, Danny thought that Sam was going to decline. Her mood changes were simply unpredictable and he could never gauge her anymore. Somehow the thought of it was disconcerting and he hoped that she wasn't distancing herself from them on purpose.

"As long as I get to pick what we do."

"_What_?!" All five heads snapped towards Sam's direction at her demand. Brad gave Sam an incredulous look before he snapped at her, "Sam, that's totally unreasonable. We're all not on the same wavelength and there might be better ideas as long as we share them and THEN pick on one. Why are you demanding to be the special one to choose what we do?"

"Well who's the Goth here?" She snapped back, glaring back at him with equal fury. "Who else would have the best ideas to make it a real freaky and creepy Halloween house?"

"Pixie for one!"

"Little Miss Happy?" Sam snorted and released a mocking laugh, "No way. She probably wears those horrible cute fluffy pink bunny costumes for Halloween!"

Brad bristled angrily as he saw Casse's expression turn into one of hurt at Sam's snub at her. "What the hell is your problem?" He demanded, moving past Danny and towards her without breaking any eye contact with Sam. "You've been PMSing ever since the charity drive and frankly it's getting to be bloody annoying! You're demanding to have things go exactly your way and probably would turn your back on us if we so happened to not agree with your idea!"

The blond boy stared nose to nose with Sam with a snarl on his lips. "You're not queen of the universe and we don't bow down to you or do everything to your whim Sam. And I'll repeat what I said before; you're becoming exactly like that petty pink phooney. Only you're in purple and not pink."

"I'M NOTHING LIKE THAT SHALLOW GIRL!" The other girl screeched out angrily in Brad's face, her hands clenching tightly by her sides. Before anyone could react, a loud slap echoed in the room when Sam lashed out at Brad violently.

Four pairs of eyes widened as Brad's cheek began to color into a shade of bright red with four long nail marks slashed across it where Sam's hand had come in contact with. Everyone was frozen in place and the atmosphere became dangerously silent and tense. A wave of fear washed over Sam when she heard an animalistic growl emit from Brad and forced herself to stay calm when she caught sight of his wild angered eyes as he lifted his head up to glare at her.

For a brief moment, Danny fearfully thought that Brad was going to lash back at Sam. The wild and unsuppressed anger that was seen in his eyes was so intimidating that the ghost hybrid found himself slowly backing away from the other boy. Brad was dangerously silent; his eyes simply glaring straight at Sam while blood from the scratch marks began to trickle down his cheek.

The tension in the air grew thicker as four pairs of eyes nervously glanced back and forth between the other two. Tucker inched closer towards Lee, who was sitting wirily in her seat, her eyes trained on the four scratch marks that were slashed across Brad's cheek. The bespectacled boy nudged her side to catch her attention before bending down to quickly whisper in her ear, still watching Brad and Sam cautiously from the corner of his eye.

As soon as he finished, Tucker and Lee set into action. Lee gently tapped Casse's shoulder and made a motion for her to head out of the classroom while Tucker went forward to pull Sam away from Brad. Lee grabbed a hold of Brad's shoulders to prevent him from moving forward to continue glaring heatedly at Sam and firmly pushed him out the classroom door with Casse in tow. Danny stood quietly to the side as this all happened before Tucker rounded up on Sam with an exasperated scowl.

"Sam, I have no idea what's gotten into you." Tucker removed his spectacles and pinched the bridge of his nose hard before rubbing his eyes, "But Brad's right, why couldn't you agree to pitching ideas and then letting us all vote on which idea to use? Is it totally necessary for this entire event to go your way and not have any of our input?"

"Oh, so you're siding with them now are you?" Sam snapped out of her reverie and hissed at Tucker angrily. Before she could say something that could potentially ruin their friendship, Danny stopped her and spoke up from his silence.

"Come on Sam, calm down." Sam quickly closed her mouth but continued to glare at Tucker. Danny released a pained sigh before he continued. "I'm sure we can all compromise. We're all friends here on equal ground, so pitching ideas and working together in making the idea better is the most common and best idea at making things work."

He halted for a moment before resting his hand on Sam's shoulder gently, "Please? I'm pretty sure we can all come up with a great Halloween house if we all work together. No quarreling and such though." He gave Sam his best kicked puppy look which made the Goth groan, "Please? Don't fight?"

Sam turned her face away from Danny's kicked puppy look. It was mortifyingly cute and it had the capability of melting the coldest of hearts. Danny was just that good in giving the kicked puppy look. She threw up her hands in exasperation when Danny refused to relent on the onslaught of teary eyes and continued to bombard her. "Oh fine! I won't get into any more fights!"

The wounded puppy expression vanished the instant she said those words and was replaced with a large grin. Sam froze when Danny pulled her into a quick hug before he turned to face Tucker.

"So, what's the plan Tuck?"

"Well, Lee and I agreed that we could all meet up at the Nasty Burger once everyone calms down. She probably took Brad to the nurse's office to clean up the scratch marks." Danny grinned impishly at his best friend and sidled over to Tucker to cheekily nudge his side.

"It sounds to me like you're getting _pretty_ close to Lee." The ghost hybrid teased as the African-American boy blushed deeply and turned to scowl at him. "Anything you'd like to share with us Tuck?"

"There is absolutely nothing to share." Tucker declared firmly, the blush still evident in his cheeks. "And no Danny, we're not dating. Why can't we just be seen as friends just as we see each other as?"

"With benefits?" Sam muttered absently. Tucker growled a little and refused to comment on Sam's remark. The dark skinned teen threw his hands up in the air in exasperation at the doubtful looks his two best friends were giving him.

"Oh fine! Don't believe me then. But there's really nothing going on between me and Lee." Tucker insisted, ignoring Sam's pointed look directed at him, "So let's go meet them at the Nasty Burger and… Oh quit staring at me so incredulously already. I'm not even looking to be in a relationship right now. I'm perfectly happy being single!"

* * *

Their meeting hadn't exactly gone ideally, but it was better than nothing. Brad had totally ignored Sam and vice versa. Both were unwilling to look at each other and Brad would simply chuck a wad of paper at her if he disagreed with anything she said. It was annoying, but at least they were marginally civil with each other.

It all ended up with Lee throwing her hands in the air in exasperation and finally listing down whatever ideas they had and making Casse and Danny decide on what they would do. Sam didn't look very pleased with this way of decision making, but everyone had finally given up listening to her over glorifying the details of her idea. The idea itself was alright, but the way Sam insisted that things had to be exactly as how she explained it to be had practically flushed the notion of it being used down the bowl.

Danny and Casse took their time in browsing through the list before they agreed to use Brad and Tucker's joint idea of 'Puppet House' as the theme for the competition. They hadn't been able to go further into details with the idea when Danny's ghost sense had gone off. He quickly spouted out an excuse before bolting and changing into his alter-ego to take care of the nuisance of a ghost that had appeared.

The culprit had turned out to be Technus, who was still spouting out his most 'secret' and 'brilliant' plan to take over the world out loud for all to hear. Danny groaned in annoyance, slapping his palm against his face as Technus continued his ranting and ignored his presence.

"If it's supposed to be a 'secret' plan for world domination, then why the heck are you broadcasting it out for the world to hear?" Technus ceased his ranting and turned to face Danny. The technological ghost grinned widely and pointed a dramatic finger at the bored looking hybrid.

"No matter dear boy! For I, Technus, master of technology will soon rule this world! And you shall bow and grovel before your new master!" Danny rolled his eyes skyward as Technus continued to outline his future plans for 'the servant he shall soon have'. The ghost hybrid teen grew impatient and sent Technus flying into a building with a well aimed ghost ray.

Technus quickly retaliated, taking control of whatever electronic device that was within his range. Danny found himself under siege, his attackers consisting mainly of shavers, irons and even tiny mechanical toys with sharp little plastic swords. He managed to rid the accursed things off him and attacked Technus in a flurry of punches and kicks. The other ghost sustained heavy damage and was severely weakened in the aftermath of Danny's attacks.

Capping Technus and flying off would have been the most ideal way of ending a ghost fight but Danny found himself with no such luck when Valerie as Red Huntress showed up. The hybrid found his posterior getting heavily abused by Valerie, with most of her (wayward) shots landing at that particular part of his body. Danny wondered if a certain deity was having a riot against him as he dodged most of Red Huntress' shots; his butt ALWAYS seemed to be the prime target for anybody who had supernatural powers and weapons that could hurt him.

And boy was he ever glad that Tucker made that belt for him, at least he didn't have to worry about losing the Fenton Thermos while dodging a crazy psychotic huntress.

"Stay still you stupid ghost!" Danny scowled internally at Valerie's redundant statement. He knew it was frustration that she couldn't hit him, but this was getting to be ridiculous. Her shots were already poorly aimed and he was only flying around for her benefit to thinking that her shots were close to hitting their mark.

Valerie growled angrily, shooting a volley of shots in Danny's direction and didn't notice one of the grenades stuck to her waist come loose. The grenade slipped off her belt and fell towards the mass of people on the sidewalk. Danny's eyes caught sight of the falling grenade and widened when he saw Casse standing in the exact same place the grenade was going to land.

He acted fast. Danny dodged the volley of ecto-blasts and zoomed straight down towards the pavement. Valerie howled that she wasn't going to let him escape and followed him on her jet sled, more focused on her target and not noticing that she was missing a grenade that was currently freefalling down to earth and was going to hit a civilian. The hybrid ignored her shouts and urged himself to go faster. He wanted to shout a warning but the adrenaline wasn't giving him the ability to use his mouth. All he could do was will himself to move faster and pray he could reach the blond teen in time.

A shout and yell echoed in his eardrums and Danny vaguely recognized them as Lee and Brad's voices. Casse's head finally lifted to the sky and Danny found himself looking straight into her petrified eyes. He was passing the grenade's altitude and surged forward, quickly gathering Casse into his arms and flying her out of the danger zone when the grenade exploded as soon as it impacted on the ground.

A loud 'boom' echoed in the streets and the people went mad. The masses of people were screaming and yelling about attacks, fleeing the scene as fast as they could in a flurry of panic. In the mayhem and chaos, Valerie lost sight of Danny and vowed to exact her revenge on him, thinking that he was the reason for the explosion and panic to distract her from him. The Red Huntress stepped on her jet sled and quickly flew off.

"Casse! Casse! Casse, where are you?!" Danny could faintly hear Lee's frantic calls for her sister through the din of the masses. He activated invisibility and intangibility powers on instinct. He held a petrified Casse in his arms and quickly weaved through the crowd to find the other two Angeles'. He found Brad first, grabbing a hold of his arm to catch his attention and allowing the blond boy to become temporarily invisible and intangible as he scanned for Lee.

Lee was squeezing between the bodies, her voice trembling as the panic increased its pressure in her chest while she continued to call for her younger sibling. Her heart pounded wildly against her ribcage as she whipped her head about, trying to find the smallest of clues to where Casse went until she felt a hand grab her wrist. Lee almost screamed out in shock when she felt the people around her suddenly close in and run through her body.

"Shh! It's ok Lee, it's just me!" Lee quickly spun around to see Phantom in the midst of people with Casse clinging onto him like he was her last lifeline and Brad grasping onto his shoulder tightly. Still stuck in her stunned stupor, Lee allowed Phantom to guide her through the mass of bodies and out to a quiet and empty area close by. Once he made sure that no one was around, he disabled his abilities.

Once he had done so, Lee immediately flew to Casse's side and fussed over the trembling girl. As Lee checked for any injuries that her sister might have sustained, Brad rubbed his arms furiously for a moment before he turned to face Danny with gratitude filled eyes.

"Thanks for saving Pixie… That was way too close. If you came any later…" Danny shook his head, placing his hand on Brad's shoulder before squeezing it gently.

"It's my fault. Red Huntress' has been hunting me for a while and she's…" Danny struggled to find the correct set of words that wasn't too derogatory to describe the ghost huntress, "Not exactly civilian friendly. I don't know how the grenade got loose, but it might have been due to poor equipment or something. If anything, I'm to blame for putting Casse into danger."

"It isn't exactly your fault that you don't want your butt getting fried and becoming extra crispy." Brad pointed out, quickly glancing at his sisters to see that Casse had finally snapped out of her shock and was snuggling comfortably in Lee's arms though she was still visibly shaking. "And if anything, that Red Huntress has to stop being hypocritical. She's said before she wants to 'rid the ghost menaces' but she's become more of a threat to us then any of the other ghosts who attack on a regular basis."

"That was scary." Both boys turned to look at Lee at her soft murmur. The oldest Angeles sibling was gently stroking Casse's bangs as the other girl curled into her embrace, "It's… scary to think that these things can happen so quickly. Before we know it, someone might end up seriously hurt or worse, dead."

She paused for a moment before lifting her head up to look at Danny with a small grateful smile gracing her lips, "But I guess we're also lucky that we've got someone like you to look out for us to the best of your ability Phantom. I'm definitely grateful that you're doing this."

Danny blushed deeply at the compliment, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Her words were definitely heartwarming and welcoming. He saw Brad give him a smile, not a half-assed smirk, but a genuine smile of gratitude that came from his heart. Danny was secretly pleased to see this, Brad wasn't such a bad-assed Goth as he seemed. There was definitely a kind and gentle boy beneath the tough exterior. The hybrid just wondered why the blond never showed it often.

"It's… all I can do. I'm practically the source of trouble, so the least I can do is to make sure that you guys don't get caught up in the attacks too much." He murmured quietly, still a little embarrassed at their compliments to him.

"But that's what counts the most." Casse gently piped up from her cuddle position, peering over Lee's arm to look at Danny. "Fairy said it before; we're the 'adrenaline junkies' –" Lee rapped her knuckles on the top of Casse's head, playfully scowling at her sister who grinned up at her before continuing, "– who know the dangers. But we do know when to not charge in now… right Dwarf?"

Three pointed looks were sent in the trouble-seeker's direction. Brad rolled his eyes in exasperation but nodded his head. "Yea, lesson learnt. Unless it's if we want to catch Fairy's full attention."

The mood lifted with Lee throwing an exasperated look in her brother's direction as he easily smirked back. Danny stifled his laughs behind his palm while Casse buried her face into her sister's chest, her shoulders shaking slightly as she giggled. The mirth ended quickly, with the triplets bidding Danny goodbye and the ghost hybrid took his leave. Danny activated his two mainly used abilities and quietly trailed the triplets back to their home, wanting to make sure that they made it back alright. While he did this, he allowed his mind to trace back his thoughts and dive deeper into them.

Lee was right. It was becoming increasingly alarming and scary that civilians were getting closer and closer to getting injured because of Valerie's relentless attacks. He had yet to find a way to communicate with her to make her cease her brash and reckless attacks. But she was much too focused in trying to utterly destroy him, under the impression that she was saving the townsfolk from him when she was becoming an even bigger threat to them instead. Valerie was practically the walking and talking definition of the word contradiction.

Despite this being his biggest problem at the moment with much more at stake, Danny couldn't help but ponder more on Sam's strange behavior. It wasn't like her to be so… demanding; at least not to his knowledge. Her unpredictable change of moods was another thing that he felt wary about. Sam's attack on Brad earlier left him feeling both scared and cautious of her, although she had never directed any of her anger at him as of late. The issue was still bugging him and Danny made a mental note to question Jazz about it.

The time period was stretching too long to be considered PMS, and Sam was way to young to be considered to be undergoing menopause.

Once he was certain that the triplets were safe and sound, Danny returned to the Fenton Works premises and changed back to his human self. After cheerfully greeting his mother upon entering the house, Danny quickly scampered up into the sanctuary of his room and dialed Tucker's number. He was pretty sure that with Sam's current foul and unpredictable attitude, she wasn't going to be interested in the triplets' almost getting killed by Valerie's gun fire. In fact, Danny had the strange inkling feeling that Sam probably would've been disappointed that Brad hadn't been shot at.

He gave an involuntary shudder at the thought of Sam musing as such until Tucker picked up the phone and began to question him.

"Hey Danny, did you kick the butt of whichever ghost that escaped the Ghost Zone?" Danny allowed a pained sigh to escape his lips as he unceremoniously flopped backwards and bounced on his bed before answering his best friend.

"It was Technus and yea, I stuck him in the Thermos. Have I told you how thankful I am for you in making that belt that keeps the Thermos attached to my hip?"

"Maybe? Can't recall. I haven't been around you when you've been doing your ghost hunting as of late."

"Well I extend my deepest gratitude to you now. It's a lifesaver." Danny grinned when he heard Tucker making mock sounds of bowing in appreciation to the compliment. He could practically see the bespectacled boy doing so at that very moment in his room. But Danny soon turned serious and spoke quietly into the phone. "And Valerie showed up again today. She mishandled a grenade and it nearly hit Casse."

"SHE WHAT?!"

Danny immediately flung his arm out to its full length to prevent his eardrums from bursting at the loudness of Tucker's outraged cry. After a few minutes of Tucker cursing Valerie colorfully, Danny was bombarded with questions of Casse's wellbeing. The hybrid quickly pacified the other by informing him that the blond was safe and sound and back home even. It seemed to work a little, though worry was still palpable in Tucker's voice when he continued talking to Danny.

"How in the world did that happen? I mean, falling grenades from the sky? Didn't she realize that she lost a grenade halfway while fighting?" Danny sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose while staring straight up at his white ceiling. He counted the graying dots as Tucker ranted a little until he realized that his best friend was waiting for him to reply.

Danny slowly gathered his words after a moment's thought and sighed. "I don't know. To be honest, I think she thinks that I'm the cause for the explosion and is going to swear a worse vendetta against me than she already has. Not sure if she's noticed the missing grenade but… with her current warped sense of justice mixed with her thirst for revenge, it's going to be even more difficult now."

"She's off her bloody rocker." Tucker muttered strongly. Danny could imagine Tucker balancing the phone on his shoulder while furiously typing on the keyboard of his computer; the keys were clacking loudly and at a high speed. "Maybe we should try exposing her identity. A lot of people have been voicing their worries on some forums on the internet about Red Huntress becoming a menace worse than the ghosts."

"Yea but… wouldn't that be a little harsh? I mean," Danny tried to find the right words to relay his thoughts to Tucker, "She's done… a lot of property damage hasn't she? If we expose her, her dad could face the possibility of becoming a worse bankrupt than he already is because he'll need to pay for all the damage that she's accumulated."

"Damn." The hybrid gave a tiny smile at his best friend's curse. "You and your sense of chivalry to save her face. But you're right. I wouldn't wish for Mr. Gray to suffer anymore than he already is from trying to get back up on his feet after that whole Cujo fiasco. He doesn't need to know the cost of Valerie's property damaging job."

"Thanks for reminding me Tuck." Danny rested his arm across his eyes and sighed for another time for the day, "Cujo was technically my fault…"

"Dude, you didn't understand what Cujo wanted. You don't speak dog language the last I knew." Tucker gently assured his best friend, stopping in his typing to continue speaking. "Besides, it seems a little too coincidental that what Cujo was looking for was found in the Axion Labs and have the Axion Lab logo on his dog collar. For all we know, Cujo could've been one of the trained guard dogs that were put to sleep because they were replacing the dogs with an automated security system. I read the article about it in the papers."

"Thanks for the assurance bro."

"Anytime. By the way, we all agreed to use our lunch period to discuss about the Puppet House theme that we're going to do for the competition. Lee's going to talk to Lancer and sign us up as a group tomorrow morning."

"That's fine with me. I guess we'll have to get cracking on designing costumes then?" Danny heard a bark of laughter emit from the ear of the phone and could see Tucker nodding his head into the phone.

"Yea we do. No ghosts though, we all agreed that it was going to much too lame to have a ghost puppet when the town is already swarming with them. And on another note," Tucker paused for a moment before his voice adopted a serious tone. "I'm not going to comment on Sam's behavior that soured even worse once you left."

Danny's brow furrowed into a frown. Sam's mood… soured even worse after he left? What was that about? He decided to let the matter drop since Tucker didn't seem willing to talk about it and continued to chat with him on lighter notes, mostly tossing ideas on roles that the group could play for the Puppet House.

But the thought still lingered at the back of his head, nagging his conscious constantly. Was he the reason why Sam was becoming so testy and mean to everyone? But the thing is, why?

* * *

Vladimir Masters stared at the screen intently, rewinding the tape to watch various events again. There were perks to having surveillance devices on Valerie's equipment so that he could keep an eye on Danny. The older hybrid doubted that the Fenton boy knew that he was the only supplying Valerie with all her gadgets and was spying on him. Vlad snorted quietly, Danny took after Jack in that aspect; they were both oblivious creatures.

Vlad went through his surveillance videos and smirked at the events. He could almost see the sheer amount of jealousy that was radiating off Sam whenever Danny was close to anyone else. The hybrid made a note of it and typed in a command into his super computer and pulled up a picture of the Goth teen.

She was perfect. Perfect ammunition against the little badger. Vlad's smirk grew wider at the thought of manipulation and deceit. One of Danny's closest allies would soon become one of his worst enemies. His friendships would crumble into dust which would leave him open and vulnerable to Vlad, which would also theoretically become easier to sway the younger hybrid into his care.

He got off his chair and promptly changed into his alter-ego, Plasmius. He strode over to his personal ghost portal and flew straight in. Plasmius had a plan; a plan so brilliant to his mind that he continually congratulated himself for being such a genius bastard. All he had to do was find that artifact. It wasn't a ghostly artifact, but he knew some non-ghostly sources that would be able to help him find it and had the perfect messenger to send it.

Plasmius smirked and laughed maniacally. Daniel wouldn't know what hit him until it was too late.

* * *

No matter how much he had wished, the next day wasn't going as well as Danny had hoped. Apparently, Brad was a person who could hold a grudge. He wouldn't even look at Sam let alone talk to her. The tension between the two teens was very tight throughout the day and it was both annoying and worrisome for the group. But no fights broke out between them so far, which was the best that they could get from both Sam and Brad.

Lee had already signed their group up with Lancer first thing in the morning and they would have to wait for a while before they were allocated a classroom to decorate. Then during lunch they continued to pitch in ideas to how to run the Puppet House. They all came to the conclusion that they needed one person to play the Puppet Master while the rest would become the 'puppets'. It was subtle, but Sam seemed to be pushing for the role of the Puppet Master, idly hinting at it every now and then.

It was entirely Casse's idea for her sister to play the Puppet Master. The youngest Angeles wanted to see Lee in a horrific costume for once, exaggerating a whine that her sister always chose lighter costumes because of Brad's and her own dark costumes. Even Brad joined in the light teasing. Lee went looking to Tucker and Danny for some rescue but Tucker had admitted that he agreed with Casse on giving her the role of Puppet Master, much to her chagrin. Danny was just trying his best not to burst out laughing at her exasperated look that was sent in Tucker's way of saying 'You're supposed to be helping me; not encouraging them!'

Casse pulled off one of her teary puppy eyes on Lee in a mock attempt of persuading her to take the role. Even Brad faked batting his eyelashes at her; the look he had worn was both funny and exaggerative, and surprisingly it didn't look awkward on him in any way. Unable to sustain herself from the onslaught, Lee finally relented and waved the white flag of surrender. She gave her two siblings the evil eye when they exchanged high fives with each other in triumph.

After they agreed on Lee being the Puppet Master (although Sam wasn't pleased with the outcome), the group returned to the paper to think of ideas for the roles of the puppets.

Tucker made a few suggestions, one of which that there should be a 'Guide' and 'Guard' puppet in the theme house. The 'Guide', as he explained, would be the one to introduce the outsiders into their Puppet House and literally guide them to the Puppet Master. The 'Guard' puppet would be the Puppet Master's protector; always by her side, poised and ready to defend his master.

Danny was impressed with the ideas and volunteered to be either one of the puppets that Tucker mentioned. He did scissors, paper, stone with Casse to pick which role he would have. Casse won the best two out of three and jotted down her name next to the 'Guide' role, which left Danny to the 'Guard'. Not that he was complaining. He was perfectly fine with the arrangement but Sam seemed to mind terribly with her ever darkening expression.

The next brainstorming came for the last three puppet roles. With the revelation of a full moon on the night of the competition as provided by Tucker, Brad suggested human/animal hybrids as puppets. Before they could get into any further details with that idea, lunch had ended and the six returned to their class.

Now that school was over, this was when everything began to go downhill. Sam was dropping not-so-subtle hints of her displeasure over the choice of roles for each person so far which in turn, aggravated Brad. The blond boy had to be held back by Lee and since she became occupied with restraining her brother, Lee couldn't do anything to hold Casse back. The youngest Angeles had figuratively, snapped.

Casse's patience with Sam's attitude had worn itself dangerously thin throughout the time when the group was discussing the theme house and finally snapped into half. The youngest blond gave Sam a huge chuck of her thoughts and ranted about it for a good ten minutes. The Goth girl glared pointed daggers at Casse, her eyes almost giving the impression that she was swearing revenge against her at that very moment.

Seeing the need to defuse the situation, Danny went forward and hauled Casse backwards towards her sister. The smaller teen kicked and yelled at him, snarling that she wasn't finished in her verbal abuse to Sam. The raven-haired girl then used the opportunity to hurl verbal abuse at Casse, sneering at the blonds' childish attitude in an act of revenge.

The next Lee, Danny and Tucker knew; the two had gone out all out into a verbal brawl, which soon escalated into Casse and Sam attempting to scratch each other's eyes out after Casse broke free from Danny's grip. As the three tried to quell the fighting, the amount of noise that the two were making had unfortunately stolen Lancer's attention from the corridors.

The beer-bellied teacher stood in shock at the doorway as he saw Lee grab Casse by the waist and used all her weight to pull her younger sister away from the hissing and spitting Sam. The Goth was likewise, being restrained by Tucker and Danny, who had grabbed one of her arms each and dragged her backwards. Brad was on one side, his eyes focused on glaring at Sam with such ferocity that he looked like a wild animal who had found its prey.

"OCEAN'S ELEVEN! What on earth is going on in here?!" Tables and chairs were knocked all over the classroom, leaving it in disarray. The two girls were still glaring heatedly at each other, ignoring the presence of the teacher while Lee, Danny and Tucker glanced at each other nervously as they held onto the other two.

"Cat fight. That's what's going on." Lee threw Brad a look that said 'you're not helping us any!' before tightening her grip around Casse's waist as the other girl squirmed about trying to break free. Lancer raised an eyebrow at Brad's nonchalant statement, glancing over the room once again before scowling.

"Pick everything up and put them back in order. I'm disappointed in your behaviors. The school is not a fighting ground for you to duke out whatever quarrels you have. Since it is after school hours, I will not give any of you detention." Lancer looked at each of the teens sternly in turn, "Now clean up and leave the school premises. And Ms. Angeles, see me tomorrow morning to get the number of the room that you will be using for the competition."

"Ok Mr. Lancer." Lee quickly threw an incredibly sharp look at her siblings and Sam that made them remain quiet, "We'll clean up and leave. Sorry for the mess."

Lancer pinched the bridge of his nose before he spun his heel and left the room. Lee finally set Casse down while Danny and Tucker released Sam from their grip. Without another word, the eldest Angeles sibling set to work on picking up the fallen tables and chairs and righting them. Danny and Tucker quickly followed suit and the rest shuffled about to do the same. The work was done in complete silence, although the atmosphere was still dangerously tense between the teens.

Tucker sidled over to Lee and engaged in a quiet conversation with her. This didn't go unnoticed by the rest and Sam rolled her eyes in annoyance. The Goth's temper was at it's peak and her jealousy decided to rear it's ugly head at their closeness. To her, the image was sickening. Tucker was not a suave person and Sam held the belief that Tucker would remain a bachelor for as long as he so lived because she was sure that he would chase every single girl out of his range.

"Stop acting so lovey dovey with each other already." She sniped in irritation, causing the two to look up and stare at her in confusion. "Quit the confusion act. Not involved with each other my ass."

"Huh?" Lee's expression was a mix of confusion and annoyance but Tucker's had changed into one of pained irritation. The African American boy slapped a hand over his eyes, not caring if his palm had caused the base of his spectacles to dig into the middle of his eyes. Lee tilted her head and gave Tucker a questioning look but the teen either didn't want to reply her or had ignored it.

"Oh for the love of… We are NOT involved with each other. What the heck is your problem Sam?!" Tucker threw his hands up in exasperation as he spun his heel to round up on her. His eyes were blazing with unsuppressed anger as he glared straight into her eyes and poked her with a firm finger. "Read my lips. Not. Involved. For crying out loud, we're just friends!"

"Sidling to her. Talking so quietly to each other. Spending so much time with each other alone." Sam sarcastically ticked off the reasons for them to think that he and Lee were dating. She slapped Tucker's hand away from her and glared straight back at him. "That constitutes to you dating her. Quit the acting and admit it already!"

"Whoa, time out!" All heads turned to Lee who had pierced out a sharp whistle from her lips and formed her hands to a shape of a 'T'. "What's this about Tuck and me dating?"

"It was just a hunch." Danny quickly intervened before Sam could open her mouth to snap. "We thought that Tucker was dating you because of the amount time he started to spend with you and all…"

"Wait… So let me get this straight." Casse and Brad looked at their older sister who wriggled her fingers in the air and stared at the other three incredulously. "You guys are having an argument… at the thought of both Tucker and I dating?" Danny slowly nodded his head, getting a gist of what she was meant to say. Lee blinked at him and turned to look at her siblings, feeling the intensive looks that they were giving her. "Oh for… tell me you guys aren't thinking the same."

"The thought crossed our minds." Casse admitted, wiggling her fingers together and looking a little sheepish. "I mean, you guys get along really well and all…"

"… Ok then. And so I'll set the facts straight right here, right now and no more arguing over this insane matter anymore. Agreed?" Sam looked like she wanted to argue but Danny quickly pacified her by placing his hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed it. The silence allowed Lee to continue. "Tucker and I are in no way, dating. We're just spending time together because he feels comfortable talking to me about stuff. If anything, he's like an extra little brother who's just dropped in on me to look after from the sky."

Casse muffled her giggles as Tucker stuck his tongue out at Lee in retaliation to calling him 'an extra little brother'. "Hey! How did I become the little brother?" He mocked, dramatically pointing an accusing finger at the grinning girl. Lee simply waggled her index finger at him, her eyes filled with mirth.

"Because you fit the roll of meddlesome little brother, just like Brad does." Brad and Tucker exchanged raised eyebrows at each other at her reasoning.

"Think that's a compliment Brad?"

"Maybe?" Brad shrugged at Tucker, but his eyes were dancing with mirth when he set his gaze onto his older sister, "Well, at least I have a co-conspirator with me to overthrow the female hormones that lurk in our place. Welcome to the club."

"If this is a club, can I have my membership revoked?" Tucker mused teasingly, forgetting about his argument with Sam. The beret teen slid across the room over to Brad and flung a casual arm around the blonds' shoulder. "Because the female hormones in your house are vicious. Membership as meddlesome brother doesn't seem to outweigh the pros and cons evenly. I think I should reconsider."

"Nuh-uh! You're stuck with us now Tucker!" Casse grinned gleefully; ignoring Sam's scowling face and rubbed her hands together with an expression of devilish evil spreading across her face. "Can we do an initiation on him? Please, please, please Fairy?"

"Boy, you guys sure move on fast." Lee rolled her eyes skyward and prodded her sister's side, bumping her hips lightly against Casse's jokingly. "One minute ago, you guys were set on the idea that Tucker and I were dating and now you're set on making him our brother. Make up your minds!"

"Well, you said it. We've got nothing to lose in believing in you. That reminds me…" Brad twisted his neck to look at Tucker. "As meddlesome little brother to Fairy, this is what will be bestowed on you. Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to use all means necessary to keep the one and only Richard Grayson away from her."

"I'll try." The other blinked owlishly while Brad simply shook his head and waggled a finger at Tucker.

"Do or do not. There is no try." That statement threw everyone sans Sam into a fit of laughter, the arguments all forgotten. Tucker and Brad then proceeded to exchange a barrage of cheesy lines from a scene of Star Wars with Casse cheering in the background for a Darth Vader scene and Lee looking both amused and annoyed. Danny was stifling his laughter behind his hands as they role-played while Sam huffed and turned away.

"I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience! He is not ready." Brad shook his head solemnly, although his eyes were twinkling with much mirth as he forced his face to keep straight and stern. Tucker blinked and took a step back before staring straight at Brad.

"Yoda! I am ready!"

"Ready are you?" The blond fired back, looking sternly into Tucker's eyes. Both had made their faces calm and firm as the stared at each other, "What know you of ready?"

A dramatic pause entered between them as Brad lifted a thoughtful brow and gave Tucker a good look through, "You are reckless." Tucker's head drooped down to stare at the ground while the other three giggled, "He is too old. Yes. Too old to begin the training."

Sam scowled in both embarrassment and irritation as the little role-play continued. Fine, so she had been wrong about Tucker and Lee being in a relationship. But their closeness was something not to be overlooked. Even if Lee dispelled the thought of it now, sooner or later everything would fall to place. Sam was sure of it. And when that happened, she'd be ready to gloat about it.

Now that the mirth and arguments had come to pass, the group decided that they were better off in taking a break for the rest of the day. The triplets returned home, Lee and Casse both deciding to work on their costumes while Brad would try thinking about the remaining puppet roles. Sam had already stalked off without a word, leaving Tucker and Danny the only ones left.

The two walked in silence, both immersed in their thoughts until Tucker finally spoke up.

"You know, Brad's not going to forgive Sam any time soon." He'd said it in such a conversational tone that Danny couldn't resist doing a double take at his best friend. "It's one thing to attack him and all, but to insult Casse like that was flat out declaring war on him. Even if Casse instigates it and can defend herself. It's probably the brother complex."

Danny listened carefully, knowing that Tucker had very keen observation skills and was dead on serious about this conversation they were having. He understood why his best friend was telling him this now; this afternoon was just a small taste of a bigger disaster that was itching to blow. Their friendships were already beginning to strain heavily under the stress of being… teenagers.

"Lee's trying to rope Brad and Casse into believing that Sam's just going through some weird teenage phase that leaves her cranky of the world. But that's not going too well given what's happened this afternoon." Tucker paused for a moment, gathering his words before continuing to speak. "She's just as clueless as the rest of us on why Sam's begun to act so self-centered these days. In fact, Lee's also starting to lose the belief that Sam's just suffering from 'mid-teen crisis'.".

Tucker paused again, turning his head to face Danny with a solemn look in his eyes. "To be frank, I don't know what's biting her ass. The only one who doesn't seem to come under fire from her sudden snippy attitude is you Danny. From what I've seen so far, it's like she thinks you're her piece of property that no one else is allowed to touch. She snaps, bites and snarls at anyone who comes close to you and does the same things to people who she think are involved with each other."

"It's not a solid fact… but with how all the clues point us…" Tucker trailed off, unwilling the finish his conclusion. Unable to decipher what Tucker was aiming at, Danny drew his own conclusion based on the facts that he had laid out. A stone of dread and foreboding dropped in the pit of his stomach but Danny willed himself to finish what he'd thought Tucker had left out.

"… It's like I've become her frail weak brother that she has to protect?" The African American teen momentarily hesitated before nodding his head slowly. It wasn't exactly what he was aiming for, but it had a distinct closeness to it when Danny put it in that manner. Tucker chose his next words carefully, not willing to jeopardize their friendship with Sam and somewhat drag Danny away from what he believed was the truth behind Sam's attitude change.

"I guess you could put it that way. All I can say is… the only one who can talk to and not get their head bitten off by Sam is you Danny. I don't want to go stepping on any toes; Lee's already noticed I'm not hanging out with you two as much as I used to." Danny gave Tucker an enquiring look which prompted the darker skinned boy to explain further. "She thinks that I just want to spend time with them, the triplets, because they are technically and are still relatively, new friends to us. Lee's insisting that I spend more time with you guys but I just haven't had the heart to tell her that I stopped hanging out with you because of Sam's attitude change."

Danny winced at the expression of pain that was strewn on Tucker's face. "She's scaring me bro." He whispered quietly, diverting his fear filled eyes away from Danny's baby blue and looked forward. "She's honestly beginning to scare no… terrify me. Sam's been rough and tough before sure but… never like this before."

He almost stopped in his tracks at Tucker's quiet statement. Fear was something never to be taken lightly of and if Sam was scaring Tucker to this point… Danny gave an involuntary shudder. The hybrid didn't want to think of the countless possibilities that could surface from all of this. Their friendship could be severed… he might have to make a decision of who to side if it ever came down to it…

Then it hit him. Tucker didn't want to make him choose. Tucker was putting up with everything because he didn't want to put Danny into the situation where he would have to finally take sides. He was trying to tie the strings of friendship back together by knotting them over and over again to prevent this. A wave of gratitude overwhelmed him and Danny quickly trotted in step with Tucker, noticing that he had fallen behind a fair bit, and gave him a quick sideways hug with a soft thank you in his ear.

Tucker gave him a tiny smile in response and they continued walking in silence. Danny finally bade Tucker good bye just as they had reached the vicinity of his house. After which, the hybrid trotted back home, trying to think of an idea for his 'Guard' costume. His earlier conversation with Tucker still lingered in the recesses of his mind and Danny remembered his mental note to self to ask Jazz for her opinion.

But somehow, he didn't seem up to finding out any more information as of yet. Tucker's point of view had already given him plenty to think about. If he included Jazz's now, he'd be sinking himself deeper into the quicksand pit of doom and suffocate. But Danny had to promise himself not to put it off too much. He wanted to understand Sam. He wanted to understand why she was suddenly like this.

Most importantly, Danny wanted the old Sam back.

* * *

"Why do you seek me?" Plasmius smirked as he looked at the messenger that he would send to deliver his message and 'gift' to Daniel.

In the good spirit of Halloween, the Headless Horseman was an excellent choice of a messenger. The ghostly horse where the headless man sat neighed and snorted at Plasmius, obviously not very impressed by him. His posture was straight and stiff, giving the impression of his upbringing to be a nobleman. But the real story, no one knew, except probably for the Headless Horseman himself to know.

"I have a proposition for you." The hybrid said easily, fishing out a package with a devilish gleam in his eyes. "Deliver this for me and you'll be free to roam the real world to search for your head and lady. I believe that are the two things that you've been looking for, no?" Vlad's smirk grew wider when he saw the Headless Horseman's shoulders tense further and clutch the reigns of his horse tightly. He knew that he had hit the nail straight on.

"And to whom shall this package be sent to?" Hook, line and sinker. Vlad knew he had the Headless Horseman's full attention now that he had mentioned the fact of letting him roam freely in the Real realm. Before long, Vlad would have the other ghost's full co-operation.

"This girl." He brandished a picture of Sam, unsure if the Headless Horseman could even see the picture itself without his head lingering anywhere nearby. The horse however, gave a snort of acknowledgement. "You could even simply lay it in her room before gallivanting off to find your head and lady." Vlad didn't even want to mention his curiosity of how the Headless Horseman would move around without his head. Him in existence itself was mind boggling enough as it was.

"Very well." The Headless Horseman rumbled, taking the package from Vlad's hands and setting it into one of the saddle bags on his horse. "To when shall I deliver and receive my payment?"

"Seven days time." Vlad immediately replied, gesturing to an area around the Ghost Zone. "I'll come in seven days time and guide you to the portal that will lead you into the Real Realm. For now, you must wait until then. Fair enough?"

"Indeed." The horse neighed and tossed its head arrogantly at Vlad before it turned and swished its tail right into his face. "We shall meet at this very spot in seven days time. Farewell."

Once the Headless Horseman had left, Vlad spat out the vile taste of unclean horse tail hair from his mouth and wiped the spit that remained at his lips. Disgusting horse, but at least he had gotten his messenger. In seven days time, his plot will begin to unravel and Daniel would most certainly not be ready to face it…

The next few days had not been fun. Both Brad and Casse were unwilling to be in any close proximity to Sam despite Lee's efforts to keep them all together. But since they were being kept busy with the preparations for the theme house, only minor scuffles would arise between them. But those were quickly resolved before they would spark into a bigger argument. On a plus note, the ghosts had also been very quiet throughout the days as well. Thus Danny could concentrate on his school work and the competition without bailing on his friends halfway through. This was considered to be a very good thing in Danny's books.

The competition date was crawling closer towards them and they were almost finished with decorating the room that was allocated for them to use. They were lucky enough to get one of the larger classrooms and were able to set to work quickly. Threads were strewn around the room, the floor fitted with boards of crumbling old wooden planks and even some of the borrowed life-sized mannequin dolls hanging by the threads on the ceiling. Casse had taken the liberty of taking out some of hers and Brad's old costumes (which Danny had to admit looked pretty creepy) and fitted the mannequins in them.

Sam was co-operating fairly well, although the dark look on her face had yet to subside. The Goth was currently dealing with the masks of make-up for the mannequins while Brad and Tucker were heaving the large chair to the far end of the room straight across from the door. Casse was happily fiddling with some odds and ends, painting them with newspapers spread beneath her and calculating how she would piece them onto the chair. Lee was boarding up the windows to allow minimal light in and Danny himself was carefully unrolling the long crimson carpet from the door to the chair.

"Pixie, do you have to put wings on the sides of the chair?" Danny glanced up from his position on the floor to see Brad give Casse an exasperated look as she waved a large completed wing in the air.

"Why not? It's still black. Plus, it could shroud the Puppet Master in some elegance and mystery."

"How does that work?" Casse grinned at Tucker's curiosity and got up from her seat on the floor. She dragged her older sister from the windows and promptly sat Lee down on the chair. Casse then proceeded to angle the wing from the back of the chair and made it curl inwards slightly to cover the upper portion of Lee's arms. The youngest blond tacked the wing to the chair and raced to the front to fake a mocking picture taking sequence with her fingers.

"What do you think Danny?" The raven haired boy tilted his head slightly and stopped messing with the carpet for a moment to take in the sight. Lee was looking a little nervous in the seat but Danny took his time to visualize the entire picture with the other wing attached to the back of the chair. He gave an impressed nod when he got the full visualization in his mind. Casse was right. The wings did seem to give an edge of elegance and mystery.

"Looks good to me. Maybe we should change the chair a little too. I'm not sure how to explain it but…"

"Something that goes with the wings? More elegance and cushiony?" Danny raised any eyebrow at Casse whose mouth was split into a wide grin. "Or at least something in that aspect?"

"Are you psychic?" The baby-blue eyed teen demanded, setting his bottom firmly on the ground from his kneeling position and mock glared at the grinning girl. The other three watched in amusement while Sam rolled her eyes skyward and ignored the exchange. "Because I think you've been reading my mind. Or at least digging into the images in my head that I can't describe."

"I'm just that good." Casse boasted, grinning like a maniac before she flitted forward to detach the wing from the chair and set to work on the other side of the wing. The other three simply exchanged shrugs with each other and went back to work. Danny jokingly threw one of the chucks of board lying on the ground at Casse's general direction, making the blond squeal and scuttle away before the object could hit her. She glared at Danny as he stuck his tongue out at her and threw the board back at Danny who ducked and allowed it to sail past his head harmlessly.

"Hey! No tossing the boards around; the splinters might come off."

"Yes mommy." Casse and Danny chorused out mockingly, earning a not-so-exasperated look from Lee who threw her hands up in the air muttering a quiet 'why me?' to the heavens before going back to boarding up the windows. Danny exchanged a wide grin with Casse and went back to tacking the carpet on the floor, carefully plucking out the wooden splinters from the floor at the same time.

"So, how are all your costumes going?" Tucker asked conversationally, trying to keep the silence from enveloping the group. Casse flashed a victory sign at Tucker from her position on the floor with a triumphant smile spread across her lips.

"Mine's all done! I even brought it along today to show you guys. I know Dwarf's still working on his and Fairy might be finished with hers too."

"Actually…" All heads turned to Lee, who looked a little hesitant in continuing. "I am finished with it… but… I don't know. It's like this nagging feeling at the back of my head or something that… something's just not right with it."

"Something's not right with it?" Danny echoed from his spot on the floor, peering at the nervous looking blond. "What do you mean by that?"

"Here. I'll grab it from my locker and show you guys. Be right back." Lee quickly shuffled out of the room and into the corridors. The rest watched her retreating back warily, not knowing how to react. Brad frowned at the confused tone his older sister had when she tried to explain to them. He had a strange inkling of a feeling that something about Lee's costume was definitely bugging her and it wasn't a good sort of feeling.

Once Lee returned from her locker with a plastic bag in hand, the rest paused whatever they were doing and set their attention to her. Even Sam had put the masks down to dry on the sheets of newspaper to check out Lee's dilemma. Nervously, the eldest Angeles fished out the black cloth and accessories from the bag and held it up for the rest to see.

At the sight of the 'costume', everyone froze in position, their eyes widening as they realized exactly what she had made.

The costume in her hands was the exact replica of the Gothic Lolita dress she had previously worn during the period of her forced villainy. Everything was the exact same. The tattered pattern of frayed edges of the short skirt, the long sleek black gloves and the upper thigh high black boots with a series of straps bracing the entire right leg… Everything.

A cold shiver ran down Danny's spine as he continued to stare at the 'costume' and more particularly, at the collar that hung around Lee's wrist as she held the costume out. If the costume had been replicated down to the exact same patterns, the collar was the same. The same forsaken spike collar that controlled her all those weeks ago was back to haunt them even if it wasn't Lee's fault that she couldn't remember the events.

Danny recalled what Zeraphina had told him before the events that lead to their rescue. The memories of the mind that had been wiped were all retrievable. They could return in an entire chunk or it could do so in small tiny pieces. Only a few pieces might be regained and not the whole memory; or they may not return at all. He had desperately hoped that neither Jazz nor Lee would regain any of their memories of that time. But it looked as if he had either underestimated their will to remember or misjudged the fact that the memories could suddenly return to them at any time.

He doubted that Lee remembered anything about the kidnap and short-lived villainy. She looked too confused. The only thing from the memory that had surfaced was just the… costume. It seemed as if her body was sending signals to her mind about the costume but her mind was unable to interpret the signals because she couldn't remember the event. No wonder she was having that troubled feeling of something being amiss.

"Um… well?" Danny's head snapped up to see Lee shuffle her feet nervously at the stares she was getting. That's when the hybrid realized that they had all fallen into a deadly silence and were openly staring at the costume. "What do you guys think?"

No one spoke. Everyone was still stuck in their stunned stupor at the sight of the costume. Lee took it as a bad sign and bit her lip nervously. "Uh… so I'm thinking it looks bad?"

"Huh? No!" Brad snapped out of his stupor and tried to give her an assuring look. "No, it… looks fine. Really."

"Just fine?" Lee repeated skeptically, raising an eyebrow at her brother. One by one, everyone else broke out of their stupors and tried not to look freaked out at her choice of costume. "All of your expressions practically screamed at me that there's definitely something wrong with it. Is it because it's a Gothic Lolita dress?"

"No, no, no, no… it's not that… it's uh…"

"Different." Danny took a wild stab at anything that might pacify the eldest Angeles. Lee turned to give him such a skeptic look that he wasn't sure if it was possible to look at more skeptic than she was at that moment. "It's something different… But… maybe you could add something else to it to give it more… uh… scare factor maybe? I know with make-up then we'd probably see the whole thing but it's… uh… missing something."

The blond frowned and folded her arms across her chest with the costume tucked neatly under one of her arms. She glanced around the room and Danny knew she wasn't really convinced by his words. But she sighed in resignation and stuffed the costume and accessories back into the bag. Not another word was spoken about the costume as Lee strode back to the windows and continued to board them up, using more force than necessary to smash the nails into the boards.

Everyone quietly went back to work. Not even Sam had the heart to speak up. The costume was simply a bad reminder of the incident that changed them all. But somehow, it also served as some sort of omen that something was going to happen. Something big. Something big…and bad.

* * *

The day had come. Vlad flew into the Ghost Zone at exactly four in the afternoon and stood at the exact same platform he had met the Headless Horseman seven days earlier. The hybrid was surprised to find his messenger already waiting for him, sitting sedately on his horse with his rigid posture. Vlad smirked and decided that the Headless Horseman was much too impatient to get to the Real Realm.

"I see that you are… quite eager to finish the task no?" The Headless Horseman bristled, his horse snorted and glared at Vlad menacingly. The hybrid took no heed of the ghost animal and smirked at the other ghost. "You wouldn't be thinking of double crossing me now would you?"

"Never." The headless ghost rumbled, reining his horse in to prevent it from charging forward. "I am one with my word and I shall keep my end of the bargain. Deliver the package I shall then onwards I move to find what I seek."

"Very well." Vlad made a motion with his hand for the Headless Horseman to follow him. "Then shall we go?"

Vlad wasn't about to bring the Headless Horseman to his own personal portal. Heavens no. He was going to lead him towards the Fenton Portal where it would not only be easier for the Headless Horseman to deliver his little gift, but to also create chaos for Daniel. 'twas the night of Halloween, the ideal time to strike and for the Headless Horseman to fall prey to any of the ladies dressed up for the dark occasion.

There was no doubt in Vlad's mind that the Headless Horseman would become besotted with any dark costumed lady and that Danny would come to save the day. He doubted that the younger hybrid would turn a blind eye to any ghost that appeared in the real realm at any time. The plan of the night was to distract Danny away from the 'gift' that would be delivered to one Sam Manson. The rest of the plan would soon unfold once the parcel was delivered.

It wasn't surprising to Vlad to find the Fenton Portal wide open with no security on. In fact, that was another reason why he found that the Fenton Portal was the easiest to use to get to Amity Park. Vlad sneered at the thought of the absent-minded Jack who he believed would usually forget such important things. It was much to Vlad's dismay that Danny seemed to have inherited most of that absent-mindedness from his father.

"Here." Vlad stopped right in front of the green swirl and motioned the Headless Horseman to it. "The portal will lead you to the real realm. Deliver the package and roam freely as you wish. If I find that you have not delivered the package…"

"Fear not. Deliver I shall before anything else. The bargain shall be kept." Without another word, the Headless Horseman charged his horse forward into the portal and disappeared. As soon as the other ghost left, Vlad took out a tiny device and pressed a single button on before he flew into the direction of his own portal.

The Headless Horseman flew through the portal, the hooves of his horse clinked against the tiled floor of the Fentons' basement. His horse neighed in disgust, snorting and pawing his hoof on the tiles. The ghost tightened his hold on the reins before he kicked his horse's side and took off through the walls of Fenton Works to find the recipient of the package he was meant to deliver.

He allowed his steed to guide the way, making use of the ghost animal's sight to find the girl. The horse neighed as they came to a stop at a large mansion. Unable to see without his head, the Headless Horseman simply trusted his horse in its assessment and drew the package from the saddle bag. The duo phased through the walls of the mansion and he placed the parcel on the black and violet covers of the bed before taking off.

The night had yet to come. He had his head to find and a beautiful lady to be his bride.

* * *

Brad was having a bad feeling about the night. He couldn't quite figure it out but there was a certain nagging feeling that was pounding at the back of his head. The competition would start full swing at eight in the evening when all the kids and other celebrating townsfolk arrived, so they would have to be ready by the latest of 7:30pm. Plenty of time for them to do last minute touches of their costumes and the theme room. But the competition was the last thing on Brad's mind.

From his position in the completed theme room, Brad watched his older sister assist their younger sister in putting on her make-up. The teens were all dressed in their costumes, doing last minute adjustments to the garments and putting on their make-up to finish the touches. Tucker had chosen to do a mix of a ragdoll and ringmaster, complete with a whip that he had jokingly thrown at Brad for fun with an insane looking grin plastered over his face. The other teen had faked a growl and bared his 'teeth' at the 'ragdoll ringmaster' and the two circled each other in a faux play of animal taming.

The blond boy had to admit that his younger sister outdid herself this year, choosing a dress that not only showed her love for fairytales and myths, but also managed to make it endearing enough to go well with the theme house. With the addition of the make-up that was currently being applied to her face, Casse looked perfect for the part of the 'Guide'.

She even managed to create a lamp which had some bindings at the end of the stick to complete the look. He had no idea what was underneath the bindings, Casse seemed to have only shared that knowledge with Tucker, who simply gave them shrugs and said 'it's complicated'.

Brad watched as Lee chastised Casse gently on her fidgeting, getting a little annoyed with the six lace ribbons that were acting as 'wings', one half of them broken while the other half was 'whole', fluttering back and forth whenever her younger sister moved. He knew that it wasn't so much on the make-up applying that was causing Casse to fidget, Lee was exceptionally careful when applying eye make-up. It was more of Lee's costume that was making their younger sister nervous. Brad couldn't blame her; the costume brought back the horrific memories of their older sister's kidnap.

Even now, he thought he was reliving the event; trying to reach out and grasp for her, begging her to break free from the spell. Her cold and limp body cradled in his arms. The lack of breathing that made his heart stop and freeze his blood cold…

He gave an involuntary shudder and mentally slapped all those images away. No. That event had been over for weeks. Brad fiercely reminded himself that Lee was no longer a prisoner of her own mind and wasn't close to death. She was living and breathing at this very moment. She was not going wild and rampant on them. She was not brainwashed anymore. She was…

Looking at him funny from across the room.

"… Brad?" He blinked owlishly at the mention of his name. "Are you ok? You've been… staring for a while now."

"Huh?" _'Smooth move Angeles.'_ He cursed himself internally when everyone's attention became focused on him. _'Way to assure them that you're ok and not living in a freaking nightmare about your older sister kicking your ass into the next century. Real smooth.'_

"You ok Brad?" Tucker stepped forward to peer at him, his forest green eyes searching Brad's cobalt eyes, "You were zoning out for a fair bit."

"I'm fine." Brad insisted, leaning to the side to grab the furry paws of his Werewolf costume and slipping them on. "I was just… thinking about stuff."

"Oh." Tucker seemed to have caught on to what he was talking about and allowed it to slide. Brad was grateful to the other teen who managed to quickly change the topic by turning to face the rest of the group. "Well, we've got about two hours or so before Lancer and the other teachers come up. What do you guys think about taking a walk around the school for a while?"

"Let Sam finish stuffing the head first." Danny piped up, pointing to the teen who was compressing a large amount of stuffing into a head that she had made for one of the headless mannequins. "Then go for the walk. I don't want to feel too cooped up in here."

"Hear, hear!" Casse chirped from the side, thrusting her fist into the air and unwittingly shoved the fluffy lace parts of her sleeve in Lee's face. The younger blond 'eeped' when her sister shot her a sharp look. She meekly drew her fist down from the air and clasped both her hands in front of her. She tried not to fidget too much when Lee made the final touches to her make-up (though her fingers were still wriggling about) and quickly slid across the room once Lee was done, the long back layers of her multilayered skirt gliding easily with her.

"Either you wear a shirt and or grab a coat before you go out for that walk Dwarf." Lee spoke up absently as she dug through her bag for a mirror. "We don't want you to catch a cold at this time of year."

"One would think that you're just showing off your body Dwarf." Casse teased, reaching down to smoothen the shorter front of her many layered skirt before poking her brother's bare shoulders with a wide grin. The grin looked startlingly frightening because of the make-up on her face. Brad simply rolled his eyes at his younger sister and swatted her hand away before reaching from behind the mask of his Werewolf costume to reveal a black muscle shirt. He dangled the shirt in front of Casse's face with a smirk.

"You didn't really think I'd go around without a shirt did you?" He mocked back, slipping the shirt over his head and smirked at his sister who simply stuck out her tongue at him in retaliation. "I'm not one of those real ones that happen to lose their clothes after they transform, get real Pixie. I'm not the Hulk."

"Not going commando?" Sam chipped in idly, still trying to compress more stuffing into the head. She was being civil and co-operative today, possibly because they could finally get the competition done and over with. So Brad and Casse kept themselves civil whenever they spoke to her as well. The eight 'spider legs' attached to her back swayed back and forth as she squished the stuffing down. Brad sent a scandalized look in her direction.

"If I did that, Fairy would throw a fit!"

"That's an understatement." Lee murmured as she patted the white powder on her face, staring down at the mirror on her lap. "If you lose your pants and there's nothing there, I'll be telling dad to lock you up and never let you out of the house ever again because you act like some wild animal."

"Aroooo…" Brad howled, sending his exasperated sister a smirk before grabbing his coat and tossed it over his shoulders, leaving the tail, collar and mask behind. Casse, Tucker and Danny laughed at the exchange and quickly adjusted their costumes and threw coats over them. Tucker left behind his large tattered top hat and whip while Casse left the lamp in the room. Sam finally finished stuffing the head and wedged it under the mannequin's arm, adjusting it a little to make it look better. Once she was satisfied, she grabbed her own coat and threw it over her shoulders.

"Lee, aren't you coming?"

"I'll be there in a bit Tuck." The blond murmured as she released her two braids and parted her hair into two sections. She held them apart for a moment before releasing the two bunches. "I'll just finish up my make-up and hair then I'll join you guys at the court."

"If you're sure you're ok…"

"I am Tucker." Lee rolled her eyes and pointed the end of the comb at Tucker with a not-so annoyed look on her face. "Look, don't worry. I'll take about at the maximum fifteen minutes. If I'm not down by then, you can come and drag me down. You really do fit the role of meddlesome little brother."

"What can I say?" Tucker pressed knuckles with Brad with a grin sporting his face while Lee rolled her eyes skyward again. "He laid out the basics of being the meddlesome brother, and I follow. So we'll see you down at the court in fifteen."

"Yes, yes. Now shoo."

"You know, maybe we should've left Danny with her." Casse mused, after they had left the room and begun their walk, turning her head to grin impishly at the hybrid. "You're supposed to be the 'Guard' puppet… but you've got this coincidental habit of disappearing whenever ghosts appear. Maybe we should've asked Phantom to be the Guard puppet instead."

Danny buried his face into his hands and groaned; the sound muffling against his palms. Casse had no idea just how close she was to the truth. Tucker had quickly stuffed his fist into his mouth to stifle his laughter while Brad simply gave him an amused look at Casse's statement. Sam had 'strategically' tuned off from listening to the blond girl so that they could remain civil with each other.

Within ten minutes of their walk, they were ambushed by some of the jocks of the football team. Before they realized it, they found water bombs thrown in their direction and quickly scuttled for cover. Danny yelped out when one balloon caught him full in the face, messing up whatever make-up that Lee had applied earlier on and soaking his bangs that now stuck on his cheeks. The hybrid wrapped his coat firmly around his body, hoping that the water hadn't seeped in and wet his costume. But he couldn't resist glaring at the retreating jocks' backs when they finally ended their pelting and fled from the scene.

Brad was glaring in the same direction Danny was and scowled when he looked down at his damp furred paws. "… I'm lucky enough that I didn't bring my mask or tail along for this walk…" He growled, shaking the paws and furred legs violently to dispel as much water as he could from it.

Casse was struggling to squeeze the water from the frills of her skirt, while both Tucker and Sam had thankfully stayed dry from the assault. Tucker fished out a handkerchief from one of his many pockets and handed it to Danny who gratefully took and dabbed his face dry as much as he could. He knew the make-up was a lost cause; he'd have to sit through another make-up session with Lee to get it re-applied.

"Looks like Dash's thinking that the bet is still on." Sam murmured, folding her arms across her chest while staring straight down the corridor at the door of the room Dash's team was allocated in.

"And I've had enough." Danny groused as he tried to squeeze whatever water he could out of his messy fringe. He was getting fed up with the antics of the A List, Dash and his cronies in particular, for using whatever means possible in their attempts to stomp on the group. It was a surprise to him that he was beginning to take a more independent stand against the society status quo. Usually, he would just blend back into the background and go with the quo. "This is ridiculous. Anyone want to throw it in his face that we took up the competition for fun and not on his terms?"

"Not enough time." Tucker piped up, glancing at his PDA that he had managed to stash into one of his inner jacket pockets to check on the time. "We need to dry off and get your make-up done again. Good thing you girls brought hairdryers with you. I think Brad needs it the most."

"Wonderful." Brad muttered out sarcastically, flicking at the furred parts of his legs. "Another round of touching up and we've got like… an hour or so to do this. Great. No rest for us now huh?"

"I hate this." Casse whined softly, looking despondently at the wet frills of the longer back skirt that was in her hands. "I spent so much time on this… and now it's going to look so awkward after we dry it… We don't even have an iron to smoothen out the wrinkles…"

"We'll try to help you make it look less wrinkly." Danny promised, hoisting himself back up to his feet with Sam's help and patted his face again with the handkerchief. "Meanwhile, let's get back before Lee leaves the room. She's going to pitch a fit at the make-up… She's already short on the stick because I always move too much."

"You need the bathroom first." Sam pointed out, using her finger to poke the spots on his face that held smear marks. "You better take the make-up off before going back. It'll save her the trouble of removing it and re-applying it."

Danny blinked and found his reflection staring back at him, courtesy of Tucker's PDA screen. He wrinkled his nose for a moment and stared. "You're right. I think she could use a little less stress. I'll meet you guys back at the room then."

As Danny's luck would give him, he was ambushed by Dash himself in the bathroom and was consequently locked into one of the stalls with a board shoved at the knob to refuse his exit. The hybrid's eyes flashed a dangerous green for an instant; thoroughly fed up and was about to simply phase through the walls when a wisp of blue air escaped his lips. He gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth.

A ghost? Here? He had to ditch his group now? This wasn't going to settle very well, but since Dash had so happened to have stuffed him into a bathroom stall with no possible way for a human to get out… Danny groaned and rubbed his eyes. He had no time to think. He had to act now.

Once he removed his metal guard from his right wrist and shoulder and carefully placed them at the top of the closed toilet seat, he swiftly shifted into his ghost form and flew through the walls. He took a quick glance at the mirrors, a little thankful that the messed up make-up had 'vanished' when he transformed and flew out of the bathroom to find the ghost.

The Headless Horseman continued his flight around the town. By far, he had found nothing but uncivilized _children_, none of them held any splendor or grace that he had envisioned for his future bride, as his horse gave disapproving snorts at the sight of them. And he had yet to find a proper head. His steed snorted and continued trotting in the air, finally descending down to the large building which read 'Casper High'.

Swiftly, the animal browsed through the windows before it halted at series of them with the sides of the windows boarded up with only one single window untouched and open. The ghost creature stuck its invisible head in and neighed in appreciation. The Headless Horseman tugged the reins; it seemed as if his steed had found the perfect head for him in that room.

Absolutely perfect.

The black horse's bright green eyes glowed brightly from outside the window and honed straight at the head that was carefully tucked beneath the arm of one of the mannequin dolls.

In the room, Lee was tidying up what was the last of her make-up and adjusted the headband that sat snugly at the top of her head. She blinked when she heard a strange rattle noise from behind her and straightened her posture. As she quickly turned her head about to find the source of the noise, she froze when she saw the head Sam had placed in the arms of the mannequin float out of its grasp. Her muscles tensed as the head promptly flew out the open window and vanished into thin air once it left, leaving her in stunned silence.

But that wasn't the last of it. She fell back in shock when the Headless Horseman came striding in through the walls on his steed, the head carefully tucked beneath his arms. Lee landed on her bottom with a thump before quickly scrambling back up to her feet and backing away from the snorting black ghost horse. The Headless Horseman took the head and settled it snugly on his neck. Lee was too petrified to scream when she saw the painted eyes blink animatedly and the mouth curving into a smile.

"Ah." The mouth opened but revealed nothing within the dark hole that was meant to be his mouth. After all, it was simply a dummy head. "Sight! I can finally see…! An excellent replacement until I find my real head…"

The stuffed head paused and shifted his gaze around the decorated room before falling on to the scared girl in front of him. His breath hitched and his steed gave a snort of approval at the vision before him. Standing before him, albeit in fear, was a stunning lady in black that gave such emphasis to her elegant curves. Her hair split into two sections that were tied at the base of her neck and the band that forced her fringe forward and hid her right eye…

But her skin and eyes. The pale milky skin of what the dress would expose and the wide crimson eye caught his attention and he would have licked his lips if he so had the proper head. Perfect. She was perfect to be his bride.

He got off his horse and strode towards her silently. Lee finally grasped a hold of her shock and flung it to the back of her mind and tried to turn to run. But she was a fraction too late when the (not quite) Headless Horseman swiftly moved to block her path to the door and grab a hold of her by the waist. Finally getting a grasp of the situation, Lee fought back by kicking and struggling.

"Let go of me!"

"Such beauty…" Instinctively, Lee shifted her head away from the Horseman's stuffed head as he inched closer to her face to peer straight at her. She continued to struggle against his vice-like grip but couldn't squirm her way out. "And elegance… yes… the perfect bride…"

"WHAT?!" She shrieked loudly, her eyes widening in fear and intensifying her struggling in his arms. "I am NOT a bride! Let me go! HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!"

The group had trooped up to the second floor of the school when they heard the scream. Exchanging panicked glances with each other, they raced towards the room that had been designated as their theme room to see Lee slump unconscious in the Horseman's arms. They froze when they came face to face with Sam's dummy head staring back at them.

"This… is creepy. Sam, can you promise me never make any more dummy heads?" Tucker whispered, gaping at the Horseman. Sam could only blink and nod at his statement, clearly as creeped out as he was that her handiwork was being used as a 'real' make-shift head. The Horseman stared at them before leaping to his feet with Lee cradled in his arms bridal style.

"Fiends!" He hissed, moving backwards towards his steed which pawed the floor with its hooves, snorting at them. "What treachery is this…?! Hybrid beings… There should not be! I shall vanquish you!"

"… Is this some sort of sick joke?" Brad snapped, clenching his 'claws' tightly and taking a few steps forward with an intense glare sent in the Horseman's way accompanied with the baring of his fanged teeth. "Let her go!"

"To listen to monstrosities such as you," The Horseman growled back, swiftly hoisting himself on the saddle of his horse with the unconscious blond still cradled in his arms. His steed snorted and released an enraged neigh at Brad. "It is unheard of! You will not have your claws harm my bride!"

"… Oh my…"

"God." Tucker finished for Casse. The four teens stared at the Horseman with incredulous looks as the ghost unsheathed a sword from the side of his horse's saddle. This did not look good. Not only did the ghost not know that they were just humans in costumes, he wanted Lee as his _bride_. Idly, Tucker thought that the Horseman did have good taste, but she wasn't meant to look stunning beautiful in the Puppet Master costume. Perhaps he was thinking about it too much. Tucker's eyes widened when the Horseman kicked the side of his horse, causing the ghost animal to neigh loudly and snort.

"MOVE!"

At his shout, the four quickly scattered. But Horseman seemed intent to give chase to Brad, who was dodging the hooves of the beastly horse and narrowly missed getting sliced by the Horseman's sword. The sword slashed at the threads that covered the room and swiped at the mannequins that hung around. Tucker swore under his breath. Where was Danny? Surely his ghost sense must have triggered at least!

"Whoa, talk about a head that doesn't match with its body." The dark skinned boy blinked and looked up to see Danny in his ghost form floating before them with his arms firmly wrapped under Brad's arms and away from the seething Horseman. "Why does he have Lee in his arms?"

"Uh… he wants her as his bride?"

"… What?" Danny did a double take at Casse and went back to staring at the Horseman. "Oh yuck. As flattering as it might have been, I don't think she appreciates the thought of marrying a headless ghost with a creepy faux head."

"Fellow man!" The Horseman bellowed, brandishing his sword violently before using it to point at Danny. "Why do you assist these creatures? They should not exist! They are treacherous monstrosities!"

Danny blinked and looked down at Brad who was still glaring at the Horseman while dangling from Danny's arms. The costumed blond looked up and met Danny's bright green eyes before offering the hybrid a simple shrug. "He doesn't think that we're human?"

"Wonderful." The bleach haired teen muttered sarcastically under his breath. "Absolutely wonderful. Another crackpot of a ghost." Then he turned to glance at Tucker who was right behind him. "Any ideas that might help?"

"Just one. But you'll have to distract him and… try to get Lee out of his grasp."

"I trust you Tucker." Danny said firmly, slowly setting Brad safely down on the floor without losing eye contact with the Horseman. "Get the plan together and I'll stall for time. But we're not going to be able to fight in here. I'll bring him down to the field just downstairs."

"Roger. And remember to grab the Thermos from my bag." Tucker said the last part out so softly that only Danny had heard it. The hybrid gave a nod a confirmation to Tucker and swiftly activated his invisibility.

The Horseman stiffened and glanced around the room warily for his adversary. The four teens stood stiffly in their positions, not willing to make any movement. Only Tucker and Sam noticed the soft rustling that came from Tucker's bag. The next everyone knew, Danny reappeared by the Horseman's side and shoved the ghost outside with a Thermos firmly attached to the belt at his hip.

"What was that about?" Brad turned to give Tucker an enquiring look, raising an eyebrow in the process. "What plan?"

"A crazy but I think will be an effective plan." Tucker babbled a little, quickly striding across the room to his bag to retrieve his whip and ratty top hat. "Put on the rest of your costumes. Since he still thinks that we're not human, we could continue to act that we aren't and try to scare him off."

"Scare him off?" Sam echoed skeptically. "He's a ghost Tucker! And in case you hadn't noticed, he was more than willing to try skewering us with his sword!"

"Just think about it. If he's all righteous that we're these 'monstrosities' that need to be 'vanquished', there should be some part of him that fears us."

"He's right." Casse agreed after a moment's pause, taking into careful consideration of Tucker's points. "There might be and maybe we could help Phantom this time…"

"Which reminds me, where's Danny?" Brad murmured, causing the other three to look up at him. "He went to the bathroom and isn't even back yet. He should have been able to hear the all the yelling…"

"I have a bad feeling." Sam muttered darkly, folding her arms across her chest as Casse reached out to grab her lamp staff. Brad secured his wolf mask on his head before fastening the large metal collar around his neck. "There's not much we can do because we don't have any ectoplasmic weapons with us here!"

Tucker hesitated at Sam's statement, but Casse didn't. She went to unravel the bindings of the end of the lamp staff to reveal…

"Pixie?!" Brad hissed once the bindings were removed. A sharp glinting blade had been hidden beneath the wrappings that now made the lamp staff double as a spear. A very deadly spear. "Why the hell did you make a spear out of it?! A real sharp and dangerous weapon that could possibly injure someone? Where the hell did you get the metal and tools to make it anyway?!"

"My fault." Tucker said firmly, raising his hand to try pacifying Brad. "Remember when Casse decided to drop by my place to help me out with my costume? I was experimenting on infusing ectoplasm with some everyday metal then so she asked and I made it."

"If Fairy doesn't kill the both of you, I promise you that I will do it for her." Brad threatened, folding his furry arms across his chest with a scowl. "Think about the other consequences next time! What if that crazy Red Huntress finds it and decides to use it to slice and dice Phantom? Include the fact that it's still a dangerous weapon to humans and that _you don't have any experience using those sort of weapons_. Then…"

"I get the picture already!" Casse cut in, putting her foot down and stared back into her brother's eyes. "It's only to scare off that creepy ghost and get Fairy back! I'll throw the spear end away when this is over, ok?"

"You'd better." Then there was a pause. "But I'm still going kill you after this."

"The blade has ectoplasmic properties." Tucker cut in, glancing between the two siblings cautiously. "So it will most probably help us a lot since we really don't have the other Fenton weapons to attack that ghost."

"Guys, back to the present!" Sam snapped angrily, glaring at the other three. "Let's move already!"

Danny dodged the swipe of the sword by a few inches but continued to hover close to the Horseman and his steed. He still hadn't been able to loosen the grip the other ghost had on Lee but was still trying. Danny was still attempting to find an opening so that he could slip past the raging horse and get closer to them. He fired up his fist and took the plunge, planting it harshly at the horse's stomach, causing it to neigh loudly in pain and stumble.

The Horseman growled and swiped his sword at Danny and missed. The ghost tried to pull the reins tightly to prevent his ghostly horse from falling but to no avail. His grip slackened around Lee's shoulders as his hand grabbed the other side of the reins to steady the steed. This was Danny's chance.

He lunged forward in a burst of speed and quickly stole the unconscious teen from the Horseman's arms. The Horseman screamed of treachery as his steed fell on the ground in a heap, prompting him to leap up from its saddle and plant his two feet on the ground.

"Treachery!" He roared; the dummy head glaring daggers at Danny while pointing his blade at him. "Return my bride to me villain! You will not claim her as your own!"

"Now that is just freaky." Danny muttered, quickly flying out of the way with Lee in his arms as the Horseman swiped at him with his sword.

"Fiend!" Came a roar, causing both ghosts to stop in their tracks as the other four fully costumed teens came running out into the field. Tucker cracked his whip menacingly, each crack giving a signal to Brad to crouch down on all fours and howl to the full moon like a wolf. Sam and Casse took their positions at each side of Tucker, poised and ready to fight. Danny almost gaped at the sight of the sharp pointed spear end of Casse's lamp staff. "Return our Master to us!"

Danny blinked owlishly at Tucker, who along with the other three, glared at the Horseman. What? This was his plan? Going into full costume and demanding for their 'Master'? This was too strange, but he quickly flew towards them with Lee in still unconscious in his arms. When he did so, Danny could see Brad give a tiny sigh before baring his teeth.

"Master safe." He growled before focusing his attention back at the Horseman with a snarl. Danny gently floated beside Tucker, who quickly mumbled out his plan from the corner of his mouth while the rest continue to play their roles to buy time. The Horseman growled and brandished his sword at them.

"What sot of treachery is this?! If he is your Master, my bride has nothing to do with it!"

"Master is Master." Sam hissed, slowly lifting her hand to point at the unconscious blond in Danny's arms, her eight spider legs sashaying eerily as she swayed her body slightly. "If Master taken, we fight. We protect Master."

"Preposterous!" The Horseman roared, the dummy head glaring menacingly at them. "A lady such as she is no such monstrosity to be your master!" The Horseman began to take steps backwards when Casse and Brad began to take slow menacing steps forward towards him. "Stay back fiends!"

"You pay." Snarled the youngest Angeles, pointing her sharp spear straight at the Horseman with a vicious gleam in her eyes. The lamp dangled from the other end of the staff, the light from it causing her shadow to flicker left and right. "No one take Master."

After he was given a quick layout of the plan, Danny had to admit that it was a dangerous one that could go either way if depending if they perceived it right. It was risky, but was the best bet at the moment. Gently, he transferred Lee into Tucker's arms and joined in the act without opening his mouth, hoping that his identity would remain intact when the event was all over.

Together, the four teens circled the Horseman, each spitting out short and harsh sentences that depicted their 'feelings' to protect their 'Master'. All except for Danny, who simply charged his energy into the palm of his hands and waved them menacingly at him. From the corner of his eye, he spied Tucker's lips move just the slightest bit before he changed the focus to Lee. She was tense and still in the other teen's arms, but the hybrid had the feeling that she was awake.

Suddenly, Casse lunged forward, blindly swinging her spear at the Horseman who quickly dodged the attack but wasn't spared at least a tiny cut on the cheek from the swing. The next he had was Brad pouncing onto his back, snarling and attempting to knock the dummy head off his shoulders. Sam moved the next instant, using the extra roll of thread that she had brought along to 'weave' the threads of the spider web around the Horseman's legs.

The ghost swung his sword at her and she quickly ducked out of the way as Casse took another blind swing at the Horseman. It was at that moment that Danny had moved forward and almost yelped out as he narrowly missed getting sliced by another one of Casse's blind swings. He sent her a sharp look which prompted her to stop swinging her spear all together.

A sharp high pitched yelp sounded as the Horseman grabbed Brad by the metal collar, choking the teen slightly before throwing him bodily across the field. Danny reacted, giving the girls a signal to keep their distance from the other ghost before flying backwards to catch Brad before he landed on the soil. The next the hybrid saw was Sam yanking the threads in her hands and causing the Horseman to tumble to the ground and lose his sword in the process.

"Enough." All heads snapped up to see Lee standing tall and firm with Tucker just behind her. Her eyes were cold and unrelenting as she lifted her hand to beckon them with her monotonous voice echoing in the air. "Return to me my puppets."

They moved quickly, racing away from their positions and back to where Tucker and Lee were. Danny set Brad back on the ground where the blond remained on all fours and stuck right by the 'Master's' side. The blond girl flicked her hand in Danny's direction, gesturing him to move forward. Obediently, he followed her orders, levitating forward in silence without losing eye contact with the faux head. He didn't know what was going on behind him but hid his shock well when Casse stepped forward and handed him the lamp staff/ spear.

Danny gripped the spear tightly in his hands, careful not to ruin whatever hard work Casse had put into making it. He stared stonily at the Horseman who was struggling to his feet. Danny swung the spear experimentally in the air before pausing. A quiet hiss of 'now!' that came from Tucker gave him the signal to attack.

And attack he did. He lunged forward and swung the spear mightily at the Horseman. The swing cleanly beheading him of the faux head that rolled onto the grass and returned to its non-animated state. The Headless Horseman roared angrily and blindly attacked Danny. But without the aid of his downed steed, he could not figure out where his adversary was. Danny swung the spear in an upwards slash before using the blunt end to jab the Horseman's chest and making the ghost fly backwards and sprawl on the top of his horse.

He planted the spear firmly in the soil and unhooked the Thermos from his belt. The next moment, the ghost and his steed were sucked in and the only remnants of the battle were the scorch marks of Danny's ecto-blasts and the scattered strings of thread where the ghost had been. He capped the Thermos securely and turned around to see Lee release a pained sigh before collapsing down to her knees.

Her siblings were by her side in an instant.

"Fairy! Are you ok?"

"I would be heaps better if my heart would stop pounding at a million miles per minute…" She huffed a little. A single red eye looked up to glare at Tucker who looked down at her and gave an apologetic look. "And I'm not doing that ever again. It's just wrong!"

"I'm sorry." Tucker apologized quietly, reaching forward to gently grip her shoulders. "But that was the only plan I came up with and we were short on time."

"I know." She sighed, looking back down at the grass forlornly. "But it doesn't mean I like it."

"Hey, I have a question," Danny suddenly called out, floating forward with Casse's spear in hand. He gave the youngest triplet a stern glare that made her squeak in fright. "I'd like to know what you're doing with this dangerous weapon young lady. It's lethal and it can kill humans and hurt ghosts. And you don't have any proper training with using these weapons."

Casse fidgeted nervously under his stern gaze. Danny was surprised that her older sister hadn't said anything about it yet. "Aren't you going to say anything Lee?" He asked gently, looking at her pale face.

"I'm frankly too tired to yell at her about the consequences. I'm sick and tried of being freaking kidnapped for one bloody reason or another." Danny, as well as the rest, winced at her tired and bitter tone. She looked terribly exhausted and was still visibly shaking from the entire event.

Danny handed the staff back to Casse but didn't let go of it before leveling a firm stare at her. "After whatever it is you guys are doing tonight, that piece of metal should either be melted and molded into a non-dangerous item or scrap it all together. Understood?"

Casse meekly nodded and gripped the spear tightly. Brad quietly helped Lee back up to her feet as Tucker checked the time.

"Oh shoot! Guys, we only have half an hour to find Danny and get everything back up again!"

"Danny?" The hybrid used his clueless and inquisitive tone at the mention of his human half. It worked like a charm. "I think I heard banging noises coming from the bathroom on the first level of the school. I didn't have time to check it out because I sensed the ghost around."

"Thanks Phantom." Casse squeaked out, giving him a tiny wave. The rest bid him goodbye and Danny turned his two abilities back on and flew back up to their allocated room. He stuffed the Thermos back into Tucker's bag and swiftly returned to the same bathroom he had been shoved into. The board was still there at the knob and Danny went into the cubicle and changed back to his human self.

He managed to put his guards back on and staged a decent looking miserable expression on his face when Tucker and Brad came to 'rescue' him. Danny released a cry of relief when the door was opened and flung himself out of the cubicle quickly.

"How did you get stuck in there?"

"One name. Dash Baxter." The raven haired teen growled, his want to exact revenge on the jock for the stunt fully surfacing after Brad questioned him.

"No time to plan any revenge. We have to rush it at the moment because we don't have enough time to finish everything anymore. The girls are in the room neatening it up and we have to get your make-up redone." Tucker informed, quickly pushing Danny out of the bathroom with Brad in tow.

* * *

"And now, we come to the last room." Lancer murmured to the group of teachers and guests. So far, there had been a few disappointing theme rooms but quite a number of well done ones. The beer-bellied teacher still had a nagging feeling that the athletes on the first floor, lead by Dash, might have done some foul play against some of the teams.

Jazz, as one of the guests who tagged along to see the theme rooms, had no such nagging feeling. She knew that Dash must have done some sort of foul play. After hearing his dare to her brother and his group of friends earlier during the week, she was willing to bet that Dash must have at least attempted to ruin their theme room.

Before Lancer could do so much as to touch the knob, the door slowly creaked open to reveal nothing but darkness in the room. The group of teachers and guests froze when a single small ball of light danced at the entrance of the door, beckoning them to step forward.

After exchanging a cautious look with Principal Ishiyama, Lancer stepped forward and lead the group through the door. The door creaked shut once everyone had stepped foot through the doorway and they were immediately shrouded in darkness. All except for that tiny ball of light that continued to dance before their eyes.

The ball of light began to glow brighter, and a few screams echoed off the walls when the Guide's pale wide eyed face, shadowed by the light of her lamp staff, appeared right beside Lancer. The bald teacher flinched in shock as her pale colored lips curved into an insanely wide smirk before giving them an awkward curtsy, like a puppet being pulled on strings.

"Welcome." Her voice echoed eerily in the dark room as she raised her hand and gestured towards the other end of the room. The Guide's smirk did not shrink nor did it grow in size, but stayed exactly as it was with a gleam in her eyes. "Our Master awaits your arrival."

The next instant, tiny lights flickers at the group's feet. They lit the path of the ratty crimson carpet that lay across the floor and towards their destination. Slowly, the group trailed behind the 'Guide' who was taking slow and uneasy steps forward, her skirt flowing seamlessly behind her. The room slowly began to have light shine from the windows that still shrouded the room in an eerie darkness but gave some light to observe the decorations of the room.

Threads strewn from the sides of the room, ceiling to floor, all scattered haphazardly like a web of a spider that had no apparent pattern. The mannequins rattled in their positions in the room as the group slowly walked past them and many screams were heard when the Spider Queen sprang down from the ceiling. She hissed at them with her eight legs attached to her back swaying about menacingly as she jerked about dangling in the air like a spider on a thread.

Once they passed the Spider Queen, a howl suddenly ripped through the silence. The group pressed their bodies against each other when the Werewolf sprang to the middle of the carpet in front of them on all fours, snarling and baring his teeth. He gnashed his teeth at them before the cracking of a whip sounded followed by loud maniacal laughter that bounced off the walls. The Ragdoll Ringmaster appeared from the darkness, an insane grin spread across his pale and mattered face as he cracked the whip at the group while releasing another loud maniacal laugh from his throat.

The Werewolf and Ragdoll Ringmaster parted from the carpet, allowing them passage forward to the Master. With her job done, the Guide stepped aside to give the group full view of the Master. But the Master was still shrouded in darkness and what caught their eyes was the one kneeling at the side of the chair. The Guard lifted his head from its downcast position, staring at them with a glaringly blank expression.

In a flash, he lunged forward at them, intent on protecting his unrevealed Master from the intruders. The Guard swiped at them and let his fists fly dangerously close to them until a tug at his elbow made him cease his sudden attack on them. Baby blue eyes glared at them menacingly before dropping his arms to his side and returned to his original position, his glare unrelenting on them. The group of guests and teachers released their breath, not knowing that they had held it for that moment.

The board that covered the window behind the large chair was taken down and the full moon light came shining through the darkness and lit the room in an eerie glow. Everything became clearer in the room and the group found themselves surrounded. The hanging mannequins continued to rattle on the strings; The Spider Queen spitting thread at them from her dangling position; The Werewolf howling and baring his teeth at them; The Ragdoll Ringmaster cracking his whip loudly with his too wide of an insane grin plastered on his face.

Finally, the Master was revealed. Nestled snugly on the velvety crimson cushions that adorned the chair and a pair of black raven wings that curved forward and around her shoulders in a protective stance. The tattered skirt spread across the seat of the chair elegantly and her booted legs were firmly set beside each other. Her left eye was closed, but her fingers were wriggling about like a puppeteer controlling her puppets from afar. After a short moment, her eye opened.

A wave of fear coursed through Lancer's veins at the sight of the cold and sharp gaze that the eye gave. Her dark rose lips were spread in a straight thin line and her eye continued to hold that sharp cold gaze as she opened her mouth to speak in a low monotonous voice.

"Welcome to my domain."

* * *

**Authoress' Ending Notes:**

1) I'm surprised that I managed to finish this chapter within a month even as I was swamped with 3 major assignments that were all due within five days of each other and worth 30 percent of my overall. Go me!  
2) As mentioned in my Beginning notes, from this chapter onwards, I can no longer stick close to the original DP continuity because it would totally screw up future chapters. DP characters will still be introduced, no worries, just differently now. I realized that if I stuck to the DP continuity, I'd be digging a grave because my ideas for future chapters would be hindered greatly (shame)  
3) Thank you **Calovan**, **Enchanting Elf**, **phantom girl15**, **inukagome15** and **Sakuyamon** (from deviantART) for reviewing the previous chapter! I love you guys (tears up)  
4) And thanks to the other list of people who have placed this fanfiction under their alerts and favourites!  
5) I've even done a mini poster for AT: P&A which can be found on my deviantART page, http : / / kenzeryuu. deviantart. com, check it out if you want!  
6) What the ghost delivered for Vlad will be explained. No worries, I left it like this for the fun of it. Don't you all just love cliffies? (insert evil grin here)  
7) And thanks to **Sakuyamon**, I've returned to working on my second AT project that might hit the fanfiction site soon! Stay tuned for it!  
8) Do drop a review if you're free and have spotted any mistakes that I might have made. They are greatly appreciated!

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	8. Dirty Little Secret

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress' Beginning Notes: Whoa. This chapter took me a lesser amount of time than the other chapters mainly because I had a week of break and used it to write. Although my next update would probably be after a month or so with my major assignments both due in 2 weeks time and I have a final exam coming along after that. And then it's cleaning up before I'm flying back home for holidays. This chapter will most likely blow you away if you had not noticed the hints in the previous chapters. I love scaring the readers and being evil. Enjoy!

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 7****:**

** Dirty Little Secret**

* * *

Sam stared at the package that sat on her desk from the edge of her bed with her arms folded across her chest. She had no idea what was in the package. She hadn't even opened it when she got home from the Halloween competition and found the parcel sitting snugly on the top of her covers.

That was almost a week ago.

Now she was sitting on her bed, staring at that package intensely. It definitely wasn't from her parents; they'd always wrap up their gifts in pink paper with cute little bows. Her Grandma Ida would never wrap a present; she'd just give Sam the present without even bothering to wrap it up. Said something about wasting time.

And god forbid if it was any one of them from her group except for Danny. She wasn't on good terms with about half of them; Lee was the only one else other than Danny who was still being patient with her. Brad, Casse and Tucker had given up over a week ago. But she still doubted that it was either one of them, they had all been at the school finishing up for the competition. She was with them the entire time and her parents hadn't mentioned anyone coming that night to deliver anything to her.

So she didn't trust it. She simply stowed it on her table and refused to acknowledge the parcel until today. Her parents had made up their minds on wanting to 'spend more time' with their daughter and planned out a weekend yacht trip for the family. It clashed with Sam's plans to spend time with Danny and she furiously fought with them to call it off.

To her dismay, both of them refused to budge and Pamela Manson had sent the angry girl back to her room to pack, threatening to pack other 'clothes' for her if Sam didn't do her own packing. Seething in fury, Sam slammed the door of her room with such vicious strength that it echoed loudly in the mansion and sounded in the streets.

And now she was back to staring at the parcel.

It was just a freaking parcel. A package that simply appeared out of nowhere with no return address and no recipient name that so happened to appear on her bed when she wasn't around at home. Yes. Just that sort of package. No big deal right?

But what she wanted to know was why she hadn't already thrown in away. Normally if she received anything of this sort, they would all be immediately thrown into the trash and never given a second thought. Why was this package so special then?

"Sammy-kins! It's time to go!"

And it looked like her thought process had to halt and resume after the weekend. Sam scowled at the closed door of her room before standing up. She shoved the parcel into the deep recesses of her drawer and picked up her bag. She figured she'd deal with the parcel later. For now, she had to suffer a weekend with parents on a yacht and avoid her mother's whines.

The only consolation in her mind was that Danny would only be spending the weekend with Brad. She wouldn't have to worry about him getting any closer to any other girl when she was away.

* * *

"Now, I trust that you boys will stay out of trouble…"

"Mom, this is the fifth time you're saying this. We'll be fine." Danny insisted, trying to coax his mother into the rental van where the three teenage girls were in. Brad casually leaned against the frame of the Fenton Works door with an amused smirk playing on his lips while the three girls watched the exchange from inside the van and through the windows in amusement.

It first started out with Tobias asking Maddie for a favor in looking after the triplets while he made a business trip to Gotham for the weekend. Maddie readily agreed, inviting Lee and Casse to the mother and daughter weekend trip and betting on Jack staying home for the weekend to look after the boys. The next thing she knew was Jack receiving a VIP invitation to a Ghost Hunter convention that lasted through the same weekend that Tobias was away.

That's when it became a complete mess.

Now the two boys would be left alone in Fenton Works for the weekend. Maddie's plans for the girls' weekend out could accommodate them but they didn't buy enough supplies. Maddie could only curse whatever luck that she had. It wasn't that she didn't trust the boys… but they were teenagers. Of course she had some reservations about leaving two teenage boys alone for forty-eight hours! Especially in their ghost infested town!

She tried to ask the Foleys to help, but they were spending the weekend with Amanda's parents. Maddie didn't want to intrude on their family time together and didn't probe further. The red head woman utterly refused to call any favors from the Mansons, but was grateful to hear that they wouldn't be available for the same weekend.

And sending the boys to Gotham to let the triplets' godfather's butler take care of them was definitely too much.

"Are you sure you two don't want to join us? I'm sure we can rearrange the tents somehow and –"

"Mom!" Danny said loudly, grabbing the sides of Maddie's arms and looking straight into her eyes. "I thought we agreed that you will all be having a girls' weekend out without any of us guys around to relax. Even with dad's sudden invitation to that Ghost Hunter convention, Brad and I will be fine."

It still didn't ease Maddie's worries about leaving them alone. For goodness sake, she was a mother! Granted she wasn't Lee, Brad and Casse's mother, but she still have that maternal instinct around them. It was her job to worry!

Maddie's hesitation was apparent on her face and Danny turned his head to urge Brad to give him a hand in assuring her. The blond teen rolled his eyes at him and gave Danny a pointed look that said 'She's your mother, not mine!' which in turn, received an eye roll from the hybrid. Jazz then saw the need to rescue her brother from their mother's constant worry and poked her head out from the open window.

"Mom, I'm sure they'll call us if anything goes wrong. Besides, it's only for two days. What trouble can they possibly get in to?"

"Plenty?"

"Mom!"

Bursts of giggles erupted from the van that were recognizably Lee and Casse as the Fenton siblings threw their mother an exasperated look each. Brad was quietly hiding his laughter from his position at the door, his shoulders quivering slightly as he laughed. Maddie sighed and finally relented, planting her hands on her hips and giving both boys a firm stare.

"Alright. You both have all of our numbers if you need anything. The money is on the counter for food since I don't believe that the two of you would do any cooking –" Lee gave an audible snort from inside the van and Danny could see her muffling her laughter with a hand through the window. "—and stay out of trouble. The ghosts might still be lingering around so Danny, you might have to teach Brad how to use some of the weapons."

"Mom, I get the picture. Won't you girls be late? It'll be nightfall soon and I doubt even with dad's speed, you'd get there before seven." Danny cut in and gestured to her watch with the time. Maddie looked at it and sighed, releasing Danny and Brad from her web of worries and placed a gentle kiss on Danny's temple. "I'm serious, don't worry so much mom. Enjoy yourself for the weekend!"

"I'm a mother. Of course I have to worry." She teased lightly, giving her son's cheeks a light pinch. The teen gave her a mocking scowl as the girls grinned impishly from the van. Maddie ruffled the mess of black that was his hair and finally got into the van. Casse and Lee poked their heads out of the window after Jazz retreated back in to look at their brother.

"Behave Dwarf!" Casse teased lightly, giving them a cheery wave. "Don't break anything!"

"Ditto to you Pixie."

"Take care of yourselves and eat properly ok?" Lee raised a threatening finger at both boys. "Don't eat too much junk food!"

"Yes mommy Lee." Danny and Brad chorused out mockingly, exchanging a grin and smirk respectively when Lee rolled her eyes and retreated back into the confines of the van.

Once the van was out of sight, the boys were left in an awkward silence. Forty-eight hours without any parental supervision, friends or siblings? They were pretty used to being surrounded by any one of the three and keeping themselves busy at the same time.

"So… what now?" Danny glanced over to Brad, who was still leaning against the frame of the door behind him, his arms folded across his chest. The blond had an uncomfortable aura radiating off him although his face remained calm and neutral. Danny had yet to understand why Brad would close himself off like that to everyone even though he had seen a much softer and gentler side of the other teen before.

But then again, Danny had been under his guise as Phantom when he had seen that side of him. By right, Danny Fenton did not know anything else about Brad Angeles other than him being a smart mouthed, bad assed Goth. Sometimes he wished life could be easier, but he didn't want to drag the triplets further into his double life of hybrid ghost 'hero' and typical teenage boy.

"Well, I might as well show you some of the Fenton gadgets down in my folks' lab. I can't think of anything else to do right now."

"Beats standing around."

The boys took their time to walk down to the laboratory in silence, unsure of what sort of conversation each other should strike up. Danny felt very conscious of the fact that he did not know Brad as well as he would have liked to converse with him easily like he could with Lee and Casse. He felt bad about it; the triplets had already become an important part of his life in the five months since they arrived in Amity Park and Danny had a feeling that he would feel lost if they weren't around.

Brad was an enigma. If Sam hadn't changed into… what she was now, Danny was willing to bet that she would have been able to know more about the blond. The hybrid didn't understand why Brad would always have some sort of need to push his sisters, particularly Lee, away from him. Like he was trying to keep some distance between them. But of course, after that kidnapping incident, that need seemed to have lessened greatly, though he still kept some distance between himself and his sisters.

And his relationship with his sisters was on a totally different scale from Danny's initial relationship with Jazz. Trying to understand why Brad acted the way he did is a feat that Danny had yet to master.

"Hmm… I'm thinking that we could put on the Specter Deflectors, it's a new invention mom and dad made just recently." Danny explained when Brad quirked an eyebrow at the thin belt in Danny's hands. "It acts like a super repellent and zaps ghosts if they touch you when it's on."

"Convenient." The blond mused, taking the belt from Danny and looking it through. "Have they made any other weapons recently that aren't a remake of the Fenton Foamer?"

Danny burst into laughter at Brad's question. "You're never going to let it go that my dad creamed you guys the first time you came here aren't you?"

"It would have been funny if I weren't covered in slime from head to toe." Brad easily replied, slipping the Specter Deflector around his waist. He adjusted his shirt to cover the belt, the chains around his jeans tinkling as they connected with each other. "Hope they have smaller weapons because the Fenton Foamer is way too big to be carried around."

"You're telling me. I still don't get how my dad manages to make it look inconspicuous when he goes around town with it." Danny paused for a moment and 'hmm'ed thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I actually don't get how he actually whips it out of thin air."

"Pocket dimensional space device that he brings around with him?" Danny raised an eyebrow at Brad who shrugged and casually leaned against the wall. "What? It does exist. How do you think heroes and villains go about with their weapons and stuff? And include the fact that there's such thing as magic, which allows us to believe that pocket dimensional spaces do exist..."

A pause settled between the boys before Danny conceded. "You win."

The two continued to look through the massive artillery that Jack and Maddie had invented until they stumbled upon the new Specter Speeder. Two different notes were stuck onto the windshield of the vehicle and Danny gently peeled them off to read them. One was from his mother and the other from his dad.

"'The Specter Speeder is not for the kids' use. No it is not like a driving a car in a video game Danny.'" Danny peered through the glass of the windshield and took a quick glance at the controls. "Could've fooled me. It looks exactly like a game console."

"Don't get too tempted." Brad warned, raising an eyebrow at Danny. "You don't have a driver's license do you?"

"Driving my folks' inventions is a totally different matter from driving real cars." Danny shot back, grinning widely as he read Jack's note. "'The keys are under the seat.' Oh sweet! Maybe we could take it out for a spin later."

"Heaven forbid." Brad slowly backpedaled away from Danny's mischievous grin. "If we take it for a spin, I'm driving. If your real life driving skills are as bad as your video game driving skills, I am not going to sit in that thing with you."

"I am not _that_ bad!" The hybrid protested indignantly, pouting at the serious look Brad was giving him. "I'll even prove it to you. Come on, if you won't get into the Specter Speeder now, we'll settle it on my game console!"

"Danny, you crash and burn just about every single time we all play Mario Go Kart." The blond teen rolled his eyes and gave Danny a pointed look. "Face it, if we had to drive close to a river, you'd drive us straight into it. If we were driving on a plank with nothing beneath us, you'd drive us over the edge."

"That's not true!"

"One hour straight without you driving into rivers, oil spills and over edges of the ghost tracks. Then I'll reconsider letting you drive your folks' Specter Speeder."

"Deal!"

* * *

"So. We have a law breaker on our hands."

The white ghost clasped his two black gloved hands together, his brows knitting together tightly while his lips curved into a sinister smirk. Oh how he enjoyed his job. The amount of power he held to arrest any ghost that so broke any law that he had made. It was a sensational feeling to be the big boss.

He stared at the image of the ghost that had broken quite a number of his laws and had yet to be captured. Just recently, he had arrested a majority of the ghosts that plagued the Real realm and fought with this… ghost boy.

The white ghost stood from his chair and smirked down at the photograph of the infamous Phantom, or 'whelp' as he remembered Skulker hissing as the 'best' ghost hunter was brought in. Oh what fun it would be if he could manage to arrest that little troublemaker and stick him with all of his adversaries in his prison.

"It is time to arrest that little… whelp." Walker grinned evilly, his eyes glowed a dangerous bright green before he walked through his office doors with a mission in mind. To capture the little rogue, he would lay a trap. As the Ghost Warden left his office, the photographs that lay on his table fluttered about, revealing five familiar faces. Five faces who he suspected to be of value to the little troublemaker.

It was time to set his plan into action. All he needed, was bait. Live bait.

* * *

Just as their one hour of gaming was up, Brad's cell phone began to ring shrilly. The noise caused them to lose their focus and pause the game while the blond dug into his pocket for the device. He stared at the caller ID for a moment before flipping it open with a scowl.

"What?"

"Is that any way to greet your godfather?" Danny could hear the conversation from his seat next to Brad, the phone wasn't terribly loud but it was certainly loud enough for Danny to overhear it. The other teen had rolled his eyes in annoyance before sniping back into the phone.

"If you're calling to ask if I'm in trouble or anything…"

"That is the exact reason why I am calling you right now." Before Brad could open his mouth to protest, Bruce Wayne cut him off and continued speaking. "Maddie Fenton called to tell Toby that you and her son were going to be alone for the weekend. Toby may trust you to stay out of trouble, but I don't."

Danny covered his mouth to stifle his laughter while Brad shot him an irritated scowl and jabbed a retaliatory elbow at him. The raven head clutched the arm where the jab had landed, but still continued to giggle helplessly at the other's incensed look.

"Joy. The next bout of trouble I'll be getting into would be getting into one of Danny's folks' new vehicles and having him take it for a spin." Danny's body tilted to one side before he collapsed on the floor, giggling even harder than he was before when he heard Bruce's incredulous reply.

"You must be joking." Brad rolled his eyes and swiftly gave Danny's outstretched legs a kick as the other teen rolled on the floor clutching his stomach. "Neither of you have a driver's license. I have a half mind to send Alfred over to keep an eye on you two so that you stay out of trouble."

"Look Uncle Bruce," The blond began as Danny began his counter-attack against him and both boys engaged in a foot kicking fight. "We're _fine_. For Pete's sake stop being a mother hen. You're becoming worse than Fairy, Alfred AND Mrs. Fenton combined together. If you call me and ask me this again during the rest of the weekend, I swear I won't answer your calls."

"That's even less assuring than ever Brad." Brad yelped when Danny's foot accidentally connected with his bottom and glared at the sheepish boy before throwing a pillow at him. "What are you doing now? What's going on there?"

"It's _nothing_!" The blond scowled into the phone, leaping to his feet and dodged the onslaught of pillows that were being pelted his way. "We're just having the usual guy bonding time with video games and _oof!_"

"Brad?"

"Sorry Mr. Wayne!" Danny chirped out loudly, hoping that the phone picked up his voice. Brad glared at him evilly as the pillow that smacked his face flopped down to the ground. "My fault! I sorta threw pillows at him and one just smacked him in the face!"

"How reassuring…"

"You know what Uncle Bruce?" Brad's evil look didn't fade from his face while his eyes trained onto Danny who audibly gulped. "The point is that we're fine. No do not send Alfred over, it will be a waste of time and don't you have work to do? Ok bye."

The phone was clicked shut before Bruce could say anything else and was quickly set on Danny's desk before Brad grabbed the fallen pillows and pelted Danny with them. The other teen squeaked and curled into a ball as the rain of pillows smacked against his body but thankfully none hitting his face. But as he uncurled from his position, Brad had been looming just behind him. Danny yelped when the pillow smacked the top of his head and pouted at Brad's satisfied smirk.

"Now we're even."

"You are totally mean." The hybrid whined, crawling back to his game controller and settled his bottom snugly on the floor. Brad followed suit, reaching out for the controller as Danny continued speaking. "So… protective much?"

"A bloody hen." The blond confirmed, resting his cheek against his palm with a sullen look on his face. Danny wondered if Brad's relationship with his Godfather was just as strained as his relationship with his father. "He just won't quit being one. Sure I got into some trouble last year back in Gotham –"

"Some? Judging by the way Lee phrased the entire thing, it seemed more like big trouble than some trouble." Danny quickly ducked and the fist that swung at him halfheartedly flew harmlessly past him. He peeked upwards to see Brad glare at him with a force that was equal to that of the halfhearted swing. "Ok, shutting up. Continue?"

"Anyway." Brad rolled his eyes at Danny, continuing from when he last left off. "It was only some trouble. There's no way in hell that the three of us could not get into any sort of it back in Gotham. For crying out loud, we're related to one of the biggest billionaires in the world. The day we're not targeted is the day all the villains are either dead or shipped to Arkham Asylum."

"That is a good point." The hybrid conceded, seeing the truth in Brad's words. It was a good thing that Vlad's personal life and relationship with his parents were never placed out into the scrutiny of the media. He'd hate to think what would happen if anyone knew their affiliation. "I do see that happening. But Lee did say you went trailing after the Poison Ivy. So that constitutes to you as purposely getting yourself into big trouble."

"Oh shut up." Danny grinned at the lack of hostility the words had when Brad sniped it out. His lips were still in a straight line but the blonds' eyes held a tiny twinkle of mirth in them. At least he knew that Brad wasn't really angry at him. "Are we going to finish the game or not? Because I'm totally whooping your butt."

"Are not!" He argued, snatching up the controller as Brad did likewise. "I'm doing well! I haven't driven into anything yet!"

"You had a few spills." Brad countered easily, wagging his index finger at him. "The first thing you did was to drive right into the sea when we were on the beach track and you drove over the edge at least three times when we were on the ghost one."

"Argh! Let it go will you?!"

"I'm placing my life into your non-existent driving skills Danny. Of course I'll have to remain vigilant about every little detail of the spills you make in the game."

With renewed determination, Danny un-paused the game and they resumed the test of driving skills on the console. Unfortunately for Danny, he lost most of the rounds due to the fact that he was spending all of his focus on not driving into any rivers, over edges of tracks and even driving the wrong way of the track. Brad gave him enough credit for trying.

The one hour marathon dragged on to two and finally on the third hour, the two boys were forced to end the marathon due to their hungry stomachs that growled for food. Danny blushed when his gave an even louder growl a moment later, which received a smirk from Brad who got up from the floor and went to retrieve his cell phone.

Deciding that neither one of them could cook to save their lives, the two teens locked up Fenton Works and made their way over to the Nasty Burger for dinner. The meal was consumed with light conversation floating between them and with a minor incident involving Dash Baxter almost tripping Danny on his feet that almost made the raven haired teen drop his tray.

Of course, there were other distractions. Bruce Wayne rang Brad's cell phone so often that the blond switched it to silent mode and refused to answer his Godfather's calls. It was only until he noticed the number to be his father's own cell phone number that Brad finally answered one call after what seemed like millions of misses.

Surprisingly, Tobias had called to tell him that he reined Bruce in and stopped him from calling any more times. He idly mentioned that if Bruce did call again, Brad had permission to sic Alfred on him if it was irritating. Or he could give Tobias a message and he would sic Bruce's girlfriend Diana on him. At those prospects (which Danny couldn't help but overhear and laugh about), Brad's lips split into a wide smirk and curtly thanked his father.

When that conversation was over, it became suspiciously peaceful.

Now that the meal had been devoured and the boys truly had nothing else to do, Danny pointed out that the best source of entertainment they could both use was to drive the Specter Speeder. Brad however, was still clearly doubtful about Danny's driving skills (or lack thereof) and voiced another worry.

"Are you sure that the Specter Speeder is allowed around here? I mean, it's a totally different thing from your folks' RV."

Ah right. The Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle. The triplets had been overwhelmed when they caught sight of the RV as Jack drove it out of the garage earlier in the day. Lee had been utterly crept out to know the number of weapons Jack and Maddie stored in the RV and what other functions the vehicle had.

Jack had given them all a taster of what the RV did. The girls had definitely not been pleased at getting slimed by Fenton weapon number 368. That was one reason why they had been delayed earlier, in addition to Maddie's constant worrying over the boys being left alone.

And despite the fact the RV being a mobile weapons storage, it was still a proper vehicle and was allowed on the road. Jack and Maddie even had the road worth certificate to prove it. Thus, Danny came out with the most insane yet perfect solution to that worry.

"Drive it in the Ghost Zone?" Now Brad was giving Danny a look that clearly said 'have you lost your mind?!' "Danny, have you lost a few screws in your head? Or possibly your marbles? How would you even know what is in there and how to navigate around the place? I'm pretty sure it's an uncharted area."

"Where's your sense of adventure?" Danny nudged Brad's side with a small grin on his face. "It's only for a short while and we'd probably only go straight and then take a one hundred and eighty degree turn about and get back."

"My 'sense of adventure' was kidnapped by Fairy and stowed away in her pocket where I can't reach it." Brad dodged the second jab that was aimed at his side. "I'm still having doubts about this. At least when I did get into trouble back in Gotham, I knew where the hell I was."

"Well, it's better than getting arrested by the police for driving an 'unidentifiable vehicle' even if it is dark." Danny chirped up, wagging his index finger at Brad's face. The other teen groaned and muttered something incoherent under his breath. It looked like he needed more persuasion. "Please! I promise you, it won't be too bad! And we will just drive in a straight line then we'll come back!"

"I get the feeling your mom was definitely right in wanting to avoid having you drive anything." The blond grumbled, running a hand through his spiky blond locks. Brad sighed and finally relented. "Oh ok. But we'll only stay in there for a maximum of twenty minutes!"

"I should start calling you 'daddy Brad'." Danny mused, ducking out of the way as Brad swung a fist at him. "You're beginning to mirror Lee, and I thought we all agreed that one mommy Lee is enough to look after us. Are you sure you're her brother and not her husband?"

"Shut it, or I'll take back my permission for us to drive the Specter Speeder into the Ghost Zone." The blond threatened, raising a warning finger at Danny. The hybrid swore he saw Brad's cheeks flush red at his previous statement. "And for the record, I am one hundred percent her blood brother and not her husband!"

"Whoa! Chill out, you don't have to take it so seriously!" Now Danny was positive that Brad was blushing badly when the other teen jerked his head and looked away from him as they continued walking back to Fenton Works. Brad's behavior was starting to make him curious. There was something off about him. Perhaps it had to do something with what he said prior.

"Just… don't tease like that. You have no idea how much the general public loathes incest. And I don't want them getting the wrong idea between myself and Lee." Oh. So that was it. Danny quickly apologized for the ill-meaning joke and the boys continued their walk in silence, nether of them willing to strike up conversation again.

Brad wasn't looking at him in the face anymore. Now this was seriously piquing Danny's curiosity. Was it the public perceiving incest the reason why he kept a distance between him and his sisters? It made sense to a degree that Brad wouldn't have wanted to have that unwanted attention drawn to him, Lee and Casse because of their close bond with each other.

Perhaps it also had something to do with the amount of attention the three of them had been given for being Bruce Wayne's godchildren. But as Danny tried to figure it out, he began to draw out ideas that steadily grew more and more ridiculous. The last idea he had drawn was that Brad might have a crush on his own older sister and was pushing her away in fear.

Mentally, Danny slapped himself for being silly and tossed the absurd idea away into the darkest pits of his mind, never to bring it up ever again.

Once they reached Fenton Works, Danny made a beeline for the basement, calling Brad from behind him to hurry up. He was thoroughly excited to try driving one of his parents' self made vehicles, and without their supervision too! Danny gleefully snatched up the control manual (he suspected that his mother had written it just in case his father forgot how to work anything) and read through the instructions as Brad sedately trooped down the stairs.

While Danny memorized the controls, Brad wandered about the basement waiting for Danny to finish. The blond glanced at the table and blinked at the pair of glinting hand braces that lay on the table. The hand braces had a variety of buttons adorned on it and Brad reached forward to pick them up to inspect them more closely. He clamped one of the hand braces to his hand and gingerly pressed the tiny green button that lay between his thumb and index finger.

He almost jumped when the tiny device gave a small whirring noise and extended out to form a sort of metal glove around his hand. Brad flexed his fingers experimentally and pushed the red button that rested on his wrist. Bright green sparks flew from the glove and the one word that escaped Brad's mouth described his reaction perfectly.

"Wow." Another push of the red button and the sparks disappeared. Pushing the tiny green button again made the glove retract back to its tiny hand brace form. With a grin, Brad grabbed the other hand brace and clamped it on to his other hand. Now he felt like he could take on any ghost at the moment with his hidden arsenal. Some of the Fenton devices, truly did rock.

"Ok! I've got it!" Brad looked up to see Danny cheer happily while booting up the Specter Speeder from the inside. "Come on Brad, get in! I can actually open the portal from the Specter Speeder. Neat isn't it?"

"Hold your horses!" The blond quickly strode over to the hatch of the Specter Speeder and ducked his head before moving in. The door descended and locked itself shut once he had gone through the hatch. Brad swiftly moved forward to the front of the vehicle to see Danny prod various buttons while keeping one hand on the steering wheel. He settled down next to Danny on the seat chair and folded his arms across his chest, waiting for Danny to announce take-off.

"Seatbelt?" Brad rolled his eyes and hunted for the straps on the side of the seat and fastened it tightly. He even got his hands ready to clutch onto the bottom of the seat if Danny made any miscalculation of speed when driving. Brad grimaced slightly when he spotted the insane grin that was plastered over Danny's face. The insane grin did not suit the normally gentle smiling teen at all.

"Alright! Then let's go!" Danny pressed the remote button for the Fenton Portal to open while the Specter Speeder levitated off the tiled floor of the basement. No matter how well Brad braced himself, he absolutely did not expect the sudden burst of speed once the portal had fully opened. He found himself pressing against the backrest of the seat, _hard_,when they took off.

"HOLY SH…! DANNY! SLOW DOWN!"

"AHHH! Oh crud! Sorry! Sorry! I'm so sorry! I forgot to turn off the accelerator!"

"YOU WHAT?!" Now Brad was seriously regretting giving Danny permission to drive the new Specter Speeder. But right now, he had more pressing matters to handle. "Danny! Turn the steering wheel! Look out for those rocks!"

* * *

"I wonder if the boys are alright… Maybe I should call them…" Lee exchanged an amused and meaningful look with Casse, who immediately stifled her giggles with a hand. It had been a little over an hour since they left Fenton Works and Maddie was already fussing up a storm. Jazz craned her neck to look at the two sisters in the backseat with an amused but confused look crossing her face.

"Is there something I'm missing?"

"Not really." Lee quickly jabbed Casse's side gently with her elbow, but the other girl couldn't help but giggle harder. Lee was holding back her giggles, but her lips were spread into a wide smile and her eyes were twinkling in merriment. "Mrs. Fenton, you called dad up earlier to tell him that Brad and Danny would be alone for the weekend right?"

"Of course I did. Your father did ask us to look after the three of you for the weekend because of his sudden business trip. If there were changes, of course we'd have to inform him about it and…" Lee quickly cut in with her next question to prevent Maddie from going into another worry fit.

"Was Uncle Bruce around when you called him?" Maddie frowned and her brows knitted together as she thought, unsure of why Lee was asking her this. The rental van continued its way towards their destination in silence for a moment until she replied.

"I suppose he was. Tobias was speaking off the phone but I couldn't tell who it was with him…" Now Lee's giggles finally broke free from their chains and she joined Casse in stifling their laughter. Jazz raised an enquiring eyebrow at them but waited patiently for their giggles to subside to get a proper answer.

"If Uncle Bruce was there when Mrs. Fenton called…" Casse trailed off, her eyes gleaming in much amusement while her older sister picked up where she left off.

"I'd say that Dwarf would have probably switched off his cell phone by now." Startled by their statements, Maddie almost swerved into the wrong turning but quickly corrected herself before any disaster could hit them. Once she made sure the van was still on the right track, Maddie stole a glance at the giggling sisters in the backseat.

"And why is that?"

"Because Uncle Bruce should have pissed him off by now by calling him many times." The two chorused out together, slapping each other high-fives before bursting into giggles again. Once she had visualized the image of the playboy billionaire picking up his phone and calling Brad's cell phone numerous times, Jazz joined the sisters in their laughter. Even Maddie had to chuckle along with them.

"I don't think they'll need any more calls with Uncle Bruce constantly on their case Mrs. Fenton." Casse piped up from her giggles, snuggling close to her sister's quivering side as Lee hid her laughter from behind her hand. "They should be just fine. So… where are we going?"

Maddie released another chuckle, finally allowing her shoulders to relax and not worry about the boys back in Fenton Works. "Well, I was thinking that we could do some hiking. Since it is the late afternoon, we can't do much but just drive to the cabin for now."

"A hiking trip?"

"You have a cabin around here?"

Maddie and Jazz exchanged grins as the duo in the backseat chorused out their exclamations at the same time. The woman released a hearty chuckle before replying to them in turn.

"Yes Lee, we're on a hiking trip and yes Casse, we do have a cabin up here. The cabin belongs to Jack's side of the family, but it's been empty for about a year since they vacated out of it. We come up occasionally to clean it up so I thought we could put it to some use for the weekend."

"Hope you guys enjoy outdoor cooking." Jazz grinned from the front seat, twisting about to loosen the seatbelt and look behind her. "There's no proper stove there from what I can remember."

"Well that's fine with me. Maybe Pixie could pick up a few pointers in cooking while we're at it." Casse vigorously nodded her head, eager to pick up anything that could help her with the domestic chore.

"Well, there won't really be much for us to do tonight but reach the cabin, have dinner and sleep there for the night. We'll most likely head off at dawn tomorrow and camp overnight before coming back to the cabin and drive home."

"That sounds reasonable enough." Casse piped up, snuggling against her sister's side. "I guess it would be bad to wander about at night huh?"

"Yes, that's true. There are still wild animals around so we'll still have to be vigilant when we're camping out for the night." Maddie quickly stole a glance at the sisters in the backseat in the rearview mirror. "So we have to be careful ok?"

"Yes madam!" Three voices chorused at the same time and Maddie rolled her eyes as the three teenagers giggled. The red head woman concentrated her attention back to the bumpy road while the girls conversed with each other, exchanging ideas of how they would pass the night.

But somehow, her worry for the boys was still there. Maddie couldn't shake off that maternal feeling that something terrible was going to happen while they were away. She tried to force it down, repeating the mantra that the boys were surely not that bad into getting into trouble. But still the taste of worry lingered in her mouth.

Trouble was lurking around the corner, but was it really only the boys who would be in trouble?

* * *

After five minutes of speeding and dodging flying boulders, the Specter Speeder came to a halt and hovered in the endless space of the Ghost Zone. Both boys were breathing heavily, slowly getting over the sudden shock from the abrupt start of the drive. Brad turned his head to glare daggers at Danny before pointing a warning finger at him.

"I will never get into a vehicle if you're driving. If anything, _I'll_ do the driving." Danny sheepishly nodded, resting his perspiring forehead on the console while catching his breath. Ok, so he hadn't foreseen that the accelerator would be that powerful after ten minutes of charging. He definitely remembered that the control manual said no such thing about the power levels of the Specter Speeder.

Glancing up to do a quick survey of their surroundings, Danny was dismayed to find that they had landed in an area he hadn't explored just yet. He guessed that concentrating on dodging boulders at a high speed of almost 300 kilometers an hour made him lose focus on driving into a part of the Ghost Zone that he was familiar with. He had this sudden sinking feeling that they were lost.

Danny stole a sideways glance at Brad, who had caught his breath but had his eyes closed while leaning back against the seat heavily. The spiky blond drew his right arm upwards to swipe at the perspiration that was forming on his forehead before resting his forearm over his eyes.

"Any more bright ideas Danny?" The hybrid almost fell out of his seat when the words escaped Brad's lips. "And make sure it has nothing to do with the stupid accelerator."

"No problem with that." Danny easily responded, resting his chin back on the console and stared straight into the nothingness of the Ghost Zone. Hmm, what was that strange large purple thing up ahead? "I guess we could try navigating back to our portal. I'm pretty sure mom and dad said something about the doors in the Ghost Zone leading to other places that we don't know of, so we shouldn't open them."

"… Jump through space and time?"

"Where the heck do you get all these ideas from?" The hybrid demanded, lifting his head up from the console to stare at the other teen. Frankly, it was beginning to scare Danny about how many times Brad had actually guessed right with his vague explanations. "First the pocket dimensional space and now a jump through space and time?"

"I was born and bred in a city filled with super villains and heroes. And got into more than enough trouble to get all these 'ideas' from." Brad grunted, his forearm sliding off his eyes and gave Danny a pointed look. Danny had to admit, those were very good and valid points. "What else do you expect?"

"Good point." Danny sighed and shifted his gaze back to the endless purple, green and black of the Ghost Zone. He frowned when he saw a speck of white in the distance. "I guess we should get going. I'll bring the Specter Speeder to a turn and we'll start navigating from there."

"Sounds like a… hey, what the heck is that?" Danny tilted his head towards Brad before following the direction that his finger was pointing at. The white speck was growing larger and larger by the passing second but that wasn't the only thing that caught his eye. Behind the speck of white was an entire row of green and black. And they were advancing towards them menacingly.

"Uh… I have a feeling that we should split."

"Gee, you think?" Without needing to be told twice, Danny revved up the Specter Speeder and swung the wheel to turn the vehicle around. As the Specter Speeder took an about turn, he noticed the speck of white thrusting a black gloved hand in their direction and the row of green and black lunged forward.

He didn't think twice before slamming his foot down on the accelerator hard and caused the Specter Speeder to burst forward in a speed that rivaled the earlier burst. The green and red exhaust from the rockets billowed out from behind them, literally making their pursuers eat their dust. And luckily for Danny, Brad did not chastise him about his impromptu decision and concentrated more on looking out for the creepy row of ghosts that were trailing after them.

"Someone needs to time the maximum speed a ghost goes, because they're actually gaining on us." Danny cursed and stole a glance at the side view mirror to see that Brad was right. The green ghosts clad in black armor were definitely gaining on them and the Specter Speeder was almost at its full speed. To make their situation any worse, the ghosts started opening fire at them with the strange green sticks that they were holding.

The Specter Speeder rumbled and jerked as the bolts of green struck the helm of the vehicle. Both Brad and Danny grunted as the Specter Speeder shook violently while Danny tried forcing the accelerator to move faster. Quickly, Brad surveyed the array of buttons on the console before jabbing a finger at one with the label 'back lasers'.

A whirring noise sounded and Brad stole a look at the side view mirror at his side of the Specter Speeder to see the lasers pop out from the surface of the vehicle and began blasting the ghosts behind them. The lasers didn't seem to be daunting the ghosts in their hunt. "We're either going to have to hope we find the portal soon or devise a better plan. Like now"

"I hear you!" Danny grunted, suddenly swerving the Specter Speeder to avoid a head-on collision with a floating boulder. Brad gritted his teeth and clung onto the backrest of the seat as Danny swerved the vehicle again and took multiple turns in an attempt of throwing the ghosts off their tail. "But I'm really out of options! Try the other weapons!"

Brad moved forward to survey the console again. Before he could reach forward to push a button, a sudden blast jerked the Specter Speeder violently, causing the seatbelt to snap Brad back against the seat harshly. The blond hissed at the burning pain that was roaring on his chest but stuck his head to the side to look at the damage.

One of the side lasers had been blasted apart, sparks of green lashing out angrily from the gaping hole of where it once had been. He jerked backwards when a bright bolt of green flashed right next to the screen on his side. Brad quickly jabbed another button with the 'auto blasters' label and more firing noises could be heard above the loud roaring of the Specter Speeder's engine.

"Isn't there a navigation system in here?" Brad shouted above the noise, clutching onto the bottom of the seat tightly as Danny repeatedly jammed his foot down on the accelerator. "Like something that could have mapped our way back to your folks' portal or an auto pilot system or something?!"

"Read the manual: zilch!" Danny replied back, jerking the steering wheel again to avoid more floating boulders. The raven haired boy stole a glance at the side view mirror and was viciously grateful when he saw a few of the trailing ghosts smack into the boulders. "Darn it, these guys just won't quit!"

"I hate to say this, but I told you so!" Brad shouted back, grunting as another blast smashed against the hull of the Specter Speeder. "If we survive this, I'm going to kill you Danny. I'll kill you, resuscitate you and repeat the process."

"Once we get out of this mess, I'll gladly let you." The hybrid murmured, beginning to regret bringing Brad into his insane idea of driving the Specter Speeder into the Ghost Zone. Danny suspected that Tucker had rubbed off him more than he thought. He was getting more excited by the new inventions that his parents would make, ignoring the distasteful names for the devices.

Another blast rocked the Specter Speeder and Danny flinched when the ghosts appeared by the front of the vehicle. "Oh shoot! Hang on!"

Brad cursed violently when the Specter Speeder tilted ninety degrees to his side and found himself plastered against the window as they surged forward between two rocks. His mind raced with the many possible tortures he would subject Danny to after the entire fiasco was over and if they survived.

Oh how he would love to disembowel his friend for dragging him into this spectacular mess. It was even worse than when he trailed the Poison Ivy. Way worse.

When the Specter Speeder went back to its upright position, it was rocked again by three consecutive blasts that would have thrown the boys in a whack if they had not fastened their seatbelts. But it didn't mean the straps of leather didn't burn against their chest when they were jerked about.

But the next thing that happened threw them completely off guard. For the past fifteen to twenty minutes, all they had seen were the green ghosts in black gear chasing them. Standing or rather, floating in front of the Specter Speeder was the white ghost with a black cowboy hat and gloves.

"DANNY! LOOK OUT!" Startled, Danny tried swerving the Specter Speeder away but a sudden blast caused him to loosen his grip on the steering wheel, causing the vehicle to slam sideways against a floating rock. He only just barely managed to release the accelerator from the bottom of his foot to lessen the impact. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

The whiplash from the seatbelts burned like a raging forest fire as the boys were roughly jerked about before the Specter Speeder came to a full stop. The power slowly drained from the console of the vehicle before it became quiet, totally powered down from its use.

Danny groaned and rubbed the bruising spot on his head that had connected with the console when they had crashed. With blurred vision, he could hardly make out Brad slumped forward in his seat, his head lolled to the side with a trickle of red flowing down from the top of his head. On the console to Brad's right, Danny faintly saw a splotch of red coloring that part of the console.

He grunted and tried to shake the blurriness from his eyes. He needed to concentrate, he needed to get them out of there! Danny slowly pried himself off the front of the console to see the one of the green ghosts lifting Brad out of the seat, phasing him through the seatbelt and slung him over his shoulder.

"Hmm, interesting. My bait came to me… The plan is going perfectly." Danny jerked his body upwards and yelped as his back slammed against the back rest of the seat, his muscles screaming in pain. The white ghost with the black cowboy hat was right in front of him, smirking at him sinisterly as the green ghost carrying the unconscious Brad floated towards him. Brad's black cell phone protruded out from his pocket and clattered onto the metal floor of the Specter Speeder.

Danny winced as his hands shakily tried to unhook the seatbelt that was anchoring him down on the seat. He winced as the white clad ghost shot forward and gripped his shoulders tightly. Danny's muscles screamed in agony, already battered and bruised from the aftermath of the crash. He opened his eyes to see the ghost speak to him in a menacing tone.

"Tell the ghost boy, Phantom, that I have his little friend with me. And if he's smart, he'll turn himself over to me for breaking my laws. Tell him… Walker wants him." Danny tried to squirm out of the ghost's grip but found his conscious slowly slipping away. His sight began to blur heavily as the ghost released him and stepped back.

That's when everything went dark.

* * *

The loud constant ringing of a phone jolted him out of his unconscious state. Danny groaned and slumped back against the seat, his hand running through his messed up locks until he felt the hardened miniature rivers of blood under the tips of his fingers. The event came racing back into his mind in a flash and he immediately sat up straight and tried to dash out of the seat.

Big mistake. The seatbelt held him back tightly, causing him to jerk backwards and hit the backrest of the seat. He hissed softly as the pain shot up his entire body. The ringing had stopped but the sound was still echoing in his mind. Walker's words plagued his brain repeatedly with the accompaniment of the ringing.

Him. Walker wanted him. His ghost half at least, but still him. Danny's hand went to his side to release the seatbelt and freed his body from the strap. Immediately, the top half of his body slumped forward and he buried his face into his hands in dismay. God. Everything was aiming back at him. Walker had taken Brad just to get to him. Was he cursed or something?

Suddenly, the ringing noise was back. Danny lifted his head from his hands and took a careful glance around the interior of the Specter Speeder. Was he still in the Ghost Zone? That question would have to wait. Right now, he had to get rid of whatever was making that ringing noise. He was getting a migraine!

Danny dropped down to his knees and went searching for the infernal object that was _still_ ringing. The pounding in his head was increasing as his eyes slid back and forth in search for the source of the noise. He grunted in pain but found the object, reaching forward to swipe the innocent black cell phone before flipping it open, not caring who it was on the other side, and growled.

"_What_?!"

"… Danny? What are you doing with Brad's cell phone?" Lee's concerned voice floated out from the ear piece of the phone. Danny's blood froze when he heard her and Casse's own voice echoing in the background. "The both of you should be up by now, it's about eight in the morning already!"

Eight…? In the morning…? Danny almost dropped the cell phone in shock. He had been out since last night! _Brad had been in Walker's clutches for over twelve hours_! He began to panic internally until Lee's voice penetrated through his conscious with worry.

"Danny? Danny what's going on? Where's Brad?" The hybrid forced himself to calm down. He had to distract them. There was no way he was going to let them worry about the mess that he made. He quickly thought over the different excuses he could make and went with the first thing that entered his mind, desperate to make sure that Lee did NOT hand the phone over to his mother.

"Nothing! Just… feeling a little cranky." He could practically _hear_ the cynicism in the noise that Lee made. That usually meant that he'd have to try harder in assuring her. Danny heard Casse's voice in the background, asking her sister what was wrong. He quickly cut in to prevent Lee from speaking out. "We were up all night playing Mario Go Kart because he made the jibe that I sucked at it. So we sorta got carried away with it."

"Are you serious?" Apparently Casse had overheard and chirped over the phone. A wry smile graced Danny's lips. He could imagine Casse sprawled over her sister's lap and stealing the phone from her. "Man you boys have such competitive streaks. We need to give their masculine butts a good kick, don't you think Fairy?"

A muffled groan of 'Pixie!' made Danny's smile grow wider. It was good that he was distracting them. He really needed to get off the phone and start planning a way to save Brad from Walker… wherever he came from. He flumped down to his butt and leaned against the bottom of the seats before talking into the phone again.

"Yea, yea. Well, Brad and I are going to do some male bonding… and we're probably going to busy ourselves so much that we won't even give a thought to picking up the phone…"

"If he's still sleeping, smother him with a pillow!" Casse advised before she suddenly yelped. Apparently, Lee stole the phone back from her and had shoved the younger girl off her lap.

"Well, I was just calling to check up on you guys. Ouch!" Danny was pretty sure that Casse was throwing some objects in retaliation to Lee shoving her off her lap. He could hear the maniacal crackle echoing in the background. "We're all taking a hike today so we're won't exactly be accessible through the phone. Just to let you guys know in case you want to try calling later. So take care and have a good day ok?"

"Sure. Enjoy the hike!" With a thanks and yelp, Danny quickly shut the phone off and breathed. He had about twenty-four hours to rescue Brad from the Ghost Zone, solo. The last he knew, Brad had been knocked unconscious with blood trickling down his forehead…

Danny winced and brought a hand up to his own bruised head. Well, Brad wasn't the only one suffering from injuries from their unceremonious crash. He groaned and struggled to his feet, grunting at the throbbing pain that was pounding in his head. When he lifted his head up, he was startled to see the surroundings of the Specter Speeder to be his parents' laboratory.

He quickly stumbled out of the vehicle, the black cell phone clutched tightly in his hand. Danny quickly surveyed the basement, surprised to find it suspiciously untouched. How did he end up back home? The event hadn't been a dream, the Specter Speeder was almost totaled and his injuries sure didn't come from tossing about while sleeping. So how?

The hybrid didn't have time to ponder over it, the pounding migraine returned with a vengeance and he grimaced in pain. First thing's first… He needed painkillers. And a shower. Danny made a face at the smell that his body was giving off. But it couldn't compare to the smell of blood that was crusted on the side of his head.

He didn't spare any minute by lingering in the showers or resting like he should. Danny got to work, cleaning himself up thoroughly and only applying disinfect on his head wound before downing two slices of bread followed up with the painkiller. Despite the pounding migraine that had yet to leave his mind, Danny ran through various plans of action that would be feasible for him to execute alone.

Danny ran his hand over his messy bangs and scowled at the Fenton Portal, as if the portal was the source of all his pain. Which was virtually true in a sense; the portal had been the thing to give him his powers and release an almost endless number of ghostly adversaries that he had to fight on a daily basis. But he couldn't imagine his life without that feeling of power surging through his veins whenever he transformed or even the ghost fights and chases he put up with in the night.

His lips curved into a wry smile. Great. He was becoming too used to the powers that he held. He could no longer imagine his life without it anymore and it was starting to make him feel like some power obsessed moron.

The hybrid groaned and slumped against the wall. The situation was insanely ridiculous and his friend's life was on the line, just because a stupid ghost wanted his ghost half jailed. Life was sick, but he had to deal with it. There wasn't any point whining or throwing a tantrum about it. It wouldn't help him save Brad.

Danny stared at his hands sullenly as his body slid against the wall and his jeaned bottom made contact with the icy cold floor of the laboratory. How on earth was he going to single handedly pull off a rescue without any sort of backup? It irked him greatly, that he usually felt safer when either Sam or Tucker was standing behind him and catching him if he failed once, but now neither one of them were around.

He depended so much on his friends before that now, when he was forced to do a solo mission, he felt strangely alone.

Frowning, he shook his head and stared firmly at his hands. No. He didn't have the luxury of wallowing in his pit of guilt. Gingerly he got to his feet, with only one plan of action racing through his now clear mind. The pounding migraine had vanished, the painkillers done their job properly by banishing it though his muscles were still aching here and there.

He had to give himself up to Walker. But he knew that there would be strings attached; the ghost had this menacing aura that Danny did not trust. He had to be prepared. Mentally, he looked over all other options as he transformed into his ghost half. He glanced at the black cell phone in his hand that winked merrily at him, the tiny screen flashing the time of eleven in the morning.

He clutched the phone tightly in his fist for a moment before he slowly reached forward and set it on the counter. Danny stared at the phone for a moment, hoping that his earlier excuse had been enough to deter anyone from calling them while he was out trying to save Brad. He couldn't risk taking the phone with him, if anyone did call, his position would be compromised.

He couldn't afford the risk when his friend's life was at stake.

With one last look at the black object sitting on the table, Danny levitated off the ground and flew straight into the portal. He had a friend to save.

* * *

"Ow!"

"Careful of the pine needles girls, even if we're wearing shoes, it could still go through the rubber if you step hard enough." Lee gingerly plucked the little needle from the sole of her shoe and tossed it away. It wasn't a very big needle but it did enough to leave her foot sore. But the hike was going fairly well in her opinion. Despite the earlier dodgy call she had made to check up on Brad and Danny earlier in the day, the exhilarating hike was making up for it.

The air was fresh, not a tinge of smoky smells and the sight was simply wondrous. Untouched natural habitats and wild animals (as long as they didn't disturb them) had to be the most spectacular sights she had ever seen. Casse was just as eager as she was, excitedly observing all the animals that they came across with much enthusiasm.

Being born and bred in a high tech but dreary city like Gotham, there wasn't exactly much nature around and the parks just didn't have that same aura like the natural wild had. The beauty of the natural untouched wild was definitely a new experience for the two Angeles girls.

They stopped once in a while to take in the sights, Lee snapping a few photographs with the simple digital camera she had brought along. Some of Maddie gazing gently at the sky and Jazz observing the various species of plants. She even caught one of Casse climbing a tree when she was trying to get her backpack back from the mischievous little raccoons that had stolen it. There was nothing Lee could think up of that could possibly spoil the day.

Well. Virtually almost nothing. Hunters hadn't even crossed her mind until it happened.

Initially, they had dismissed the rustling of the leaves to be made by one of the wild animals and left it at that. But the gunshot that suddenly rang in the air startled them, grazing Casse's cheek and making the youngest Angeles stumble backwards. Before they could react, more gunshots were fired in their general direction.

Maddie moved swiftly, grabbing Jazz who was the closest to her and flung them out of harms way but Lee and Casse were not as fortunate to have her reflexes. Casse cried out in pain as her foot fell into a hole and twisted her ankle when she tried to move away. She stumbled further backwards with her arms flailing about in a wild attempt to regain her equilibrium.

"STOP! We're not wild animals you crazy hunters!" Maddie tried to raise her voice above the noise then echoes of shouts began to ring in her ears in tune with the gunshots. The woman gasped in horror when a bullet pierced through Lee's wrist, the dark blond crying out in pain and clutching her wounded hand. The camera clattered on the ground noisily when her grip over it loosened and Maddie fought to hold Jazz down from leaping forward to help them.

Casse's next startled scream pierced through the air as she lost her equilibrium and fell backwards over the hill. Ignoring the stabbing pain that was racing through her muscles, Lee surged forward, frantically trying to grab a hold of her sister. She managed to get a grip on Casse's wrist with her injured hand and flinched at the pain that electrocuted her senses. Vaguely she heard shouts and screams, but the only thing she was concentrated on was her frightened sister.

Her weight hadn't been enough to pull them back to safety; both girls tipped over the edge of the hill and Lee instinctively drew Casse into her protective embrace as they fell. The wind roared in their ears with the panicked echoes of voices that were no longer familiar to them and their eyes tightly squeezed shut.

Maddie and Jazz yelled and screamed, dashing towards the edge only to see the falling two disappear beneath the dense umbrella of trees. Jazz trembled and shook while faintly hearing her mother scream obscenities at the hunters who had revealed themselves from their hiding spots.

The relaxing weekend trip had just become a complete nightmare from hell.

* * *

Brad woke up with the mother of all headaches. His muscles felt like they were on liquid fire, burning his sense of touch and making him hiss in pain. He groaned lightly, feeling something crusty covering the right side of his face. He grimaced as pain shot up his spine while he tried to move. Nothing.

His vision was blurry, so Brad shook his head about, trying to clear his vision to see where he was. His fists clenched and unclenched from the top of his head. Brad lifted his head up slowly to see his hands clamped down at the top of his head on each side. He flinched when the pounding of drums resumed in the recesses of his mind when he had lifted his head and allowed it to drop back to its downcast position.

He idly took note that his legs were in the same position as his hands, only clamped below him and there was a clamp at his waist too. Vaguely, he made a mental image of the position he was in and made it out like he was possibly clamped in the figure of an 'X'.

Shifting his upper body about slowly in the clamps, he heard a tiny tinkling noise which resembled his chains when they got in contact with each other. But he was sure that he hadn't shifted his waist and slowly lifted his head upwards again to take a closer look at the clamps that were holding him prisoner. They were actually a series of chains woven together as a clamp.

"Well, well. It seems our bait has awakened." The sudden voice that was filled with so much menace caused Brad to jerk his head up and attempted to find the owner of the voice. But with his current condition, the sudden movement made the visions spiral out of control in his eyes. He squeezed them shut, valiantly trying to regain some equilibrium to make the world stop spinning.

"I would suggest that you cease movement due to your current condition, but where's the fun in that?" That voice was beginning to piss him off. The guy had only spoken two sentences and Brad was just about ready to snap back at him. If only the stupid-god-forsaken world would just _stop spinning_ for a few moments for him to lash out…

A rough hand grabbed a hold of his chin and forced his head up, but Brad hadn't opened his eyes just yet. His mind was still spiraling out of control and the leather smell from the gloves weren't helping him at all.

"Open your eyes bait." Brad scowled internally. Did that guy want him to puke out his guts when his world was still spinning about haphazardly? When the hand jerked his head again, making the muscles on his neck scream in pain, Brad forced his unfocused eyes open slowly.

The sudden flash of light blinded him momentarily and Brad squeezed his eyes shut tightly. A sharp response was poised at the tip of his tongue, ready to fly out of his mouth once he so much as was going to open it…

Only to realize that the dizzy spell was gone along with the nausea. The words died at his lips when the realization hit him. His head was no longer spinning but still he shook it to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Nope. The spell was completely gone. But why did his captor do that?

He was brought out of his thoughts when the gloved hand jerked his chin upwards again. Even with the pounding in his head gone, it didn't mean the aches did. Brad winced as the muscles on his neck strained and he was brought eye to eye with his captor.

'A bloody blinding white ghost' was the first thought that entered his mind at the sight. He didn't know the name of the ghost and idly thought that the first thing Casse would have named that ghost would be 'Mr. Twinkle'. Brad decided to keep to that name until he found out the ghost's real name… if he ever had any.

The dark green eyes that were staring straight back at him weren't the friendly bright green he was used to seeing. But then again, he wasn't exactly looking at Phantom now was he? Unless he managed to drop into some parallel universe where Phantom was a complete nutcase with a white suit and ridiculous black cowboy hat.

He forced his mouth shut as 'Mr. Twinkle' continued to study him closely. Brad's eyes narrowed and yanked his chin away from the ghost's grasp, glaring at him with such ferocity that made 'Mr. Twinkle' smirk. He didn't like that smirk the ghost was showing but didn't trust his mouth to speak.

'Mr. Twinkle' was still smirking and it was starting to feel disconcerting but Brad held his tongue in check. He spared a quick glance around the room he was held in, his heart dropping when he didn't see any sign of Danny. Brad swallowed silently before speaking out. "What do you want from me? Where's Danny?"

Silence. That stupid 'Mr. Twinkle' was _still_ smirking at him. Brad held down the urge to activate the hand bracers. Even if he had activated them, it would have only alerted 'Mr. Twinkle' of the weapon that was still comfortingly clasped on his hands. The Specter Deflector was the same; only he wouldn't be able to reach down to activate it with his hands tied above his head.

"That little friend of yours is delivering a message for me." Internally, Brad released a sigh of relief. That meant that Danny was safe, he could live with that. Even if it was his crazy idea that got him into this mess. "And you are my bait."

"Bait?" Brad's head jerked upwards to glare at 'Mr. Twinkle', his tone sharp and his tongue fast. "Bait for what?"

"Oh you'll see little bait." Brad scowled at 'Mr. Twinkle's' name for him. This was not looking good. "But for now…"

A swift and hard punch in the gut caught Brad off guard. The wind was knocked out of him and he slowly felt his conscious slipping away from him. He coughed slightly, a trickle of blood slowly escaping the side of his lips. 'Mr. Twinkle' was still smirking in front of him as his vision blurred and the world began to darken.

"It's time to see what secrets you keep so hard in your heart…"

'_Oh fuck.'_ Was the last thought that raced through Brad's mind before his world became shrouded in darkness.

* * *

Pain. There was an incredible searing pain coursing through her body as Casse woke up. Vaguely she noticed that she was lying on top of something soft, but the pain was simply too much for her to think any further about it. Her ankle was throbbing and she could feel a moist sensation on her cheek. She groaned and felt her cheek press against that strange soft thing she was lying on until a pained whisper, so soft that she almost didn't hear it, called out to her.

"Pixie… I need you to get off me." The whisper jolted her mind back to reality and realized that the soft 'thing' she was lying on top of was actually her sister. She gave a frightened squeal and quickly rolled off her older sibling who finally filled her lungs with air.

"Ohmygosh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…!" Casse's squeaks of apologies met deaf ears as Lee tried to regain her state of mind. While her sister continued to spew out her apologies, Lee rubbed her eyes with her uninjured wrist and slowly tried to sit up. Casse ceased in mid apology and got to her knees, helping Lee to a sitting position and tried not to wince at the throbbing pain on her ankle.

"Ah… that was a really nasty shock…" Lee grimaced and rubbed the sore spot on her head before turning her focus onto her sister, gently ushering her closer to inspect any injuries she thought Casse might have sustained. "Casse? You ok?"

"You broke my fall…" She replied weakly, leaning forward to snuggle into her sister's embrace. "I'm ok… just that my ankle's twisted and I can't move it too much…"

"Sit properly." Casse obeyed at the simple command, watching Lee crawl over to their backpacks and drag them back towards the spot. Once done, the darker blond began to rummage through her backpack, fishing out a first aid kit and some water.

The first thing Lee did was to tend to Casse's wounds. The other protested against it, pointing out that a bullet lodged in the wrist was a more pressing injury but was silenced with a stern glare. Casse watched silently as her sister worked, grimacing at the winces of pain Lee made when she shifted her wrist about too much.

Satisfied with her handiwork, Lee proceeded to treat her own wounds. Casse bit her lip hard as Lee advanced towards the wound with a pair of tweezers, intent on dislodging the bullet from her wrist. It took a while, but the bullet finally loosened and dropped to the ground with a tinkling sound. With the bullet out, Lee swiftly disinfected the wound and tied up her wrist firmly with a cloth.

Casse watched as Lee shakily got to her feet, motioning for her to stay put before disappearing through the trees to scout the area. Alone, the blond sighed and reached out to grab her backpack. Gulping down a cup of water, Casse surveyed the area they had landed in and looked upwards to see dangling broken branches of the trees above her. She noted that she could barely see the sun from where she was sitting and wondered how they survived the fall.

Finished with her water, she continued to survey the area while seated. Casse blinked as she spotted a small depression in the ground just a few feet away from her and slowly crawled over to it. She stared wide-eyed at the large print on the soil, reaching forward to inspect it further.

The base of the print looked human enough but it was much too large to be a human's. Another tip off that made her certain that the print wasn't a human's was the sharp pointed 'toes' at the end of the print. Casse continued to inspect the footprint, oblivious to the looming shadow that was behind her.

Lee sighed and rubbed her wrist gently as she made her way back to the area where she had left Casse. The forest was quite dense but making tracks would be easy. She patted the mud off her pants as she entered the clearing and lifted her head up.

Her eyes flew wide open at the figure behind her sister and screamed.

Startled at her sister's sudden scream, Casse's head whipped up and spun around to see a large black wolf towering above her. Standing on his hind legs and giving her an enormously large grin that showed all of his sharp teeth.

Now it was Casse's turn to scream.

She scooted backwards as fast as her injured ankle would allow while Lee grabbed a large stick on the ground and stepped in front of her. The older girl brandished the stick in front of her as menacingly while trying to school a fierce expression.

"Stay back!" The large wolf simply stayed in his position, his bright green eyes following the movement of the stick. Without warning he lunged forward, teeth glinting in his wide open mouth. Casse screamed while Lee yelped and braced herself, the stick flying out of her hand to the side.

After a few moments, Lee cracked open one eye, wondering why there was no impact unless the creature had gone for Casse. She blinked when she saw the large wolf in front of her, sitting on his hind legs with the stick firmly in his mouth and his tail swishing to and fro happily. Lee gaped as the wolf dropped the stick at her feet, his eyes staring straight at her with anticipation as his tail continued to wag about.

Both blonds continued to stare at the wolf, which began to look rather impatient. The creature shifted forward to nudge Lee with his wet nose and opened his mouth. Casse and Lee flinched at the sight of his large teeth but were stunned to silence at the next noise that was made.

"_Jeti_." His hand curved and pointed a single claw at the stick by Lee's feet. "_Jeti glui_. **(1)**"

"Huh?" The two girls were stunned at the wolf's ability to speak but it was swiftly taken over by confusion at the language he was using. The creature repeated his words, pointing to the stick and nudging Lee's hand. His expression fell when the sisters continued to look at him with confused looks, still trying to understand what he was talking about.

Casse watched as the wolf's mouth drew into an incredibly adorable pout and began sulking on all fours with his eyes glaring at the stick on the ground. Shakily, she got to her knees and reached forward to tug at her sister's pant leg. Managing to catch Lee's attention, she pointed to the stick and made a throwing motion with her hand, thinking that was what the creature wanted.

Hesitantly, Lee moved forward, flinching when the bright green eyes followed the stick when she had bent down to pick it up. The eyes continued to watch her every movement but a tiny spark of hope was lighting in those green orbs. With as much power as she could muster with her uninjured wrist, the stick flew in the air and the wolf immediately scampered off towards it in a hurry, his tail wagging about in joy.

The two sisters were left in the area in a stunned silence. They glanced at each other and Casse offered her older sister a shrug of her shoulders and turned her gaze back in the direction the wolf had retreated off to.

The next minute, the creature came bounding back to them with the stick in his mouth and his tail swishing about like an excited dog. The stick was dropped onto the ground and the wolf leaned forward with his tongue out and licked Lee's cheek. Lee had squeezed her eyes shut and grimaced at the feeling of drool slobbering down her cheek while Casse stifled her laughter at the sight.

The wolf then retreated and sat down on his hind legs like a canine. Deciding that he wasn't about to attack and tear them apart, Lee wiped the drool off her cheek and sat down beside Casse. The wolf stared at them and they did likewise to him, all three of them enveloped in silence. It startled the girls when the wolf made the first move, raising his claw and pointing to himself.

"Wulf." He said in a low guttural voice that held no malice. "I Wulf."

"So… you're name is Wulf?" The wolf, Wulf, nodded his head, his tail wagging about happily as he pointed a claw at each of them. Lee took this as a sign to introduce themselves to him. "I'm Lee and this is my sister Casse."

"_Fratinos_?" Wulf echoed in his language, stepping forward on all fours and gave each girl a good sniff. He then pointed at Lee and then Casse, almost as if he was trying to signify who they were in his language. "_Pliaga fratino_._ Plijuna fratino_. **(2)**"

"Um…" Casse exchanged a confused glance with Lee, who was trying to figure out what language Wulf was talking in. Neither of them knew what to reply him with but Wulf had decided that it didn't matter. He reached forward towards Casse, his eyes beckoning her to bring her hand out. Once she did, he leaned forward and nuzzled her hand with his nose.

"_Amiko_." He growled softly, shifting away from Casse's hand and went to nuzzle Lee's shoulder with equal gentleness. He stared at them and attempted to phrase his words in broken English for them to understand him. "You friend. _Amiko_."

"_Amiko_." The two chorused out gently, understanding that Wulf was now calling them his friends. Lee and Casse exchanged smiles as Lee reached forward and gently scratched the back of Wulf's ear, causing the large canine to give a wide smile and close his eyes in content.

They had almost forgotten the situation they were in until Lee hissed in pain when she applied too much weight on her wrist. Casse absently rubbed her own swollen ankle while leaning forward to check on her sister's injury. Even Wulf leaned forward to sniff at the bandage, his eyes trained on Lee's pained face with concern.

"I'm… ok. It just stings a little…"

"A little?" Casse frowned and stared into her sister's eyes. "Fairy, you had a bullet in your wrist! It should be hurting lots! There isn't any harm in saying that it hurts!"

"If I did that, you'd never leave it alone." Lee shot back calmly, her eyes staring back at Casse's strongly without backing down. "And you're ankle is just as bad as my wrist. You might have to put it in a cast because you might have dislocated the ankle bone."

Casse released a frustrated sigh and wished that she had listened to the first aid lessons that Alfred had insisted on giving them when they were younger. Lee had been the only one to listen to Alfred while she and Brad went off into daydream land. Lee was usually right in identifying the severity of the injuries on them but if it came to her own injuries, she wouldn't tell them exactly how bad it was.

"We're going to need to start moving." Casse snapped out of her thoughts as Lee murmured thoughtfully, her chin resting in her hands. "There's bound to be a river around here that we can follow back to the cabin."

"And if we're still stuck here by nightfall, we can set up camp near the river for rest." Lee nodded as her sister quickly caught on to what she was thinking about. "So… I guess we gotta start walking now huh? It's about going to afternoon."

"_Rivero_." Wulf yipped out, catching their attention by nudging both girls' shoulders with his wet nose. "_Amiko,_ Wulf bring _rivero_. **(3)**"

"That's sweet of you Wulf." Lee smiled, getting a tiny gist of what Wulf was aiming for. She gently reached forward to touch the top of his nose and stroked it tenderly. "Thank you for helping us."

"_Fali_." The wolf-man licked the base of Lee's stroking hand and regarded the two sisters sternly while pointing a claw upwards. "_Fratinos fali_ sky. Wulf _savi fratinos_. **(4)**"

"You were the one who saved us?" Casse blurted out, staring wide-eyed at Wulf with Lee. Wulf nodded his head and continued to stare straight at them as they did likewise to him. "How did you do that Wulf?"

"Wulf _fantomo_." The large wolf grinned widely, showing his sharp teeth and pointed a claw to himself. He then got up on his hind legs and did a demonstration of what he did. Wulf extended his claws and swiped the air mightily, ripping a hole in the empty space that elicited gasps from the sisters.

Next he entered the hole and the rips closed up. Lee and Casse exchanged shocked glances with each other before warily surveying their surroundings. A bark from above them caused their heads to tilt upwards to see Wulf dangling out from another rip in the empty air. He leapt down, slashing his claws at the hole and closing it before landing on the ground safely in front of the two of them.

Wulf simply grinned at their stunned looks and crouched down on his hind legs, enjoying their expressions of shock. Casse had quickly snapped out of her shock, her eyes sparkling with excitement and glee with her next exclamation.

"That was so cool!" Lee shook her head in amusement as Casse gushed in excitement about Wulf's abilities. While her younger sister was happily chattering with Wulf, Lee slowly got to her feet and hobbled over to their backpacks. Just as she bent down to grab them, Wulf had gotten a hold of her and swung her onto his shoulder. Startled, Lee straightened her back to see Casse grinning at her on Wulf's other shoulder.

The next she knew, Wulf was handing her one of the backpacks and offering her a wide grin. Glancing between her sister and Wulf, Lee's lips finally broke into a tiny smile, taking the backpack and thanking Wulf quietly. The large werewolf stood up straight with his claws gently holding both girls firmly down on his shoulders and the three disappeared through the thick bushes of the forest.

* * *

Danny raced through the Ghost Zone, intent on finding Walker's domain. Many of the ghosts had fled at the mention of Walker, leaving him frustrated and edgy. From what he had managed to leech out from some of the ghosts, Walker was a notorious ghost in the Ghost Zone who believed that his rules were the absolute laws of the realm.

According to the ghosts, Walker had a nasty temper and never showed any mercy to anyone who so broke his laws in the Ghost Zone. With that information, Danny speculated that he must have broken one of Walker's 'absolute' laws and was being hunted for it. But he thought that it was utterly ridiculous for the ghost to go around arresting any ghost he deemed were breaking his own laws.

Danny had a feeling that the laws were just something made to feed Walker's overly large ego and he was planning on deflating that ego as revenge.

But none of the ghosts had managed to point him in the direction of Walker's prison. He fished out a tiny watch from the belt (which he practically made a part of his uniform) and grimaced when he looked at the time. He had been wandering around the Ghost Zone for three hours with no luck whatsoever on finding the prison and it was beginning to make him feel nervous.

That is, until now.

The Box Ghost was making a nuisance of himself again, dashing up to Danny and attempting to scare him with his comical screech of 'BEWARE'. The hybrid simply folded his arms across his chest and gave the Box Ghost an uninterested stare.

While the Box Ghost continued to try scaring him, Danny unfolded his arms and stared at the looming figure behind the raving ghost. Thinking that he was beginning to scare the white haired teen, the squat little ghost began declaring victory until a large glove hand wrapped its fingers around his throat from behind and brought him backwards.

The Box Ghost choked when he met the glaring green eyes of Walker, whose lips curved into a sinister smirk as he brutally flung the squat ghost into one of the floating cages that were staged behind him. The ghost rattled the bars of the cage and screeched out to Danny.

"Flee! Before you end up like me and walk into your DOOM!" Despite the Box Ghost's warnings, Danny stood firmly as he faced the smirking face of Walker. The white ghost made no move, only standing in his position with his hands behind his back and staring straight into Danny's eyes while he did likewise.

"So, my message was properly sent to you." Danny's eyes narrowed as Walker began taking steps forward. He forced the impulse to run down and stood firmly in his position as Walker continued. "Do you have any idea just how many laws of mine you've broken?"

"No, I don't." He retorted back rebelliously, glaring at Walker with open defiance in his bright green eyes. "Why don't you enlighten me on what petty laws of yours that I've broken."

"Arrogant little whelp." Walker's smirk had vanished, replaced with a deep scowl as he reached forward to grab Danny. "I ought to throw you in, throw the key away and let you rot in my prison for such defiance! My rules are the law of the Ghost Zone! Anyone who breaks them will suffer the consequences."

"Huh. So, that means you've never been able to catch me at all and you've swooped as low as to injure my friends and kidnap one of them to lure me in." Danny sneered as he drifted away from Walker's grasp a little, his eyes never breaking contact with Walker's. "Some warden you are."

"And I still have him." Danny grimaced as the smirk returned to Walker's face. "Face it whelp. Either you come with me, or your little friend suffers the consequences instead."

"Humph." The hybrid snorted, still glaring at Walker while drifting silently in the empty space. "Then we make a deal. I follow you to your prison and you let him go. Or else I swear I'll force my way out and make sure you no longer have a prison to look out for."

Without warning, Danny blasted one of his strongest ghost rays at one of the cages, decimating it in a manner of seconds to prove that he wasn't joking. Walker didn't bat an eye but Danny could tell that he had proven his point. Instead of being shoved unceremoniously into one of the other cages, the prison warden motioned for him to follow.

The journey to the prison was long a silent. Danny refused to answer to any of Walker's questions and completely ignored the Box Ghost's wails. He had a feeling that Walker would try to get his guards to subdue him and not release Brad, but this was the only option that he had.

They finally reached the large purple building, the cage containing the Box Ghost roughly flung inside while Walker turned around to look at Danny. He quickly braced himself when fifteen of the guards flung themselves at him from the doors. Danny blasted a few of them away but Walker had shot two pairs of cuffs to render his legs and hands useless.

He simply glared at Walker, his eyes speaking his words for him to tell the white ghost that he knew that he had planned it all along. Either Walker didn't catch it or was ignoring it because he had grabbed a hold of the cuffs that were on Danny's wrists and dragged him into the prison premises.

They passed various cells in the prison, many of them Danny recognized as ones he had fought and defeated before. All of them were hissing and snarling at him but what surprised him was Skulker at the end of the line leading to another room. The mechanical ghost's hand shot through the bars to grab a hold of Danny's arm.

"Whelp. He's done something to the boy." Stunned at Skulker's generosity in giving him information, Danny simply nodded to him as the larger ghost released his arm and was promptly shoved into the room.

The room was dark but the figure locked in the shape of an 'X' was painfully recognizable. Danny jerked forward, trying to reach out for Brad but was held back by Walker who slammed him against the wall and chained him to it. The hybrid growled and bared his teeth at the smirking white ghost who simply strode across the room.

Brad's hands twitched at odd intervals and his face was paler than normal. Beads of perspiration were rolling down his face and his eyes were squeezed shut in an expression of pain. His head tossed about restlessly, moaning so softly that Danny couldn't hear him. It was as if he was stuck in a nightmare that he couldn't wake up from.

"What did you do to him?" His voice bounced off the walls of the room, his tone low and growling. Danny's eyes narrowed as he saw Brad's face scrunch up and his hands began fisting tightly. "Answer me!"

"Patience whelp." Walker snarled, standing right beside Brad's quivering figure and cupping the blonds' chin in his hand. He smirked and lightly flung the chin out of his hand carelessly. Danny watched the prison warden with eagle eyes, taking note of wherever he went and what actions he did.

"Nocturne!" Danny jerked his head towards the flickering shadows to the left of Walker. The shadows flickered a little more before a black ghost revealed himself. A pair of bright green cuffs chained the ghost's hands together and a dark green collar snapped across his neck. Danny watched as the red eyed ghost glared viciously at Walker.

"What else do you want me for Walker? I've done as you've told me to do." The ghost, Nocturne, hissed and glared at Walker. "The boy is trapped in his worst memory and has the slimmest of chances in waking."

"You liar!" Danny hissed, glaring at Walker while struggling to break free from the chains. "You never meant to let him go at all!"

"Send the whelp into the boy's memory." Walker ordered and ignored Danny's outraged yells and insults. Nocturne glared at his captor, his eyes daring Walker to give him a reason for the order. "I don't need to give you a reason Nocturne, remember who is in control here. Or do I need to give you another reminder?"

Danny could see Nocturne flinch violently and lean backwards away from Walker. It looked as if that the information of Walker being a ruthless and merciless warden was right.

The next thing happened so quickly that Danny didn't have any time to comprehend what was going on. Nocturne suddenly appeared right in front of him with his red eyes glowing darkly at him. A sharp pain pierced through his mind and he felt his eyes droop and begin to lose focus.

His eyes closed for a brief moment and opened to see empty darkness in his field of vision. The chains had mysteriously disappeared and Danny found himself somewhat free, but he knew that something was amiss. The darkness was shifting about, warping into an unfamiliar room around him. Voices began echoing in his mind and all the characters in Brad's memory appeared.

Danny immediately recognized the tiny figure curled up in the blanket on the large bed and some of the surrounding people. The voices grew louder and Danny found himself watching Brad's memory with his full attention, like an extra invisible character to the rest of the cast.

-

_**Memory Flashback**_

"_How is she?" The tiny __9-year-old Lee curled up on the bed panted heavily, her cheeks flushed a deep red and her skin drenched with perspiration. The doctor sighed, turning to the three adults and two blond children in the room with a solemn look on his face._

"_Not too good I'm afraid. Her immune system has suffered a serious attack by this virus but luckily not enough damage done to be considered life threatening. However, she won't be able to get out of bed for the next couple of days, weeks even. The amount of damage is enough to render her utterly vulnerable to any common illness and continue to weaken her."_

"_So, Fairy will be ok?" The doctor blinked and tilted his head down__wards to meet the eyes of the 9-year-old Brad who had spoken softly. The boy had the tinier 9-year-old Casse cuddled in his arms, who was sniffled and peered back up at the doctor with tear brimmed eyes. _

"_Yes, Ms. Angeles will be alright." The doctor smiled, bending down to pat the fluff of bangs on Brad's head. "She'll just need plenty of rest and will need to stay in bed for a while."_

"_Thank you Doctor." Bruce gives a crooked smile and shakes the doctor's hand when he straightens up. "We'll keep in touch if there are any other problems. Alfred and I will accompany you back to your car."_

"_I simply wish that I could do more." Came the solemn reply before the doctor directed his attention to the stoic Tobias who simply offered his hand to him to shake. Bruce and Alfred lead the doctor out, leaving the Angeles family in the room. _

_A tiny sniffle escaped the little Casse's nose as she broke away from her brother's arms and totted over to the bed. The small girl climbed onto the bed and crawled towards her sister's heavily breathing chest. She then wiggled her way under the blankets, head popping up at Lee's left arm and promptly snuggled against her side._

_Brad didn't hesitant in joining his sisters, gently pushing them further into the middle of the bed and situated himself comfortably on Lee's other side. The boy looked up as their father's looming shadow covered them, Tobias reaching forward the tug the blanket and gently tucking all three of them in the bed._

"_Good night dad__."_

"_Sleep well Bradley, Cassandra. Be sure to listen to Alfred when he says to give Amilee some rest."_

-

Tobias's words echoed and faded into the dark as the scene shifted and warped into another. Danny grimaced when he realized that the memory was the beginning of the time period when Lee was bedridden for a fortnight. He didn't have enough time to think when the next scene came into focus, forcing him to draw his attention back to the memory.

-

"_Hey Brat, what are you doing?" __Brad turned his head and scowled at the tall 14-year-old teenager who was smirking down at him. _

"_Weren't you going to go chase skirts down in the main street again today?" The younger boy retorted, causing the spiky raven haired boy's smirk to grow wider. "And it's none of your business what I do Dick."_

"_Temper, temper." __Richard 'Dick' Grayson tsked lightly as he walked towards the boy, dropping a palm down on Brad's mop of blond and ruffled it roughly. The smaller boy's scowl went deeper, lifting his arm up and pushing the taller boy away from him. "Alfred said he's banned you guys from little Lee's room for the morning because you and the Pixie haven't left Lee's side since the doctor's diagnosis."_

"_Shut up." The blond snapped, dodging away from his god brother's swiping hands with a glare. "At least I don't waste my time by stalking down girls who wear tiny clothes with balloons in them and get caught on camera flirting with them."_

"_Your time will come Brat. Your time will come." Dick raised a threatening finger at Brad who continued to glare at him with defiance. __"Why don't go play Prince Charming to Lee anyway. A good kiss on the lips like Sleeping Beauty and poof, she'll be awake."_

"_I'm not that naive." Brad retorted, though his expression seemed to be forced and looked as if he was contemplating the idea. "Go out and find your skinny fangirls and leave me alone!"_

_The older boy simply smirked and before he left, lunged forward and playfully yanked a tuft of Brad's pure blond hair. The 9-year-old yelped out and hollered angrily at his god brother's retreating back. He staked his revenge by throwing one of his slippers at him and smiled when it landed head on with its target. _

_Once Dick was out of sight, Brad's face adopted a thoughtful look. The blond then scooted off in a hurry, skipping up the steps of the stairs two at a time. Brad swiftly made his way to the room where Lee was in with determination plastered on his face._

_The door creaked open slowly and he peeked into the room. The room was empty save for the figure beneath the blankets. Quietly, he plodded into the room and sidled over to the bedside. The 9-year-old gazed at his sister's sweat covered face, her lips spread apart while gasping for air. Gently, he ran a hand down from her hair to her chin with a nervous smile on his face._

_Slowly, he inched his__ face forward. He gulped audibly as his lips hovered just above Lee's parted ones. Finally gathering his courage, Brad lowered his head and did what prince charming did to Sleeping Beauty. He kissed her full on the lips._

-

The scene was abruptly cut short and left Danny too stunned for words. He hadn't thought that Brad would have taken his god brother seriously and actually kissed his sister, at the age of 9 and on the lips no less!

He suddenly had a bad feeling that his earlier idea that he had thrown into the back of his mind was beginning to sound both feasible and true. Danny swallowed loudly and watched the next scene unfold, the dread increasing its weight in the pit of his stomach.

-

"_Kissing someone on the lips is a show of affection, like um… like husbands and wives you know?" His body went stiff as Brad listened to the pretty red-head sitting next to him on the front steps of the Wayne Manor. The boy mulled over her words for a moment before quietly speaking up, staring at the fountain in the middle of the driveway._

"_So… kissing someone else on the lips means your in love with them? More than just friends or siblings?"_

"_Yea it is." Another block of silence filled the air. The red head leaned backwards against the stairs while Brad stared thoughtfully at the fountain, his eyes expressing his emotions to be awkwardly disturbed._

"_Hey Babs," Barbara Gordon gently tilted her head towards Brad's direction as he spoke. "Would it be wrong for siblings to kiss each other then?"_

"_Well, in our society, almost everyone looks down on such relationships. A lot of people say it's the worst kind of romance in the world and shun the people in these relationships." She didn't notice Brad's shoulders stiffen and his fists clenching tightly at her words. _

-

The scene quickly dissolved, leaving Brad's mortified expression planted firmly in Danny's mind. Everything was beginning to make sense. Before he could finish his train of thought, the darkness quickly morphed into another scene.

-

"_Gracious me! Young Master Bradley, what on earth have you done to your hair?!" _

_The balding butler of the Wayne Manor stared in shock at the 9-year-old who had just emerged from the bathroom. The tips of his pale blond hair were now colored black and the hair was styled in a wild spiky manner. _

"_Nothing." Brad shrugged, closing the bathroom door and walked towards the room door. "Just wanted a change."_

"_Master Tobias will not be pleased that you have dyed your hair Young Master Bradley." Alfred warned, stepping backwards from the door frame as the boy walked through. "I don't suppose Young Master Dick has been influencing you recently has he?"_

"_I've never listened to Dick before, why should I listen to him now?" The boy spat out rebelliously, scowling at the mention of his god brother. Alfred's eyebrow shot upwards at the attitude that Brad was giving him. "Besides, __dad's never at home anymore. Why should he bother with what I do with my hair?"_

_Brad left Alfred at the door and walked down the stairs. Without anyone else around, his face twisted into a sad and solemn expression. But once he pushed open the doors to get outside__, he schooled his face to be neutral and stoic. _

_**End Memory Flashback**_

-

A strange feeling churned in the pit of his stomach but Danny was absolutely certain it was not disgust. He was starting to understand a little more about Brad; his reasons for being aloof and keeping that distance between himself and his sisters… It all finally made sense.

The darkness began to warp again, replaying the memory like a broken record. Danny steeled himself and wandered about, hoping to find an opening to get out. He tried to ignore the repeated scenes and focus on finding a way out. He wanted out and once he got out, he'd confront Brad about this entire incident.

Danny just wanted Brad to know that no matter what had happened to him before, he would still be his friend.

* * *

"I think we'd better stop for now." Wulf's large hunkering form paused in his steps, lifting his head to look at Lee. Casse had caught on to what Lee was aiming for, looking up into the sky, she could see an orange hue coloring the blue.

"Yea, it's going to be night… and we need a break. Wulf needs a break." She amended, remembering that the ghost werewolf was the one doing all the work by carrying them. The trio had been following the river for the past few hours, stopping once in a while for a drink or to take a small snack before moving again.

The forest wasn't terribly dense but they knew that wandering around in the dark would be the worst possible idea in such a place. Wulf gently placed the two girls back on the ground and nudged them before scampering off to do whatever business he wanted.

Casse started unpacking the food while Lee got to work on fixing up the tent. Wulf came lumbering back towards them with pieces of wood in his arms and dropped them next to Casse. The ghost wolf licked her cheek affectionately before scampering off again. The two sisters exchanged an amused giggle with each other before returning to their tasks.

Some time later, a fire was crackling merrily away with Casse stirring the soup carefully with a determined look across her face. Lee supervised her while she cooked and Wulf was munching on some strange meat that both sisters had no idea where he had gotten it from.

"Too bad we can't see the sky properly." Casse murmured wistfully, looking up at the umbrella of trees that only allowed a small glimpse of the midnight blue sky. "I bet the stars would be really pretty."

"Wanted it along with the camping experience?" Lee teased gently, bumping shoulders with her sister. The other blond simply grinned and returned the bumping gesture. Wulf watched the sisters in amusement from his spot by the fire, the light from the flames casting his shadow into the bushes.

Silence enveloped them, the trio listening to the voices of the forest as the girls cleaned up their items and packed them away. Wulf situated himself by their tent, looming protectively over the sisters. Casse crawled over to the tent to fish out their torches while Lee kept the fire burning in its tiny circle, making sure that it didn't jump out and spark a forest fire.

"Hey, what if Mrs. Fenton and Jazz find us and Wulf's around?" Casse asked worriedly, crawling back towards her sister with two flashlights and a blanket in her hands. Lee relieved her of the items and flung the blanket over their bodies as Casse curled up against her side. "Wouldn't they think he's trying to hunt us?"

"You have a point." Lee wrapped her arms around Casse and made a thoughtful noise. She turned her head and ushered Wulf to join them by the fire. The ghost wolf stepped forward, curling his body behind their backs and rested his head by Lee's other side. Idly, she released one hand and patted the top of Wulf's head, receiving a low growl of content from the wolf.

"Well, Wulf would be able to smell and hear anyone coming nearby." She murmured, resting her chin on the top of Casse's head as she pulled the blanket tighter over them. "So he'll be able to run of before they reach us."

Wulf nuzzled his nose against Lee's palm, as if gesturing to her that he understood her words and would follow them. He raised his head and leaned towards Casse, whose hand poked out from the blanket and gently stroked the wolf's muzzle.

"If that happens… will we see Wulf again?"

"If you wish hard enough and believe." Casse looked up to see Lee give her a crooked smile. "Man, I've been reading you too many fairytales that I'm actually quoting them. I think I'll read you novels next time when you can't get to bed."

"Noooo!!" Lee laughed as Casse mocked wailed, securing her arms under Lee's arms and burying her face into her chest. Wulf nudged the two girls in amusement. "Give me back my fairytales!"

After a long while of talking, the fire finally dimmed down to embers and Casse was yawning widely while rubbing her eyes sleepily. Lee released a chuckle, dousing the embers with water and hoisted her sleepy sister onto her back. Wulf moved to take the weight of Casse off her, but the dark blond shook her head and motioned for him to sleep as well.

The wolf nuzzled her side before lumbering to the side of their tent, curling up close to the bushes that camouflaged him from sight. Lee deposited Casse into the tent, tucking her now sleeping sister into her sleeping bag before retrieving the flashlights and blanket by the fire pit.

She crawled into the tent, discarding the flashlights to her side and wriggled her way into her sleeping bag. Lee stayed awake for a few more moments before giving a mighty yawn. She spotted the shadow of Wulf's curled up form at the side of the tent and smiled before the lull of the forest drew her to sleep.

* * *

He was getting frustrated. He had been wandering around the place for what seemed like hours with that memory playing around him repeatedly. The more he heard the voices and saw the scenes, the more Danny was feeling like an intruder to Brad's inner secrets. But he corrected himself, he was already considered an intruder when he first entered Brad's mind.

Danny sighed and floated in the air in a lotus position, folding his arms across his chest with a frown on his face. Running around in circles was getting him nowhere; he had to think more closely on a way to get out. He wanted to tear his hair out in frustration when the scenes started replaying again. God, he got the picture already! When would they stop?!

He paused when a thought caught his attention. Brad was living in his worst memory; did that mean that he was reliving the memory as his younger self? It certainly seemed like a plausible idea; maybe he had to shake Brad's younger self to snap out of the memory? It was worth a shot since it was the only idea to catch his attention.

Danny grimaced when the last scene faded in from the darkness. He could hear the conversation that was happening and moved forward to the stairs to intercept the younger version of his friend.

The 9-year-old had his eyes on the floor as he walked down the stairs. Danny prayed that he was solid and visible to him, and stood right in the path which the boy was walking in. Thankfully, it seemed that luck was on his side when the boy collided into his chest head first and fell backwards onto his bottom with a yelp.

"Brad. You have to wake up." The blond looked up at him from the floor, his eyes wide in shock. Danny looked at the younger version of Brad with a soft look in his eyes, squatting down on the floor without breaking eye contact with him.

"Wha…? What are you doing here? You're not…"

"I'm not a part of your memory." He said gently, cutting through Brad's stutters. Danny could see Brad's cheeks flush a deep hue of red and he violently jerked his head away from Danny's sight. "Look, we're trapped in your mind. You have to wake up if I'm going to be able to get us out of Walker's prison."

"So… you…" Brad still refused to meet his eyes, but Danny could tell what the question was that was balancing on the tip of his tongue. With a pained sigh, he reached forward and grasped Brad's shaking shoulders.

"Yes. I'm sorry that I had to see what your worst memory is without your permission. But I wasn't given a choice either." He swore that Brad's cheeks were flushing a deeper color of red. The color was spreading out to the rest of his face and down to his neck, glowing a little brightly like the traffic stop light. "We'll talk about it later. Right now, you need to wake up."

"How?" He'd never heard Brad sound so quiet and meek, and his younger youthful voice made him sound like a scared little child. "I tried to before… But I just can't…"

"Focus Brad, focus." The hybrid replied sternly, grasping his shoulders and forcing the blond to look at him. Danny almost melted when he saw the fear in those large cobalt eyes. "You can do this. You're strong. Focus, break free from whatever spell Nocturne's put on you. I promise you that I'll protect you my friend."

"Promise me Phantom?" He smiled at the hesitant plea and nodded. Danny squeezed Brad's shoulders encouragingly as the boy tried to banish his blush. Abruptly the scene began to dissolve, but Danny didn't panic. He focused his attention at Brad who had his eyes closed and breathing deeply, his brows furrowed in concentration.

Soon, only darkness surrounded them and a white glow began to surround Brad's 9-year-old form. The blond opened his eyes and yelped when he saw Danny's form slowly dissolving, starting from his feet and slowly travelled upwards. Danny looked into Brad's fear filled eyes and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. I'll be there when you wake up."

The 9-year-old disappeared from his vision and Danny closed his eyes, breathing deeply before reopening them slowly. It had worked, he was out of Brad's mind and he could make out the other teen slowly stirring from his sleep. He noticed that in his time in Brad's mind, the cuffs had been taken off and he was placed in a cell in the room.

Grunting softly, he got up to his feet. Pain shot down his back and Danny gritted his teeth firmly, ignoring the pain while trying to find a way out of the cell.

"Phantom?" He heard Brad's soft and pained voice from beyond the bars of his cell. Danny hobbled forward and rattled the bars of the cell.

"I'm here. Unfortunately, they've stuck me in a cell and I can't get…" Before he could finish his sentence, the door of the room was spectacularly blown open. Danny yelped and reflexively brought his arms forward to brace himself and cover his face.

"Hurry up and get the whelps out of here. If anyone takes down the little whelp, it will be me and me alone!"

"Gee, thanks for the assist Skulker. You always did have ulterior motives when it comes to having my butt saved." Danny snapped out dryly as the Lunch Lady made a motion for him to get down. A large chicken drumstick appeared in her hands and was promptly flung at the cell, smashing the bars apart.

Danny grimaced at the mess, hobbling out of the cell to see Technus finish unchaining Brad from the 'X' clamp and bring the teen to his feet. Brad wobbled shakily on his feet and would have fallen if Danny hadn't lunged forward to catch him. The hybrid bit his lip when he saw the reopened head wound that was dribbling blood down Brad's cheek.

"Maybe I should switch on the Specter Deflector…"

"No! If you do that, I can't help you out of the Ghost Zone Brad!"

"Oh." Danny quickly hoisted Brad onto his back and flung the blonds' arms over his shoulders. The captured ghosts quickly filtered out of the prison with Skulker leading them, Danny following behind Technus while giving the semi-conscious Brad a piggy-back ride.

"Hold it right there!" Danny almost smashed face first into Technus when the mass of ghosts halted and he recognized Walker's voice pierce through the air. "I don't care how you all got loose, but I'll be sending you all back to your cells!"

"Think again Walker!" With a burst of speed, Danny navigated himself through the body of ghosts and floated upwards with a snarl on his lips. "Not everything can go your way. You're through playing petty law enforcer!"

"Onward my fellow ghosts!" Skulker roared, using one of the guard's laser sticks and attacking the row of guards that were standing between them and freedom. The battle drew out, but the captured ghosts were winning. The guards fell like flies and Walker was engaged in a sword fight with Skulker.

Danny took his chance and raced forward, not willing to take his hands off his friend who was resting on his back. He ducked the laser fires and dodged the electric swipes of the sticks, his goal getting closer and closer.

"Once you exit the walls, go forward until you see a green door. Turn right and head straight then turn left at the shining light. That is the short-cut back to your world." Danny blinked as Technus blocked a laser attack that was aimed at him. "None of us like Walker kid. So the truce ends once we're all out of the prison."

"Duly noted." He replied, casting one last look at the fighting ghosts. "Thanks and good luck."

With all of his strength and speed, Danny shot out of the prison and through the large purple doors. He followed Technus's directions and raced through the portal, shutting the doors once he had gotten through. Danny breathed out a sigh of relief, turning his head slightly to look at his now conscious friend.

Quickly he phased through the walls of his home and up into his room, glancing at the clock on his table and noting the time to be eleven at night. Gently, he lowered Brad to the floor, the teen immediately bringing his knees up to his chest and hid his face from Danny.

"You want to talk about it?"

"No." Danny winced at the harshness in Brad's flat tone, sitting down on the ground beside Brad and leaned his back against the wall.

"Will you be ok?" The hybrid received no answer from the blond and sighed, running a hand through his bangs tiredly. It looked as if trust was a touchy issue and Danny could only think of one way to gain Brad's true trust and friendship. Closing his eyes, he allowed the two rings of light to wash over his body before resting his hand on Brad's shoulder.

"What else do you…" The words died at Brad's lips when he lifted his head up from his knees to look to his side. His eyes widened when he saw Danny, the human Danny, looking at him with a gentle expression. His mouth opened, like he wanted to say something but closed when nothing came out. Brad blinked at Danny before directing his gaze away from the raven haired teen.

Danny stayed silent and allowed the information to sink into Brad's mind. He got up to his feet and hobbled out of the room to get a first aid kit. Once he returned, Brad was still staring down at the floor. At the sound of the first aid box clinking on the floor, the blond boy had finally lifted his head up to regard Danny.

"So… you're Phantom?"

"Guess it explains my periodic absences whenever ghosts appear, doesn't it?" Danny offered Brad a wry smile, sitting back down on the floor beside the blond. He did a quick transformation between his ghost half and human half to confirm it before speaking up again. "Yea, I am. I figured since I've unwittingly uncovered one of your biggest secrets, it's only fair that I share one of mine own to you."

"You aren't, well… disgusted or anything?" Danny stared at Brad incredulously and paused, recalling one of the scenes before shaking his head.

"No! Why should I be?" Brad raised an enquiring eyebrow at Danny and the hybrid explained his reasons. "Hey, you were like what, 9-years-old? Your god brother is a total nutcase but you were also desperate to help Lee out weren't you? And I'm pretty sure when we were all young and naive kids, we believed the words of the older kids, just like you did with that red-head."

"Barbara. Her name's Barbara Gordon but we call her Babs. She's Commissioner Gordon's daughter back in Gotham and was Dick's girlfriend back then." Danny could see the façade of bad boy dissolving in front of him and being replaced with a shy and soft look that suited the other teen. He rested his hands at the back of his head and turned to look at Brad.

"Well, I can tell that you're not completely sure about your feelings but you still have the sibling love for both Casse and Lee. Besides, I doubt they would reject you. They aren't heartless and they'd probably try to help you out." Danny paused and nudged Brad's shoulder, making the blond look at him. "Say, does this mean you've been hiding behind the bad ass smart mouth image for years? Who's the real you?"

"I… I don't know anymore." Brad avoided Danny's gaze and looked away. "I mean, I've been acting like this so much, I don't know myself anymore. Guess my acting was so good, fooling everyone and my family that I've even managed to lie to myself that this was who I am."

Silence enveloped the two boys, only the soft ticking of the clock echoing in the room. Danny didn't like the silence and knew that Brad needed more assurance from him. He patted the dust off Brad's shoulder and caught his attention.

"Hey. I don't think of you any less just because you think you're in love with your sister. And I stress the 'think' here." Brad's lips slowly curved into a small smile and Danny grinned. Success! "Although you've been hiding behind that mask of bad ass, I'd like to know the real you my friend. I know it will take some time for you to adjust back, but I can wait. So, what do you say? Start from the beginning and work our way from there?"

"I can live with that." Danny's grin grew wider and offered a hand out to Brad who slowly reached out to shake the hand.

"Hi! I'm Danny Fenton."

"Brad Angeles." Brad winkled his nose for a moment before directing his gaze at Danny. "Hey, if you're Phantom and Phantom's a ghost… are you actually half-dead or something?"

"Oh trust me. Not all of my answers will make any sense and I hardly understand half of what I'll try to answer you with."

* * *

"Are you sure you girls are alright?" Lee gave a crooked smile to Maddie as the woman fussed over the two sisters. The rescue team had found them in the early morning, just before the sun had risen, and Wulf had vanished from their little camp site. Casse and Lee were both whisked away to the hospital for treatment and were given formal apologies by the hunters.

Casse's foot and Lee's wrist were both placed into casts. Both girls had objected to staying overnight in the hospital for observation and insisted that they were well enough to go home. It didn't stop Maddie and Jazz from fussing over them though, as they rode the rental van back to Fenton Works.

"This was such a horrible trip." Maddie sighed, rubbing her temples as she drove up the driveway to the garage. "I'm sorry for this mess, girls. It wasn't a very relaxing trip was it?"

"It's alright Mrs. Fenton. You didn't know the hunters were around there and the hunters didn't know that we were human to begin with." Casse pointed out as Lee opened the door and helped her out of the van.

"But the two of you are injured!" Jazz protested, grabbing the bags and giving Lee a pointed look to stay away from the bags. "And a bullet to the wrist isn't exactly a pinprick."

"Hey, I think I heard someone outside."

"I'll bet you that the girls are back."

Two heads popped out from the front door of Fenton Works to glance over to the four girls. The pieces of toasts fell from their mouths when they dropped open at the sight of the girls. Likewise, the girls stared at the two boys who had various bandages covering their bodies.

"What the heck happened to you guys?" The teenagers chorused out simultaneously, leaving Maddie vaguely amused. But her mother mode turned on full force as she advanced on the boys and looked at the bandages.

"Boys, what happened? Didn't I tell you to call me if you had any trouble?!" Both Brad and Danny quickly fled from the older woman's wrath and dashed towards the remaining three girls on the driveway. Danny quickly spat out their reason while he ran.

"Um…uh… WehadtroublewiththeSpecterSpeederandit'ssortatotaledrightnow!"

"Whoa bro, you're as bad as Pixie when it comes to hyperventilating. Breathe bro. Breathe." Casse and Lee sent the two boys curious looks as the conversed with each other. Maddie and Jazz watched the exchange with surprise etched across their faces.

"Bro, when my mom sees the state of the Specter Speeder, we'll have to make a break for it."

"What DID you do to the Specter Speeder?" The two boys froze and gave Maddie sheepish looks. Brad pointed a finger at Danny, as if gesturing that it was his fault. Danny caught him in the act and tried tackling the other. The blond danced out of his reach and quickly ran back into Fenton Works with Danny hot on his heels.

"It's Danny's fault for being an adrenaline high junkie!"

"Is not! You're another adrenaline crazed junkie! Get back here Goth Punk!"

"Reckless Crasher!"

The yelling echoed from the house as the boys exchanged harmless jibes at each other, their footsteps stampeding through the stairs. The four ladies exchanged confused looks before breaking out in quiet laughter. Although they didn't know what exactly happened, it seemed as if the boys had succeeded in their 'male bonding' in two nights.

"Three hour marathon of Mario Go Kart with no driving into rivers, oil spills and over the track!"

"You're on!"

* * *

"She is the one who will disrupt the time stream yes?" Zeraphina did not look away from the orb that displayed a certain girl staring at a brown parcel as the intruding person stepped forward from the shadows. Her eyes were trained onto the orb, watching the raven haired girl closely as she reached for the parcel before withdrawing her hand from it.

"You seem to be delaying her." Her lips curved into a smile, snapping her fingers, the orb vanished. She didn't turn to face her visitor as she leaned back against her chair with her eye closed.

"I have done no such thing. It is by her will alone that she has yet to open that package." The sorceress' smile dimmed and the expression on her face grew serious. "However when she does so, both time and space will begin to distort so drastically that it would lead to disastrous results."

"Our jobs are never simple now are they?" The voice teased, revealing himself as a purple cloaked ghost with glowing red eyes. The red eyes swept to where the orb had once been, his lips thinning to a thin line. "However I agree with you. She will unwittingly release her inner darkness and change the destinies of those who surround her. We know this yet…"

"We can do nothing to change it but to simply watch and believe in the children of the future." Zeraphina paused, finally turning her head to gaze at her ghostly visitor. "As we both know as well, the future is not set in stone Clockwork. How it will begin and how it will end…"

"Is all up to them yes?" The Master of Time faced Zeraphina with a knowing smile. "Their future lies in their own hands and you will still be waiting here if they so have wishes to be granted that could reshape their future."

"Only if they remember that I exist." The sorceress smirked, wagging a playful gloved finger at Clockwork who simply chuckled. "And you are the one who meddles more than I. You were the one to return Little Phantom back to his home when he was unconscious."

"I am as guilty as you charge me to be." The ghost raised his gloved hands up in a surrendering gesture while Zeraphina released a silvery laugh from her lips.

"Shouldn't you be in the Ghost Zone listening to the Observants quibble right now?"

"Unfortunately yes, I should be in the Ghost Zone now. I will visit you soon Zeraphina."

"And stay for a proper cup of tea for once I hope." She smirked, winking at Clockwork. Returning the smile, Clockwork swung his staff and vanished in a whirl that resembled a clock. Zeraphina raised her hand and called up the orb again, bringing forth the image of Samantha Manson. She stared at the contemplating girl with a stern expression, her eye narrowing slightly.

"Anything you so wish for shall come with a price… Once you reach the peak of what you owe, the life you hold will crumble to pieces."

* * *

**Authoress' Ending Notes:**

Translations: (I used the literal translations, please don't bite me if I'm wrong!)  
**(1)** _Jeti_ - Throw. _Glui_ - Stick  
**(2)** _Fratinos_ - Sisters. _Pilaga_ - Elder. _Plijuna_ - Younger  
**(3)** _Amiko_ - Friend. _Rivero_ - River  
**(4)** _Fali_ - Fall. _Savi_ - Save  
**(5)** _Fantomo_ - Ghost

1) I'll bet you didn't see that coming!  
2) In this timeline (for the sake of consistency), humans in the Ghost Zone can be touched by the ghosts. So that's why Walker was able to get a hold of Brad. ;)  
3) Nocturne's abilities have been tweaked in this timeline. I admit, I hadn't been able to watch the entire episode of Frightmare because of bad internet connections and was only told about Nocturne's abilities by **Sakuyamon**. Nocturne can feed off dream energy, but since Walker had him captured, that ability to feed off the energy was blocked. Nocturne also has the ability to either trap a person in their worst memory, or give them good dreams. Walker was also just being the biggest bastard ghost in attempting to break Danny's friendship with Brad. Too bad for him, their friendship strengthened instead of crumbling XD  
4) Thank you to **Calovan**, **inukagome15** and **Enchanting Elf** for reviewing the previous chapter! (**Sakuyamon**! You didn't give me a review for the last chapter! (pouts))  
5) **inukagome15**: Actually no, the Headless Horseman is not a variation of the Fright Knight. Fright Knight will appear later on.  
6) If there's anything else you'd like to ask me regarding the chapter, feel free to PM me! :) The story will now begin to take twists and turns from the original episodes of DP and will be swapped around accordingly. AND the crossover will solidify further ;)  
7) I believe I've given quite a huge spoiler for one of the future chapters with that last bit at the end of the chapter in regards to my plans with Sam. (insert evil grin)  
8) Again I'll mention this, my next update will be slow because of reality work. And my other AT project is doing fine and will be ready to hit the site soon! Stay tuned!  
9) Please do drop me a review when you're free! Comments/Critiques (as long as they are not flames) are welcomed!

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	9. Shadow of Myself Part I

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress' Beginning Notes: Woohoo! I am now officially on my summer vacation which gives me time to write more and catch up with other stuff that I've neglected. And no, I have not joined NaNoWriMo (the annual november writer's event) because even though I'm a wordy person, 50K of words for a novel in one month is almost impossible for me unless I'm truly inspired. But then again, I'm always distracted so it's not going to be good. From here, only some episodes from the Original DP universe will appear while I twist some plot to fit the Justice League to bring whole new episodes. But for now, please enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 8****: **

**Shadow of Myself (Part I)**

* * *

**He** couldn't understand why, but there was a nagging feeling at the back of his head. Like there was something big going to happen.

**He** shifted about uncomfortably on his seat on the couch, idly fiddling with his fingers while staring at the wide screen in front of him.

**He **curled and uncurled his legs from the lotus position multiple times before **he** finally stood up and began to pace around the room.

**He** picked up the bag that lay at the side of the couch and unceremoniously flung it into the dark shadows of the room. Satisfied, **he** returned to the couch and tried to settle back down on it.

It was still there. That nagging feeling was still biting at the edge of his conscious. There was no other thought bouncing about his mind, only that single foreboding feeling that was rocketing off the walls in a flurry. **He** had a bad feeling.

"You can feel it now can't you?" His head snapped up and twisted around to stare at the wobbling thermos that stood underneath a green barrier on the table. His eyes narrowed at the object, but offered no response.

"There's no escaping the inevitable where you, any one of your other alternate selves, become me." The voice crackled insanely as the thermos shook violently, loud clanging noises heard as it tipped back and forth on its base.

"I wouldn't bet on it." **He** snapped, floating up from his position on the couch and over to the shaking thermos. **He** reached forward and grasped the item tightly before a wide smirk curved on his lips. **He** was going to enjoy his next action.

Grasping the thermos like a shaker, **he** shook the item vigorously for a good five minutes, ignoring the curses and threats of disembowelment that echoed from within the metal contraption. Satisfied, **he** replaced the thermos back beneath the green barrier and returned to the couch.

"You'll pay for that. I swear to you, you will pay!" The voice howled menacingly, wobbling the thermos on its base. **He** didn't listen to the voice's snarls and attempts at baiting him.

The big screen was morphing, the other screens that had surrounded it now spread far apart in the same way when **he** had first seen the office to be a year prior. **He** finally understood what was going to happen as the tinier screens blinked with empty scenes.

The timeline **he** was watching continued to show in the biggest screen before him. **He** simply settled back onto the couch and gave his full attention to it.

"Don't bother watching it Danny. That timeline will fall. They all will." Dark Dan's voice sneered from behind him but his lips then curled into a strange but knowing smile.

"Like I said Dan, I wouldn't bet on it."

* * *

"Casse? Are you ok?"

The group crowded around the youngest Angeles who had her head buried in her arms lying on her table top. At the beginning of the day, she had looked just fine until it came closer to the end of school hours. Both her older siblings were hovering around her worriedly, more so on Lee's part while Brad loomed over her like a protective shadow.

At the moment, they were trying to get some sort of response from the blond, who still had her head resting snugly in her arms while the other three watched curiously.

Three weeks had passed since Danny had revealed himself to Brad and their friendship had grown stronger to the point that it surprised even themselves how easily they could call each other 'bro'. Danny was finding it much easier for him to make up excuses for his absences with Brad's help; the middle Angeles would persuade his sisters for him and Danny was grateful that the blond boy had understood his reasons for not wanting to reveal his secret to the remaining Angeles'.

And he found himself keeping the information of Brad knowing his identity from Tucker and Sam. Danny didn't know why, but somehow it didn't feel right to tell Tucker and Sam just yet. Brad was still quite conscious of the incident prior and Danny really couldn't blame him; he'd definitely feel the same if he had gone through that experience as well.

Besides, telling Sam and Tucker that Brad knew his secret also meant that he would have to tell them about the event that lead to it. Danny was pretty sure Brad didn't want to reveal that hard kept and potentially relationship breaking secret.

Casse's ankle had made a quick recovery and the cast had been taken off a few days earlier while Lee still had hers, her wrist still healing. The sisters had told them the tale of their misadventure in the forest and the meeting of the ghost werewolf, Wulf. Danny made a quick note in his mind, labeling the ghost as 'possible ally' and updated his ghost database on his computer based on the descriptions that Lee and Casse had given them.

It was even better when Casse drew out exactly how Wulf looked like. It definitely saved Danny the trouble of imagining it himself.

The three weeks passed without any major incident. The only difference was that Danny had to attempt to spread his time out evenly between his friends. Brad admitted to the hybrid privately that he had become uncomfortable hanging around with Sam and Danny understood why. Tucker had said the same thing to him during the Halloween House event, though Brad's reasoning wasn't out of fear.

Sam had become a worse enigma that Brad ever was. Danny simply just could not figure her out anymore. He managed to find the time to ask Jazz for her opinion and even she drew up blanks of why Sam had taken such a drastic change. It was becoming increasingly frustrating since the tension between the friends was slowly growing larger and larger because of Sam's hostility.

She even began wearing a strange silver bracelet with black spiral wisps and deep violet accents. Danny was positive that he had never seen such an accessory before.

His mind returned back to the present where Lee was gently shaking Casse's shoulder with Brad looming behind her, his brow furrowed in worry.

"Pixie. Pixie, come on." It was as if she was waking up from a long sleep. Casse shifted about slightly before slowly lifting up her head to look wearily at the rest of them. The group flinched once they caught sight of her face.

Casse's face was pale and dark circles were starting to form around her eyes. An expression of fear flashed briefly on Lee's face but it was gone as soon as it came. The oldest Angeles setting her jaw firmly as she reached forward to feel for Casse's temperature.

"Damn." Danny, Sam and Tucker blinked when the curse flew from Lee's lips before she unceremoniously dumped her bag on the floor and started fussing over Casse. Brad was now hovering behind his younger sister, quietly peering over her with worry in his eyes. "Her temperature's too high. Pixie, look at me. Come on."

Danny noticed that Casse's eyes seemed unfocused as Lee began to gently coax her into looking at a certain direction. He figured that he'd leave Lee to finish her check-up of Casse before asking her the assessment of the check-up. But with the grim set of her jaw, Danny had a feeling that it wasn't very good at all.

"What's wrong with her?" Tucker hovered just above Lee's crouched shoulders, peering worriedly at the smaller blond girl whose eyes were shifting in different directions. Lee didn't answer him immediately, her eyes narrowing and her lips thinning down to a small line. Danny could see Lee chewing her lip from his position as she tried coaxing her sister into keeping awake.

"This is not good." Lee's tone had frustration, worry and fear laced together when she finally spoke. She gently shook Casse's shoulders again to prevent the younger girl from falling back to sleep. "She's having a relapse. Damnit, I should've seen this coming. She was giving off all the signs by lunch time!"

The rest flinched, Sam not as violently as Danny and Tucker. They all knew what the relapse was but this would be the first time they would see one of the triplets actually having it.

"Take it easy Fairy." This time, Brad griped Casse's shoulder and gently ruffled her mess of bangs. "You know that Pixie and I don't exactly show the symptoms as much as you do when we get relapses."

"Still." Now her tone had gotten an aggravated and stubborn edge to it. It was obvious that Lee was blaming herself for not picking it up earlier. "I should've seen it coming."

A cough from the doorway caught the group's attention and caused their heads (sans Casse) to turn to see the source of the noise. Mr. Lancer stood by the door with his arms folded across his chest and his eyebrow raised at them.

"Might I ask why you all are still in the classroom? The rest of the freshmen are assembling at the auditorium right now." The bald teacher's eyes narrowed when he saw Casse, her head dropping down into her arms again with her shoulders slumped forward. "What's wrong with Ms. Angeles?"

"Ah! Pixie, come on. Don't sleep now. Wake up, wake up." Lee lightly patted Casse's cheek as Brad gently shook his younger sister's shoulders, the younger girl moaning softly but forced her eyes open to look at her sister wearily. Danny winced when he saw that the rings around her eyes had grown considerably much darker than what it was just a few minutes ago.

Lancer waited patiently as Brad and Lee quietly argued with each other while keeping Casse awake at the same time. Danny and Tucker watched them in bemusement while Sam concentrated her attention somewhere else. Finally, Brad released a groan and ran a hand through his hair while Lee looked marginally triumphant; signaling that Lee had won their argument of… whatever it was they had been arguing about.

"Mr. Lancer, I'm going to need to take Casse home now because she's looking too good." Lancer's raised eyebrow was only responded with Lee helplessly gesturing towards Casse who had tilted towards Lee and rested her head on her sister's shoulder. "Looks like we're going to have to miss out on the talk today."

"Well, you will be excused then. Do take care of her and make sure she gets plenty of rest." Lancer then turned to look at the rest, specifically Brad. "The rest of you, carry on. By the looks of things, Mr. Angeles will still be joining us won't he?"

"Yes he will." Lee cut in before Brad could voice out his protest. The blond boy shut his mouth and pouted at his older sister, who simply patted his arm before giving his back a quick slap. "Go on. You can tell me what the talk is about later. I can take Pixie home myself."

"At least let me help you put her on your back." Brad sighed in exasperation, waving his hand at their unfocused sister who was resting her head on Lee's shoulder. Tucker had already reached out to grab both girls' bags while Brad pulled Casse up to her feet. Once they were sure Casse was safely on Lee's back, the oldest Angeles slipped the bags through her arms and carefully hoisted her sister higher up against her back.

"Are you sure you're going to be ok bringing Casse back by yourself?" Lee rolled her eyes at Tucker and gave him a pointed look. She then shot Brad a glance which promptly caused her brother to close his mouth, his protest stuck on the tip of his tongue but never to be voiced.

"I'll be fine. This isn't the first time I've had to do this. I'll call dad when I get home Dwarf, don't worry." Brad nodded; knowing that whatever protest he tried to voice out now would probably meet deaf ears and kept his mouth closed. He watched as his sister trotted down the corridor and out of sight at the corner, not caring if he was standing in the middle of the hallway like a statue.

It was only when Danny placed his hand on his shoulder that Brad snapped out of his reverie and followed the other three to the auditorium.

Danny could tell that Brad wasn't exactly concentrating on the talk Lancer was giving. He'd come to identify Brad's moods and expressions quite well in the past three weeks. The blond had a far off look in his eyes despite his straight back and furrowed brows which would have made him look like he was hanging onto every one of Lancer's words. But when he slouched his back and rested his chin on his palm, Danny confirmed the thought that Brad was obviously not listening to the talk.

So he tried to concentrate on the talk and pushed the pesky thoughts of what ifs that were floating around in his head. Someone needed to tell the two girls what Lancer was talking about later right?

The hybrid found himself focusing intensely on the talk; especially when Lancer mentioned that the Career Aptitude Test (C.A.T) the freshmen would be taking could possibly decide their future careers. He made an idle thought of understanding of why Jazz was sitting up at the stage with Lancer, she did score the highest score recorded in Casper High history when she first entered High school.

"Danny?" Danny didn't notice Tucker's hand waving in front of his face as he stared, hypnotized by the talk. It was only when Tucker smacked the back of his head hard that he realized that his friends were trying to get his attention. Even Brad was looking at him oddly.

"Uh, yes? What is it?"

"You've been staring for some time. I know the talk is important and all, but it was kind of creepy that you were focusing too intently for our liking."

"Oh, sorry about that." He rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head with a sheepish expression, feeling apologetic for making his friends worry. Lancer was finishing up his speech, adopting a sarcastic tone to go with his ending line of 'Do you want fries with that?' in reference to the lowest C.A.T scorer who was the manager of the Nasty Burger.

Idly, he thought that if he had heard Lancer ever talk like that before meeting the triplets, he would be scared out of his wits and start fretting like a mother hen. But now, it didn't seem as scary or menacing as it should have been; even if Lancer did stress that this C.A.T was supposed to decide their future.

None of his friends seemed to be fazed by Lancer's menacing last words. Brad was still obviously internally fretting about his sisters to care and Tucker was already smart enough to be able to score well for such a test anyway. Sam just stared disinterestedly as Lancer cuffed the briefcase to his wrist and strode out of the auditorium.

As the horde of freshmen exited the auditorium, Danny could hear many of them throwing about panicked cries of failure and exchanging rumors of the lives of previous students who had taken the test prior. He was surprised that none of these conversations were fazing him; Danny started to wonder to since when he became so resilient to crowds and their opinions.

But he didn't catch the look of malice that Dash had given him as they walked past the A List jock. Whatever Dash was planning had completely slipped past by him as he continued to walk out of the school with his friends.

"Danny?" He turned his head to meet his sister, hovering some distance away from the group with a mixed expression of worry and hesitation.

"Hey Jazz, what's up?" Jazz quickly strode over to them, weaving through the bodies and walked alongside with them out of the school.

"Nothing really, just wanted to know if you were ok." The older girl paused, her eyes sweeping across the group. "Hey, where's Lee and Casse? Weren't they in school earlier?"

"Fairy took Pixie home because she was getting the symptoms of a relapse." Brad replied idly, his eyes focused to his front and his tone sounding strangely far off. Danny saw Jazz flinch and her eyes became more troubled than she had been just moments ago. A stretch of silence enveloped the group as they went past the school doors.

"I hope Casse will be ok." Jazz murmured quietly, peering to look at Brad with a soft expression. The blond simply responded with a soft 'hmm' in acknowledgement, his mind obviously still far away from the present. "Well, I just wanted to know if you guys were ok about the C.A.T. Lancer has a really bad tenancy to over-exaggerate about the test and make students panic. I know I did when I was freshman"

"Honestly? I couldn't be bothered with what Lancer was talking about." Tucker replied sheepishly, sticking out his tongue while rubbing the back of his head. Jazz just gave him an amused look before looking over to the other three, trying to gauge their responses.

"Who cares about some stupid test? It's not going to decide our future for us for crying out loud." Sam huffed, folding her arms across her chest and looked away from them while still keeping some proximity to Danny. Jazz mentally took note of Sam's reaction and movements, silently musing in her thoughts over the Goth's attitude.

Sam's attitude change was baffling her. Jazz admitted to herself, while she didn't hang around with Danny and his group of friends very often, she could still see the drastic change in Sam's demeanor. Even now as she observed the Goth, she could feel something unfriendly, for the lack of better words, in terms of her posture and expression.

But what was even more puzzling was how much Sam seemed to be hanging off Danny. Although it wasn't meant to be in literal terms, Jazz could see Sam eying any passing girl warily and stiffen her shoulders. Did Sam actually have a massive and possessive crush on Danny…? Jazz had to wonder.

"So, what about you Danny?" Startled, Danny looked up to face his sister with a confused expression. Jazz quickly explained herself. "Well what I mean is that I don't want you to be stressed out for the C.A.T just because I got the highest score in it. I am worried that you might think that you're dumber, which you are not by the way, just because of the score."

"Oh!" Jazz was surprised when Danny released a laugh from his lips and leaned against her arm as they walked. "I was at first, but seeing how nervous you looked up there, I kind of figured that you were going to worry about it."

"Well, don't stress about it ok? Even though Lancer makes it a huge deal about the C.A.T, it won't really decide your future for you." Jazz smiled and ruffled her brother's mess of raven hair, prompting him to stick his tongue out at her childishly. Tucker laughed at their exchange while Sam scowled and looked away, pushing down her jealousy and reminded herself furiously that they were simply siblings.

Danny peered over to Brad, the blond not taking any notice of his surroundings but still continued to walk down the road with them. The hybrid slid away from Sam's side (much to her annoyance) and nudged Brad's side with his elbow. When he got no response, Danny increased the power of his nudges bit by bit until he had no choice but to shout into Brad's ear.

"OEI!" With a startled yelp, Brad tripped on the gap of the pavement in shock but just barely managed to catch himself before he stumbled and didn't fall flat on his face. His books scattered in front of him and he shot a dirty look in a sheepish Danny's direction.

"Sorry, that was the only way I was going to get your attention."

Brad scowled and muttered incoherently under his breath as he gathered his fallen books. Jazz and Tucker went forward to help him recover some of his other books and handed them back to him. He blew his stubborn lock of hair from his face and ran a tired hand through the tresses of his hair.

"So…? You wanted my attention for…?"

"I wanted to ask about the relapse thing. If that's ok with you." Danny added quickly, not wanting to force Brad into telling them about the relapses. He saw the blond pinch the bridge of his nose, his eyes squeezed shut as if concentrating on a train of thought. "You don't have to tell us if it really bothers you."

"Yea, wouldn't want you running from us would we?" He blinked and twisted his head to stare at Sam at her sarcastic and bitter remark. It sounded awfully cold, colder than normal, of her to say something like that. Even though he was sure that she hadn't meant for anyone to hear her, Danny felt disconcerted and unwittingly shuffled some distance away from her.

Sam noticed his action from the corner of her eye and felt a twinge of pain stab at her heart.

"What is it that you want to know?" Brad's voice cut through the silence, diverting Danny's attention from Sam and back to the blond. "It's nothing spectacular. I don't know why you even ask about it."

"Well, so that maybe we can better see the signs and help you guys when it hits and not panic?" Danny shrugged at Brad's raised eyebrow that was sent in his way. "This was pretty sudden and even though we do know the basics of the relapses, we don't know the signs and what happens during it. Ok, besides you guys telling us that Lee's relapses are the worst out of all of yours."

"There's really nothing you can do when we have relapses." The blond insisted, his hand fisting in his hair for a moment before letting it drop to his side. "All that can be done is just to make sure that we eat our meals and rest while it blows over. Usually Fairy makes sure of it and chases the rest of us to go back to our normal daily lives. She's not going to let you guys make it a huge bother."

"Can we at least visit?" The group resumed walking with Tucker, Danny and Jazz crowding around Brad. Sam had fallen a few steps behind them, her arms crossed over her chest in disinterest.

"Try tomorrow. Fairy should have called dad to come home and check up on Pixie so it'll be better that we get out of his way today." Just as Brad finished speaking, a beeping sound coming from his pocket startled the group. The blond immediately fished out his cell phone and flipped it open.

"Hello? Hey Fairy, how's Pixie doing?" The group walked silently as Brad listened intently to his sister on the phone, his eyes betraying no emotion. Faintly, Danny could hear Lee's tired sounding voice from the phone but couldn't make out the words she was speaking.

"Do you need me to bring anything back?" Brad paused to listen to Lee's response, Danny noting that his eyes were starting to shift uncomfortably. He slipped his free hand that had his books tucked neatly under his arm into his pocket. The hybrid recognized this habit immediately as a sign to show that Brad was feeling claustrophobic with them enclosing him into a small space.

Danny immediately tapped Tucker's shoulder and gestured him to give Brad some space while taking a step to the side at the same time. Jazz quickly caught on to what her brother was thinking and too took a step away from the blond. Danny could see Brad release a small inaudible sigh of relief from his lips as he continued to listen to his sister on the phone.

They continued to walk in silence, only with Brad's soft 'hmm's drifting in the air while he continued the one-sided conversation. Finally, he bade his sister a 'see you' and snapped the black cell phone shut. Quietly, they watched him stare at his phone for a moment before he pocketed the device and sighed.

"Looks like we'll have to rain check on the visitation. Fairy says that dad thinks that Pixie's relapse is worse this time and wants to keep tabs on her for the next few days."

Danny winced at the troubled tone Brad's voice had adopted and gently patted the blonds' shoulder as he pinched the bridge of his nose tightly. Jazz and Tucker had expressions of sympathy on their faces while Sam's was unreadable.

"Well, why don't we all break off for the day? You're not going to stop worrying and you'll probably feel a little better if you're back home with them Brad." Danny's lips quirked into a small smile when his eyes locked with Brad's eyes and saw gratitude in them. "Just give us an update will you? We also worry about that hyper ball of energy too!"

"Pixie would kill you if she heard you say that." Brad rolled his eyes, but bumped knuckles with Danny with a tiny smile gracing his lips. "But yea, I will. See you guys tomorrow."

"Yo Brad! We'll even have a study session for the C.A.T tomorrow, so bring your books." Tucker playfully nudged Danny's side with a grin. "Someone needs to organize one so that we can all get some studying done if Lee's going to be busy."

Danny laughed when Brad discreetly flipped Tucker off by slapping the back of his hand on the other, hiding the rude gesture from any passer by. But Tucker knew better and mockingly tipped his beret added in with a fake bow. Jazz made a tsk'ing noise at their exchange, shaking her head in amused exasperation as Brad trotted away from them.

The rest of them dispersed once they reached the proximities of their homes; Tucker reminding them about the study session while Sam simply stormed through the doors of her mansion without another word. The Fenton siblings walked back in silence until Jazz finally spoke up.

"You are right. Sam is acting strange." Danny sighed and glanced up to his sister.

"Guess you know what I mean now huh?" Jazz gave Danny's shoulder a comforting squeeze as he continued to speak. "It's just strange. I don't know how, what or why she's changed like this. Do you have any ideas now that you've seen it for yourself?"

"I can't tell you anything solid. She's being enigmatic and her attitude pretty much sums it up." The red-head admitted quietly, unsure of how to answer her brother. "But, she's your best friend. I don't think she'll do anything harmful. Sam's not that kind of person to wish harm on anyone besides the A List that is."

'_But with the way she is no__w, I'm not so confident about that.'_ Danny thought to himself as the siblings reached Fenton Works. As he followed Jazz into their home, a sharp pain pierced through his mind and almost made him stumble into the door. A shiver ran down his spine and Danny quickly twisted his neck to look backwards at the street.

Only the sound of the whispering winds echoed in his ears and there was nobody there in the streets. Another shiver ran down his spine and Danny couldn't help but feel wary.

"Danny?" He shook his head to clear the pesky thoughts from his head and quickly turned back to face into the house. He walked in and slammed the front doors shut, shaking off that bad vibe that was starting to invade his mind.

"Yea! I'm coming!"

* * *

"Is it time for me to leave?" **He** didn't need to turn around to know that Clockwork had returned to his lair. The Master of Time had a commanding aura that allowed him to sense when the other ghost was around and strangely, made him feel at ease.

His eyes were still glued to the screen as he heard Clockwork rattle the Thermos from behind him, the trapped ghost's curses and threats oozing through the device. Then there was silence and **he** had to turn his head around to see what Clockwork had done.

The Thermos was encased in a purple orb, shaking violently but yet no noise was heard. **He** saw Clockwork's lips curve into a smile as he waved his hand and banished the purple orb with the Thermos within it to one of the darkest corners of the lair. **He** watched the Thermos disappear into the shadows before turning back to the Master of Time.

"No. It isn't time for you to leave." **He** gave the Master of Time an incredulous stare. Clockwork simply released an amused chuckle, his eyes glimmering with gentle mischief mixed with the wisdom of the world. "Hardly 3 days have passed in your timeline. You still have plenty of time to spare here."

"… You knew didn't you?" Clockwork's laugh echoed in his ears and **he** knew that **he** had answered his own question. "What am I meant to do?"

"That Danny-" The Master of Time smiled as he floated out of the room. "- is for you to decide."

Danny watched as Clockwork disappeared into the shadows of his lair, once again leaving him alone in the office with the large screen flickering behind him. Slowly, he turned back to face the screen and was startled to see a shifting scene.

He tried to gather his thoughts and stared at the new scene. He vaguely recognized the scene and it hit him again; the scene was one of the possible futures that this timeline could go through. Just like how he found out about that one possible future that would have made him the biggest tyrant of the universe.

But there was no mass destruction; everything seemed calm and peaceful. Yet something told him that their future was not as peaceful as it seemed.

And he was right.

A blaze of bright colors invaded his sight as he saw a black trench coated figure race through the empty streets, long flowing blond hair flying behind her as she ran. The woman twisted on the spot, grabbing the two guns that were attached to her hip and fired them repeatedly at whoever was chasing her before continuing to run.

For a moment, Danny thought that she was someone else. The braided sideburns had misled him to thinking that she was the eldest Angeles but the grim and fierce blue eyes that momentarily flashed across the screen had told him otherwise. Now it was making him feel curious to know what exactly happened for that timeline to come into effect.

He watched as a blast from behind her caught her ankle, making her stumble and crash into the ground. She reached for her guns again but two arrows flew from behind her and clouds of dust formed at the edge of the screen. Danny saw an unrecognizable red clad figure race up towards her, pulling the woman back up to her feet and dragged her along with him out of sight.

Their pursuers came into sight on the screen, Danny quickly identifying the Fright Knight leading the group of ghosts forward. What he found strange was that the ghosts that the Fright Knight was leading were completely unknown ghosts to him, all of them shapeless blobs of bright green mass with no name attached to them.

The scene suddenly dissolved, causing Danny to unconsciously pout at the change. He wanted to know what else happened in that possible future. What sort of differences was there between his failed future and his alternate self's possible future? He was itching to know.

But his curiosity could not be quenched at that moment. The scene on the screen shifted back to his alternate self's current time where Danny found the group standing at the front door of the Angeles' home.

And thus his viewing continued.

* * *

Danny rapped on the door loudly and repeatedly, forgetting that the Angeles' had a doorbell right beside his knuckles. With a smile of amusement, Tucker reached forward and tapped Danny's shoulders before pointing to the tiny button on the side.

"Uh, knocking on a front door is so old school. They have a doorbell right there." Danny had the decency to blush and playfully elbowed his best friend in the stomach, Tucker pretending to clutch the wounded area in pain and stumble backwards. Sam pretended to ignore them; her head turned to the other side and looked at anything but the boys.

When Danny rung the bell, he flinched when he heard Brad holler angrily.

"Will someone shut the asshole who's been rapping at the door like some crazed maniac up before I go down there and disembowel them?!" The hybrid paled at his friend's choice of action and glanced nervously at Tucker, who looked torn between being amused and sympathetic.

"Uh… oops?"

"Oops sounds just about right at this time." The door swung open to reveal a tired and messy looking Lee. Her hair was sticking out in odd places and she was still in her rumpled sleeping attire, which consisted of a pale blue spaghetti strapped top and a pair of white track pants. Danny watched as she tiredly leaned against the door and rubbed her eyes before speaking up again.

"What –" Lee covered her mouth as she yawned. "-brings you guys here today?"

"You mean Brad didn't tell you we were supposed to have a study session for the up-coming Career Aptitude Test?"

"Hmm…? Career Aptitude Test?" It took a moment for Tucker's words to register into Lee's sleep fogged mind but nevertheless, they waited patiently for it. "Oh. Right. He did mention something about it last night. But I don't think he was betting on you guys coming over in the morning."

"It's ten in the morning." Sam sniped out, folding her arms across her chest and glared at the other teen. "He should be up by now unless he's being a lazy pig."

Lee didn't answer her immediately, instead clapping her hand over her mouth to cover her loud yawn. Before she could answer Sam though, an equally tired and messy looking Brad appeared behind his older sister and glared daggers at the Goth.

"Piss. Off." He growled, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Brad's current incensed expression eerily reminded Danny of the Halloween House event, which made him shudder involuntarily. The blond looked ready to bite Sam's head off if she was going to say anything else scathing.

Danny heard Lee release a tired groan before watching her as she elbowed her brother's stomach tiredly and gently shoved him towards the stairs.

"Go back upstairs and take a shower Dwarf. Maybe it'll help you wake up." Brad muttered a string of vulgarities that were aimed at Sam under his breath, giving the three pointed glares before trooping back up the stairs. The hybrid heard a loud yawn emit from the middle triplet as he stopped mid-way and threw his arms in the air to stretch them before continuing up the stairs.

Wordlessly, Lee stepped to the side and waved her hand, ushering the group into the house. They quickly stepped in, allowing the eldest triplet to close the door and wander off towards the kitchen. Danny exchanged a glance with his best friends before following behind Lee, Sam and Tucker trailing behind him closely.

The hybrid was greeted with Lee's back, bumping into her gently with his nose brushing against her messed up locks of hair, breathing in a hint of ocean scent in them. Danny tilted his head to the side to look at what the blond was looking at and blinked in surprise.

Setting up the table with plates and bowls was a casual clad Tobias Angeles. He didn't look as tired as Brad or Lee, but Danny really couldn't tell if he was tired or not. This would be one of the rare times the man was home in the daytime. His eyes trailed downwards to see Lee sigh and walk forward.

"Dad, I said I could take care of everything today and you could go to work…"

"It is a Saturday Amilee." The man responded quietly, placing his hand on her head. "And it will do you no good if you are too tired to work. You do not want a repeat of the last time you overworked yourself."

Danny heard Lee groan lightly but nod her head. Tobias straightened up and looked over to the group with his usual calm demeanor.

"Good morning Daniel. Tucker. Samantha." Danny could see Sam scowl from the corner of his eye at the formal use of her name. But Danny had to admit, Tobias didn't seem like someone to use nicknames. He figured that it was the triplets' godfather that gave them their nicknames. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"I'm fine Mr. Angeles." Tucker responded politely, stepping out from behind Danny. "I already ate before I came here."

"Same here." Danny declined while Sam shook her head in response. Tobias nodded in acknowledgement of their responses before turning back to Lee.

"Go on. Freshen up and then come down for breakfast. I will take care of Cassandra's meal for now."

The girl looked ready to protest but Tobias had griped her shoulders firmly and gave her a gentle push towards the door. With a sigh of defeat, Lee offered the group a wave before disappearing out of the room. Tobias then gestured towards the chairs and cushions for the group to settle down while waiting for Brad. He then took a tray with a bowl of oatmeal and glass of water and exited the room.

"It must be pretty bad if Mr. Angeles has to stay home to help them out. Brad and Lee do look really tired." Tucker commented quietly after the older man had left the room, settling down on one of the cushions. Danny flopped down onto the cushion next to him, nodding his head in agreement. Sam refused to comment, opting to lean against the wall instead and stayed silent.

They stayed silent for a while, until Brad came stumbling into the room while rubbing his wet hair with a towel and looking considerably better than when they first saw him. Idly he bade them a quiet 'good morning' before settling down at the table and grabbed the cereal.

Brad wolfed down his first bowl of cereal pretty quickly and reached out to pour himself another bowl when Lee finally came back. She gave a better and slightly more enthusiastic greeting of good morning before snagging the cereal box from her brother's hands and poured herself a bowl.

"I think you guys might need to clear off from our place. Dad's going to do his work here today."

"Aren't you going to join us?" Lee shook her head at Tucker's enquiry, swallowing her mouthful of cereal before responding to him.

"Dad called up Mr. Lancer earlier and told him that Pixie and I will have to take the test another day. He might have been able to get off today, but I doubt dad will be able to get anymore days off afterwards."

"What about Brad?" Sam jerked her head in the direction of the male blond who had ignored her and grabbed the cereal box for a third round. "How come your dad didn't put him to do the test with you two?"

"Because Brad can't do anything else but to carry on with daily life." Lee responded firmly, leveling an even stare with Sam. "There's no need for him to hang around the house with nothing to do because I'll be the one to look after Casse. It'll be the same for Casse if Brad got the relapse; she'll have to go on with daily life and I'll look after Brad."

Sam made a snorting and unconvinced noise.

"For crying out loud, you're not their mother and you never will be!" Time froze. The hand that held the spoon began to tremble and Danny feared that Lee might break down. He could see her slowly lower her hand back down towards the table, allowing the spoon to drop soundlessly into her bowl.

It seemed as if the temperature of the room had immediately dropped to sub-zero as silence reigned, no one daring to speak up. Without another word, Lee got up with her bowl in hand and steadily strode to the kitchen. But Danny still caught sight of her arms shaking slightly as she moved away from them. A clang startled Danny and Tucker, both twisting their necks to see Brad abruptly get to his feet.

And what happened next had gone so quickly that Danny didn't have any time to register what _was_ happening. Brad had stridden over towards Sam so fast; Danny hadn't known that the blond had even moved from his position at the table.

The glare was even more ferocious than he had remembered and Danny swore that he saw Brad bare his teeth at Sam. Neither he nor Tucker dared to move once Brad had advanced towards Sam. He glared right into her eyes but the Goth stood firm, though behind her back her hands were clenching and shaking with fear.

"Out." The blond snarled at the Manson heir. Silence echoed for a moment before Brad spoke again. "Get out. _Now_."

Sam bristled, quickly composing herself and spun her heel. She could feel Brad's intense glare burning holes at the back of her head and swallowed the dreaded feeling of regret down her throat and left the Angeles home. In her haste, she failed to notice Tobias by the stairway but her irrational thinking got the better of her as she slammed the front door behind her violently as she left.

'_I wish they'd get attacked and get the shit scared out of them! Stupid Angeles'!'_ Sam seethed as she stormed away from the house. The violet accents of the silver bracelet began to glow a dark purple color before it turned black and dimmed away.

The brunette man stared at the door for a moment as he got to the foot of the stairs. He then diverted his eyes towards the dining/living room where Brad was storming across the room, his eyes blazing with unsuppressed anger. Tobias noted that both Danny and Tucker were both looking uncomfortable and were suddenly very restless, shifting about in their seats.

The boys froze when he entered the room, nervous to know if the man had overheard everything. Danny noted that if Tobias had overheard anything, he surely wouldn't show that he had done so. His face was still calm and collected; his eyes still neutral and guarded. It was hard to know if the older man had heard them or not, Tobias was certainly betraying no emotion.

As Tobias headed for the kitchen, time really froze. Everything was still. The boys remained motionless in their positions, Tucker getting up from his seat while Danny had his arm reached out towards Brad. The blond teen had his hands on the back of the chair, his fingers set to curl around it and Tobias's foot hovered above the floor in mid-movement.

Then Clockwork appeared in the middle of the room from the glowing green clock portal.

With a smile, the Master of Time glanced around the room. His smile grew wider at the sight of Danny before he floated towards the kitchen, greeted by the time frozen Lee who was half-way washing her cereal bowl. With a wave of his staff, he summoned a tiny sleeping figure to his side.

He laid one of his CW medallions over the tiny ghost's neck and the little girl blinked and yawned loudly.

"Mmmwah!" The pigtailed girl stretched her limbs before closing her mouth and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "Where am I…?"

"Hello Box Lunch." The blue-ish green skinned ghost girl rubbed her eyes a little more before straightening up and patted the invisible dust off her overalls, her shoulders tensing as she stared straight at Clockwork. "I have a little request for you."

"Where's Daddy?" Little Lunch demanded, her eyes flashing red as she clenched her fists tightly. "And you haven't told me where I am!"

"Patience Box Lunch." Clockwork smiled, shifting from his child phase to his middle age phase. He wasn't fazed by the other ghost's onslaught of questions. "Your father is fine and you are no longer in the timeline which you were born into. But the questions shall have to wait. I would like you to act now."

The tiny ghost folded her arms across her chest, her lips curved into a thin line before she nodded her head. She knew she had no other choice but to listen to him. Clockwork's smile did not waver as he shifted to his old age phase and pointed to the frozen teenage girl.

"You see, to prevent the future that you come from, we need to change the present." Box Lunch's eyes widened and started to listen intently to Clockwork. She knew the circumstances of her time. "Thus I am giving you a chance to change it. Disturb this girl will you? Scare her, but don't injure her too much. Shadow in his present form will come by and you will have the chance to fight him."

"Shadow." The small ghost growled, clenching her fists tighter as she focused her stare at the frozen Lee. A wicked smile then graced Box Lunch's lips. "So, this is the girl he's been hanging onto? This'll be fun. Fun to torture him through her."

"Remember Box Lunch." Clockwork warned, raising a finger at her as he shifted to his child phase. "Simply scare and disturb her. No torturing or killing. She doesn't exist in your time either."

"Oh don't I know it." She hissed, wiggling her fingers experimentally. The wicked smile had yet to leave her face and a wild gleam of madness flashed in her eyes. "Let's get this show on the road then. Let me at him."

"I'll be watching." The Master of Time gave her one last warning, before he pressed the top of his staff and disappeared in a swirl of green. And with him gone, time resumed.

"Brad? You ok?" Faintly she could hear the voice and a quiet but audible gasp from the other room but Box Lunch was far too occupied to bother with anything else. She had her mission and now she was going to have her fun.

The faucet continued to run as Lee washed the soap bubbles from the bowl in her hands, her eyes staring downwards in a troubled expression. She halted and blinked when a sudden shadow was cast over her. The blond lifted her head up to see the malicious grin of the tiny ghost floating right in front of her face.

There was only one reaction she could summon to the sudden appearance to the ghost who had raised her hands to flip open the kitchen cupboards and drawers, drawing out all the cutlery and food items from within them. Lee screamed.

The reaction was instantaneous. The boys quickly scrambled towards the kitchen while Tobias lurched forward to the kitchen door, only to be thrown backwards when the wooden chopping board flew and connected to the side of his head. The tray Tobias had held flung out of his hands and clattered onto the ground, the bowl and glass smashing into pieces.

Danny quickly motioned for Tucker to assist Tobias while he lunged forward with Brad to the kitchen. The hybrid's eyes widened in horror as he saw Lee crouched down on the floor with various sharp utensils and knives spinning dangerously around her. A surge of anger raced through his veins when he spotted the culprit, a maniacally laughing but tiny ghost floating by the sink.

"Yes! Fear me! And before you know it I'll be crushing you to pieces with…" The ghost never got to finish when Brad surged forward, his hand dug into his pocket to take out a strange looking metal brace. It was only until it was activated that Danny realized that it was one of the sides of the smaller and more compact version of the Ghost Gauntlets. Brad swung his fist forward and connected it against the ghost's face, sending her flying into the wall with a sickening crack.

But the sharp items didn't stop their dance around Lee. Instead, they began to spin even more wildly than before, slitting her exposed skin at every opportunity. Danny grabbed one of the floating pans and tried fending off the knives away from Lee with limited success. He'd only managed to knock them away from her for just a few moments to let her stand before they came spinning back towards her.

"Try all you want." Danny and Brad whirled around to see Box Lunch fly forward from the earlier punch. Her eyes were gleaming wickedly and glowing a bright malicious red. "I'm not going to let her loose until Shadow comes running along to save his little precious."

"Who the hell are you?!" Brad snarled, reaching into his other pocket and arming both his hands with the compact Ghost Gauntlets. He braced into a defensive position as Danny continued to smack the knives away from Lee. The girl was frantically trying to swat the flying items away, her eyes wild with fear.

"I am Box Lunch! Daughter of the Box Ghost and Lunch Lady!"

"What the… oh EW!" Both boys cringed simultaneously. Lee hadn't been able to summon any reaction to the introduction; she was still trying to dodge the flying objects that were spiraling around her.

"Please tell me I heard wrong." Danny heard Brad mumble out. "Did she just say she was the Box Ghost and Lunch Lady's _daughter_?"

"There's nothing wrong with my heritage!" The tiny ghost snapped, scowling at the two slightly green faced boys.

"I'm going to have nightmares." Danny moaned out as he watched Brad shudder and shake off the shivers that were seemingly running down his spine. When he shook the shock off, Danny faced Box Lunch, cringing slightly at the image of the Box Ghost and Lunch Lady being a couple before speaking out. "Who is this Shadow you're talking about? What does Lee have anything to do with him?"

"Everything!" Box Lunch snarled, her eyes glowing an even brighter red. Danny gasped when one of the knives were viciously swung at Lee, slashing her cheek and stuck onto the cupboard door beside her. She squeaked in fright and Danny just realized how serious Box Lunch was. "She's everything to him! That's why he'll definitely come, because he can't stand to have his precious injured!"

"I'm starting to think that you might be aiming at the wrong person because we don't know who the hell you're talking about!"

"Lies!" Box Lunch screeched out, vaguely resembling the Lunch Lady's own screeches. "I'll destroy him then I'll go after his master! I'll make sure they don't make ruin to the Ghost Zone!"

"I don't know who he is!" Lee yelped as she quickly shifted to one side to dodge the knife that came flying towards her. "How can I be everything to a person I don't even know?!"

Quickly, Danny glanced over to Brad. The blond noticed the glance and nodded, shifting slightly to brace himself for the next move. Lee gasped when Brad ran forward and grabbed Box Lunch's legs and started hauling the shrieking ghost out of the room.

"Tuck! Look after Lee and Mr. Angeles will you?!" Danny hollered, not bothering to look back as he quickly followed Brad out the front door. The blond had flung the tiny into the air while Danny dove for cover in the bushes and changed into his ghostly alter-ego. Immediately as he had done so, he shot a long hard ghost ray at Box Lunch that caused her eyes to stop glowing.

"Hey pipsqueak! Why don't you try picking on someone else?" He didn't give Box Lunch any opportunity to respond, rapidly firing a volley of ghost rays at her before dashing forward to deliver a kick to her stomach. The tiny ghost flew backwards and down the street towards the Nasty Burger with Danny hot on her heels, feeling a fierce satisfaction of revenge run through his veins.

Danny peered down at the ground to see Brad following him on foot, the Ghost Gauntlets crackling with energy. He was surprised that the blond able to keep up, although Brad did look a little breathless and was still quite a fair distance behind him.

With his attention diverted, Box Lunch had taken the opportunity to lunge at him, tackling his midsection and throwing Danny against the pavement. He grunted as his back made contact with the ground hard and felt the air squish out of his lungs as Box Lunch sat on his stomach before launching herself back up into the air.

And while she gloated, Box Lunch had unwittingly made herself vulnerable. Brad raced forward and pulled his fist back before plunging it at her. Box Lunch shrieked as his energy crackling fist collided with her face, sending her flying backwards into the Nasty Burger.

The patrons and workers of the Nasty Burger were screaming and scrambling out for the exits. Only the manager seemed intent on staying despite the danger but his worries were more on the expensive machinery the fast food joint had invested on than on his safety. Danny cursed his luck and avoided both Box Lunch's barrage of Nasty sauces and the manager's random swinging of the broom.

The tiny ghost stopped pelting him with the sauces and begun grabbing tables and chairs, throwing them at Danny with all the force she had. Danny grimaced as he dodged them, wincing as he heard the crashes and thuds when the objects impacted against and/or went through the walls and shattered the glass windows. Because of this, he failed to see the broom that suddenly appeared in front of him and sent him flying into one of the crashed tables.

"I've got you now Shadow!" Danny lifted his head up and gave Box Lunch and incredulous stare. _He_ was Shadow? Since when could someone mistake 'Phantom' for 'Shadow'? Either she was crazier than he thought or he just simply really resembled that… person she was truly after.

But luck decided to smile down on him when the manager's wild swinging caught Box Lunch by surprise, her gloating abruptly cut short when the handle of the broom tore the strange necklace off her. The strange medallion flew into the air and Danny's brain registered a faint popping noise. He blinked to see that Box Lunch was gone and the manager doing an impromptu jig of triumph.

That was until the manager found out that there were holes and scratches on the expensive machines with the words 'CRITICAL FAILURE' splashed on the screen did he fall to his knees and wail loudly.

Danny didn't want to test the waters of his luck, activating his invisibility and grimacing at the now trashed joint. The idle thought that the Nasty Burger was going to be closed for the next few days floated in his mind before he cast it away, levitating forward to find that strange item that Box Lunch had left behind.

He found it wedged between the fresh cracks of the wall and gingerly dislodged it before turning on his intangibility and disappearing through the walls. He glanced about the alleyway and quickly returned to his human self, pocketing the medallion before trotting out to find Brad.

Thankfully, the blond was still nearby. In fact, Brad was being cornered by Lancer. As he neared them, Danny could hear Lancer enquiring about Casse's well-being while still clutching onto the briefcase that was still cuffed to his wrist.

"That doesn't sound very good."

"Dad says it isn't, but he also said that it isn't bad enough that she'd be in danger." Danny could hear the tight note in Brad's tone but knew it was because he was just really uncomfortable talking about their (the triplets') relapses. It wasn't exactly something that he liked to openly share to anyone and his sisters didn't talk much about it either.

"Hey Brad!" The hybrid saw Brad's shoulders stiffen a little before relaxing, recognizing his voice. Both Lancer and Brad turned to face him as he jogged up to them. "Man! What happened to the Nasty Burger? Did a tornado rip through it or something?"

"More like ghosts Mr. Fenton." Lancer replied wryly, shifting his head to look at the mess of what was the Nasty Burger. Both teens exchanged a look with each other as Lancer continued. "Well, the both of you better study hard for the C.A.T that's coming up. That's all I can tell you."

"Sure Mr. Lancer." The boys chorused out, crossing their fingers behind their backs as they did so. The bald teacher didn't notice the action and walked off, leaving them to watch his retreating back before covering their mouths to hide their snickers and exchange a discreet high five with each other.

They didn't notice Dash standing with his cronies at the other side of the road or the wicked gleam in his eyes before he spun his heel and quietly followed Lancer.

"At least the Red Huntress didn't come around to bust your chops." Brad commented as they took off back to the Angeles house. Danny fervently nodded his head in agreement to the blonds' comment, knowing that the Nasty Burger would be in an even bigger mess if Valerie had shown up. "So how did you get rid of the annoying… daughter of the Box Ghost and Lunch Lady?"

"Please don't remind me of her parentage." The hybrid shuddered violently at the mention of Box Lunch's parents while Brad shivered less violently at the thought. "But really, it was the Nasty Burger's manager's moment of absolute glory. He was swinging the broom around randomly and ripped off the weird necklace that was around her neck. She just vanished when it was off her."

Danny fished into his pocket to reveal the retrieved item to Brad. Gingerly, the blond plucked it out of Danny's hands and examined the object closely. He ran his fingers over the contours of the medallion and fingered the two letterings engraved in the middle.

"CW? Wonder what that stands for…"

"Chick Wonder?" Brad rolled his eyes and landed a playful punch at Danny's shoulder. Danny grinned and continued to tick off some random names he could think of. "What about Chicken Wings?"

"Bro, I just had breakfast. Naming food is a bad idea right now especially when you just trashed the Nasty Burger."

"Touché." Danny took back the medallion and pocketed it. "Well let's get back and hope Lee and your dad are ok. I don't think getting smacked in the head by a chopping board is something to be taken lightly of."

"You're telling me." Both boys broke into a light jog to reach their destination faster. "I hope Fairy will be ok. It's got to be a huge shock when someone's targeting you to get to another person who you don't know. That reminds me though, did you find out who exactly Box Lunch was talking about?"

"That's the weirdest part." Danny shook his head slightly as he jogged beside Brad. "She said I was Shadow. As in, my ghost half when we were battling it out inside the Nasty Burger."

"Are you serious?" The other demanded, turning to face him with an incredulous look. "Either she's crazier than we thought, or your alter-ego looks exactly like the guy she was talking about."

"Oh the irony… I thought the exact same thing when she pointed at me and said 'I got you now Shadow!'" Danny muttered amusedly, giving Brad a wry smile. The blond offered him a shrug as they continued jogging. "But right now, let's go check up on them. I feel bad for leaving Tucker in that position to take care of both of them while we were off hunting Box Lunch."

"Scare him off by telling him the revelation that Box Ghost and Lunch Lady decided spend a night together and popped her out." Brad suggested with an evil smirk. "He'll thank you for not dragging him along."

"You are a devil incarnate Brad."

"If it saves your ass, why not?"

* * *

"It seems even you are not immune to the effects of the time and space distortion." Clockwork grimaced and nodded.

"It seems so, and it has gone beyond what we had anticipated. This timeline is now dangerously unstable."

"Indeed." The sorceress murmured, bouncing the orb in her hand for a moment before returning her gaze to it. "The timelines that will stretch from this line from now on will have the distortion of time and space. Some will gradually correct themselves as they progress while others will succumb to the distortion."

"And the timelines that fall to the distortion will 'vanish'." The ghost mused lightly, using invisible quotation marks to emphasize 'vanish' before lifting his head to look at the orb. "The Observants would be rather pleased with that. Fewer headaches for them to worry about."

"True." Zeraphina murmured, twirling the orb idly around her fingers. "However, timelines as you should know do not simply 'vanish'. They are now simply in suspended animation. Frozen because they can no longer move forward because if they do, the timeline will weaken and the space between the timelines will distort so drastically that they would begin to weave against each other…"

"And create an entirely different timeline with double the number of occupants." Clockwork finished and sighed. He glanced at his staff and blinked. "I must get going then. This timeline must carry on."

"It should and it shall." The sorceress replied with a gentle note in her voice. "Don't forget what we both know Clockwork. The future is not set in stone and this timeline has enough time to correct the distortions. And of course, we know 'everything'."

"I'll gladly remember that." The ghost smiled at her emphasis of 'everything', giving her a cheeky knowing wink and swung his staff in a circular motion before vanishing into the green portal. Zeraphina's lips curved into a gentle knowing smile as her fingers continued to twirl the orb around before allowing it to disperse into wisps of red smoke.

* * *

"So, meet up again tomorrow for more studying?" Brad nodded, adjusting his backpack on his shoulder while Danny gave Tucker a thumbs-up. The boys had gone to Tucker's house to study, keeping clear of the Angeles home to allow Tobias space to work. Luckily the injuries both Tobias and Lee had sustained were minor and Lee insisted that the boys should carry on with their study session.

Tucker had quietly informed Brad and Danny that Lee had gone into shock after they had cast out Box Lunch on the way to his house. The dark-skinned boy advised the middle Angeles to watch his older sister whenever he could and Brad had acknowledged. Danny made a note in his mind to check up on her when he went for his nightly patrol.

The boys managed to get a majority of their studying done, forgetting about the earlier scuffle that Brad had with Sam. The sun was slowly setting, coloring the sky in a mixture of red, orange and blue as Danny and Brad stepped out of the front door.

"How about my place tomorrow?" The hybrid offered, shouldering his backpack while turning to look at his two friends. "I'll make sure my dad doesn't blow anything up or get my mom to supervise him again."

"Or foam any of us at first sight?" Tucker burst out laughing at the mention of the triplets' first encounter with Danny's parents. Danny aimed a punch at Brad's shoulder and playfully scowled at him.

"Yes, no foaming of anyone either. You're never going to let it go are you?"

"Not so long as I breathe bro. Not so long as I breathe."

"So we'll meet at Danny's tomorrow at around say, ten? Or eleven if you're going to be as cranky as you were this morning." Brad moved to sock Tucker in the arm with a roll of his eyes. The beret wearing boy grinned and quickly dodged, dancing over to hide behind Danny.

"Ten. Dad's not going to let me stay up anyway; neither is Fairy. Besides, Fairy's going to kick both dad and I out of the house tomorrow. Which books are we going to go through tomorrow?"

"History, Social Studies and Math." Tucker recited dutifully, already having planned out which subjects the boys would study for each session. The other two boys exchanged amused glances with each other before chorusing out.

"Thanks humanized PDA." Tucker swung his fists out at them, catching them both in the shoulders with an exasperated scowl. Danny pretended to feel pain in his shoulder while Brad rolled his eyes and took a step back, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Ha, ha and ha." The African-American boy stuck his tongue out at his two friends and leaned against the door frame. "So tomorrow, Danny's place with those three subjects at ten."

"Aye aye captain!" Danny mocked, faking a salute at Tucker who stuck his tongue out at him again. "I'll see you two tomorrow then…"

"I smell a 'but' coming." Brad declared, shoving his hands into his pockets while giving Danny an even stare. Danny shot him a dirty look and sighed.

"Well, sorta. I was hoping we could get Sam to study with us too… you know?" Danny hastily explained himself when met with both Tucker and Brad's slightly incredulous stares. "I mean, sure she's been kind of testy lately…"

"Testy? More like downright scathing and biting." Danny tossed another dirty look at Brad at his muttering but continued anyway.

"But she's still our friend. Maybe she's just got some family trouble. You guys do know that she hates it when her parents try forcing something onto her." He turned on his wounded puppy expression and bombarded his two friends with it. "I know she's kind of gotten on your nerves but please? Give her another chance?"

"Ugh. The kicked-puppy face." Danny began grinning internally when Brad turned his face away from him while Tucker groaned and hid his face behind the door. "Oh alright already. Stop it. You and Pixie can contest against each other on who has the better face."

"Thank you!" The hybrid chirped happily, the kicked puppy expression vanishing and was replaced with a cheeky smile. However, Brad raised a finger of warning at Danny's face.

"But if she makes any stupid crack about my family again…" The threat was left hanging in the air but Danny understood. Brad had a low tolerance for anyone who wanted to scathe any of his sisters and just recently started to bite anyone who decided to talk about his dad.

"Then I totally understand if you don't want to talk or hang around with her again if she does." He responded firmly, thanking heaven that Brad was willing to give Sam a chance. Danny just hoped that Sam would pull through like he believed she would. "So I'll catch you guys tomorrow then!"

With a wave, Danny starting walking off. He breathed a sigh of relief once Tucker and Brad were out of sight. He never expected Sam to lash out the way she did in the morning, life was just becoming more and more complicated for Danny and he was running out of ideas of how to make it less so. Between keeping secrets with his friends, keeping up with high school, protecting the town from ghosts and avoiding the rest of his family from finding out his dual identity, Danny was slowly losing his cool by bottling it all up.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize that Dash was coming up right behind him until the jock had punched the back of his head. The punch startled Danny, making him yelp in pain and crash onto the gravel of the road with a loud thump, his backpack knocked off his shoulder and scattering his books on the ground.

"What's the matter Fentonia? Got two left feet?" Danny growled under his breath as Dash jeered at him. With his eyes directed to the ground, he didn't notice Dash slipping a brown envelope into one of his books. Danny got to his feet and scowled at the jock.

"Don't you have some studying to do instead of making other people's lives miserable?" He groused, reaching out to grab the fallen books. Dash's smirk only grew wider when Danny picked up the book that he had slipped the envelope in before tossing a kick at Danny's side. The hybrid released a tiny 'oof' sound from his lips and glared at the jock when he regained his breath.

"Making your life miserable is my future career." The jock sneered, kicking some gravel at Danny before he retreated away. Danny's eyes flashed green angrily for a moment and he was unable to resist sending a bolt of ecto-energy from his finger at Dash's posterior. His lips curved into an eerily satisfied smile at the sound of the ray hitting Dash's rump and the shout of pain that followed it right after.

He stuffed all of his fallen books back into his backpack, oblivious to the extra item that was hidden between the pages of one of his books. Quickly, he slung his bag over his shoulder and continued his way home.

Once he reached home, Danny greeted his family before racing up to his room and dropped his bag unceremoniously at the door, the top flap of the bag coming loose and exposing his books. The first thing in order for him was to call Sam and try pleading her to join them (the boys) in their next study session.

The phone call had been strange to say the least. Sam had sounded too… elated when he had called her. But the elation in her tone had faded when he went on to persuade her into coming for the next study session. It took quite some time, but Danny managed to persuade Sam into coming.

Danny stared at the phone with unease when the conversation had ended. There was something odd about Sam's behavior. He just didn't know what. As he continued to stare at the phone, Jazz poked her head into his room.

"Hey Danny, dinner's ready so you might want to head downstairs now."

"Did mom use the ecto-devices again?" He asked warily, brows arching at the thought of the meal being made by the homemade devices. Jazz released a laugh from her lips and shook her head.

"Nope, normal kitchen devices. Don't worry, I checked."

"Sweet!" Danny cheered, tossing the phone aside and jumped up from his bed. "Normal food that won't try to eat us!"

Jazz smiled as Danny gave her a quick hug before trotting down the stairs to the kitchen. Just as she was about to do the same, her eyes caught sight of his open bag and frowned at the folded edge of something brown in one of his books. Curiosity piqued, she reached down and plucked the item out warily, eyes widening in shock when the big letters of 'C.A.T ANSWERS' met her sight.

Immediately her head snapped towards the direction where Danny had left. A million thoughts of denial screamed in her head, praying that it was some sort of mistake. She turned back to the envelope and stared at the letters again before examining it. There was no mistake that it was the real deal. The seal was still on the envelope and the words were written in Lancer's large bold hand writing.

"Jazz? Aren't you coming down?" The older Fenton sibling snapped out of her reverie and quickly stuck the envelope back into the book.

"Yea! I'm coming!" She didn't want to believe that Danny was about to cheat for the C.A.T. But then how did he get the answers? Did he use his ghost powers to get them? The thoughts continued to race through her mind all the while during dinner and she didn't notice that she was shooting concerned looks in Danny's direction.

But he didn't look like he was going to cheat at all; not even like he had the faintest clue that he had gotten the test answers. When she idly asked about his study session, he cheerfully went through what the boys had done for the day. No matter how much she tried to look at it, Jazz could not see Danny purposely stealing test answers and using them to cheat.

Danny felt a little uncomfortable with Jazz's glances of concern that were flitting in his direction a little too often for his liking. He tried to think that she was worried about him overworking for the C.A.T because of her own high score, but there was this nagging feeling biting at the back of his head that told him otherwise.

He survived through dinner, thanking his mother for the scrumptious meal that hadn't tried to stake their revenge against them by attempting to bite them. While cleaning up, he could still feel Jazz's stare trained on his back and started to feel more disconcerted with it. He felt a distinct rush of freedom flow through his veins when he was allowed to retreat back into the sanctuary of his room.

Once he had finished his shower, Danny flopped backwards onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. Something was amiss, but he couldn't figure out what. Jazz's sudden strange behavior was also starting to irk him. What did she find out that was making her hover over him so much? She couldn't have found out about his dual identity… could she? The thought was making him feel queasy in the stomach, berating himself for not being good enough in covering his tracks.

'_I'm thinking too much.'_ He thought with a grimace, turning over to his side to stare at his door. _'I really need to concentrate on something else. Oh right The C.A.T. Hopefully Sam will pull through and we won't have such a huge tension between us all anymore…'_

Danny was lulled to sleep by the soft buzzing of the electric lights of the Fenton Works sign. Jazz poked her head into the room to see her brother sprawled over his blankets, almost teetering off his bed in one roll. She sighed; shaking her head with an amused smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she quietly strode over to the bed.

Jazz gently rolled Danny onto his back and tugged the blankets from under his body before tucking him neatly into bed. She toyed with his unruly fringe for a moment with a soft smile playing on her lips. The smile dropped and turned into a small frown as she pulled her hand away from her brother's face, turning to look at his backpack that lay at the side of his door, untouched from earlier.

She still felt unsettled. There was a strange feeling of foreboding swirling at the pit of her stomach but she still couldn't think of what would happen. Jazz could only hope that Danny would honestly return the answers to Lancer as soon as he could to avoid any misunderstanding.

* * *

"What the heck?!" The red clad archer quickly wrapped his arms around his female companion as the ground began to shake violently. His companion cursed colorfully, clutching onto his tunic as the shaking increased until it suddenly stopped. Finally realizing their proximity, the two red clad persons separated from each other, a light hue of red coloring their cheeks.

"I wonder what caused that quake…" The archer murmured, scratching the back of his hood covered head as he surveyed the debris that was littered across the ground. His black trench coated companion too, looked up to survey the damage as well as to look out for any enemies.

"It can't be anything good." She responded grimly, reaching back to pat the dust off her long loose blond hair before shaking her braided side-burns. Her cold blue eyes scanned the area before she closed her eyes and listened. A sound invaded her ears and she immediately whipped out her two ecto-guns at the same time her archer companion readied his arrow in the same direction she was pointing at. Both of them poised and ready to attack.

A jet sled came flying down and skidded before hovering just some distance away from them. However they didn't let down their stances until a familiar face greeted them. An unwelcomed familiar face.

"What do you want Valerie?" The blond snapped, eyes narrowing as her grip tightened around the handles of the guns. Her companion pulled his arrow back slightly, ready to release at any time. The dark-skinned woman on the sled snorted, folding her arms across her chest as she glared back at the blond.

"I should've brought you in five years ago Casse. You and Red Arrow. You two are making all our plans backfire against the Master! You said you wanted to bring peace, well you're not!"

"At least I'm not the one blinded by rage and selfishness, and who always seems to get numerous causalities in every battle I fight you hypocrite!" The older Red Huntress snarled angrily but the other wasn't finished. "If your way of bringing peace has the price of so many other lives, I'd rather die than follow you! You made ruin to the name of the Justice League!"

"I did not!" As she tried to move forward, Valerie was blocked by an arrow that swished across her face, slitting the skin of her nose. The woman scowled at Red Arrow, who already had another arrow from his barrel ready and poised to release. Valerie snarled, turning back to Casse with a glare.

"If anything I revolutionized them! The ghosts have become an even bigger menace than they ever were ten years ago! Not even the super villains of our realm could match up to them and look now! They're all cowering in fear and gone into hiding after what happened to Lex Luthor!"

"Revolutionize my ass." Red Arrow spat, glaring at Valerie under his black eye mask. She couldn't see the fury that was burning in his eyes. "And your little league isn't the Justice League; the REAL League disbanded because of the Watchtower Tragedy five years ago and you just made your own little band of wandering heroes under that name. You manipulated Hawk into joining you after Dove was killed, and without Dove, Hawk is a loose cannon who doesn't hold back."

The archer gripped his bow tighter, but didn't waver in his words as he continued speaking.

"You pretended to take in Beast Boy when Cyborg and Raven were taken. You shut him away from Nightwing and Starfire, and even managed to get him permanently stuck in his beast form. You're no hero Red Huntress, you're a tyrant. And you're no better than the Master."

"You are wrong!" Valerie spat out, bringing her wrist forward to aim her portable rays at them. "I brought them back up to their feet! Beast Boy only decided to give in to his animal instincts and became the Beast! And Hawk can manage just fine without Dove!"

Valerie turned to look at Casse, eyes blazing with hatred and despise as she directed her next words at her.

"And you should be hating the ghosts too! They're the reason behind the Watchtower Tragedy and they're also probably the reason behind the Nasty Burger incident that killed everyone else!"

"SHUT UP!" Without warning Casse fired. Valerie hissed and deflected some of the shots with her wrist ray gun as she slammed her heel on her jet sled and rose higher into the air. The dark-skinned woman slammed a fist on a button on her sled that erected a shield over her and jetted off, but not before throwing a grenade at them.

Red Arrow lunged forward and quickly threw Casse to one side as the grenade landed and exploded, cracking the pavement and rumbling the earth. Once the dust settled, Red Arrow scowled in the direction where Valerie had taken off too as he stood up, hissing softly as he did so.

"Thanks." The blond murmured quietly, getting up from her lying position on the ground and to a sitting position. A gloved hand touched her shoulder and blue eyes looked up to meet masked green looking back at her worriedly.

"You're not having second thoughts are you?" The soft gaze the blue eyes gave turned into a stern one as she firmly shook her head. Red Arrow's lips curved into a smile as she fiercely replied him.

"No, and I never will. I'll never become or join her. I know what pain is; she doesn't. All she knows is petty vengeance just because of a stupid incident she refuses to let go that happened ten years ago. She's petty, vile and the day I ever join her is the day I cease to exist!" The gloved hand that rest on her shoulder moved slightly to grip it gently. She looked back up into her companion's eyes and met his smile.

"Well, that's why you're the Angel, right Casse?" She snorted and shook her head as she gently brushed his hand away from her shoulder and stood up.

"I'm no angel. But a Fallen Angel… yea. Then maybe I am." She straightened her back and glanced around the empty and previous war zone of a street. "There's nothing else here, maybe Oracle picked up something from the radars about that quake earlier."

"Roger that. Let's head back then."

* * *

The silence was definitely unnerving. Both Brad and Sam had arrived earlier than Danny had expected and Tucker wasn't quite there yet for them to begin the study session. Both teens had settled in for glaring at each other from across the table, neither one of them making any move to speak or to do anything else. This was amusing to Jazz who had poked her head in now and then to check on them but Danny felt really nervous at the intensity of the glares they were giving each other.

Danny silently wished for Tucker to get to his house faster, this was nuts! Neither Brad or Sam was willing to budge from their stand and it didn't look like any one of them was going to crumble any time soon. Danny found the loop hole of his request to his friends, both were willing to be in the same room together but it didn't mean they were going to interact with each other. It was simply ridiculous.

When the doorbell rang, Danny almost cried with relief and shot to the door in a hurry, not wanting to stay in the tense atmosphere his two friends were giving off in the dining room. Tucker stared at him in bemusement when he swung the door open and quickly ushered him in.

Wordlessly, Danny pointed to the kitchen and Tucker peered over his shoulder to take a look. He winced at the intensity of the glares Brad and Sam were still giving each other before turning to look at Danny incredulously.

"How long have they been doing this?"

"Half an hour tops."

Tucker grimaced at Danny's reply, eyes flitting back to the kitchen where Brad and Sam were still having their stare down. Jazz was slowly trotting down the stairs when she spotted the two boys by the front door. Danny caught sight of his sister and simply waved a hand helplessly in the direction of the dining room with a mournful look splashed over his face. Jazz raised an eyebrow and once she reached the bottom of the stairs, turned to look at the dining room.

"Are they _still_ glaring at each other?" A nod from her brother confirmed her question and she shook her head in exasperated amusement. "Wow, they're both really stubborn. Anyway, I'll be heading to the library now and will be back later ok? Remember to ask Brad about Casse will you?"

"Sure thing Jazz. Be careful on the road; I heard there are some random ghosts wandering around."

"Of course I will." Jazz's eyes briefly flickered to Danny's backpack that was lying by the dining room door. The action didn't go unnoticed by Tucker. "Have fun in your study session."

"If they stop glaring at each other long enough to let us start that is…" Tucker muttered under his breath. Both Fenton siblings had caught the mutter and made noises of agreement, Danny's slightly louder than Jazz's. The older Fenton ruffled her brother's mop of raven hair and walked out of the house, closing the door behind her with a tiny click.

Once she was gone, Tucker turned to look at Danny. "Did you notice that she was looking at your backpack weirdly?"

"Huh?" Danny blinked at Tucker in confusion. "Who do you mean? Jazz?"

"No, I meant Casse. Yes of course I meant Jazz." Tucker groaned out sarcastically, Danny still blinking at him in confusion. "It's like your bag is carrying some weird disease or something. Is there anything in it that would make her worry?"

"What? No way. All there is in my backpack is my books from yesterday's study session. Besides, I haven't touched them since Dash knocked me over on my way home last night."

The study session set off with a few minor hitches but eventually continued on smoothly despite the tense silence that was laid between Brad and Sam. Neither was willing to talk to each other anyway. The group managed a good two hours of studying until an earthquake rocked the walls of Fenton Works. It was at that time that Danny's ghost sense went off with a wisp of blue air escaping his lips as he scrambled to steady himself as the ground rumbled.

He cursed under his breath at his luck and quickly spared a glance at his three friends who had seen the wisp escape his lips. Danny shot Brad a brief wild look as the earth continued to shake. Sam and Tucker mistook the look as one of fear of letting the blond 'find out' about Danny's dual identity but could not act with the continually shaking ground.

The quake finally stopped and the teens warily got to their feet. Danny grimaced at the mess the quake had made of his home as he sought for an excuse to give his best friends to prevent them from finding out that Brad already knew his dual identities. A sudden thought hit him, but he wasn't sure if it was good enough to deter his best friends. Nevertheless, he still tried.

"I guess we'll have to cut this study session short…" He received a curt nod from both Sam and Tucker, both of them thinking that he was trying to get Brad out of Fenton Works. Brad caught on to what he was really thinking and silently nodded as Danny continued. "Why don't you guys head off? My place isn't exactly very ideal to study in anymore."

"Won't you need help?" Tucker quickly butted in, a little confused as to why Danny was booting all of them out. "Cleaning your place alone is going to be a hassle."

"Nah, you guys have to continue studying don't you?" Sam's eyes narrowed at Danny as he continued speaking. Even though he could feel the intense stare trained on him, Danny didn't waver in his words. "Oh come on, I'll only be cleaning up the kitchen. The lab stays as my parents' job because they've been working on more stuff down there that I wouldn't want to touch."

"Sounds reasonable enough to me." Brad shrugged, his hands stuffed into his jean pockets with a calm and neutral gaze sent in Danny's direction. The hybrid was glad that the blond had quickly picked up what he was aiming for. "Give the guy some space. Forcing help on him isn't going to help if it'll aggravate him."

"No one asked for your opinion." Sam muttered, folding her arms across her chest as she glared at the blond. The other simply tilted his head in her direction and returned the glare with equal force. Danny released a groan and rubbed his temples when the two began another glaring match. Tucker hesitated for a moment before he drew his own conclusion that if they (Sam and himself) were to stay behind, Brad would most likely do the same.

"Come on you two. Let's give Danny the space to clear up without us hovering over him." Brad tore his gaze away from Sam and nodded in Tucker's direction, sweeping his books from the table and into his backpack. Tucker quietly did the same but Sam didn't move until Danny gave her a pleading look. She scowled a little before viciously stuffing her books into her bag and marched out the door with Tucker trailing behind her.

Before Brad left, he turned to face Danny slightly and tapped his wrist, making clinking sounds to tell the hybrid that he still had the compact Ghost Gauntlets. Danny gave him a discreet nod and the blond strode out of Fenton Works towards Tucker and Sam. Once his friends were out of sight, Danny quickly closed the door and stowed his books into his backpack, completely missing the brown envelope that was sticking out from one of his books. After he had tossed the bag into his room, he changed into his alter-ego and exited Fenton Works.

Once in the sky, Danny purposely flew above his friends to notify them of his appearance before quickly surging forward to find the disturbance. What he found four streets down from Fenton Works was disturbing. _Very_ disturbing.

A fifteen foot tall robot was lumbering around the street, smashing and blowing anything up in its path. There was a certain feeling of déjà vu coursing through his veins when Danny powered up a ghost ray and shot it at the black robot. When the robot turned to face him, a stone of dread and nausea dropped into the pit of his stomach as the electronic face of Skulker towered over him. Somehow he had the feeling that this was not going to end very well when Skulker's 'mouth' split into a wide sinister grin.

"I've found you…" The next thing Danny knew, he was sent flying backwards at such a high speed that he had blown past his friends and smashed onto the road with a sickening crack and a thud. A shout of pain escaped his lips as he immediately turned onto his side, clutching his back in agony.

"Holy shit!"

"What the hell?!"

"What is this, a new upgraded Technus styled Skulker?!"

Danny vaguely registered the shouts of his friends in his pain hazed mind. He rolled onto his hands and knees, grunted in pain and struggled to stand. He gasped when Skulker's new arsenal charged up and fired multiple missiles at Tucker, Sam and Brad. Danny shot forward and immediately flung up a shield, grunting as the missiles impacted on it.

He didn't dare to drop the shield until the dust cloud dispersed; having a gut feeling that this Skulker was the same as Box Lunch from the day before. The gut feeling turned out to be right when the new powered up ghost came surging forward and firmly planted his fist against the shield.

"Ugh…" Danny grunted as the charged up fist started to crack the shield. He shifted his eyes to look back at his stunned friends. "When the shield breaks, run for it!"

They didn't have any time to comprehend the meaning behind his words, whether it meant he was going to let the shield down or if he meant that Skulker was going to break it. The green shield suddenly shattered at the point of impact where Skulker's fist had been and dissolved into the air. Brad, Tucker and Sam quickly dove for cover when Danny was sent flying backwards once again when Skulker's knuckles crunched against chest.

The ghost didn't seem to pay them any particular attention as he shot forward and gave chase to Danny, who had recovered in mid-flight and was now dodging the improved laser beams and ghost seeking missiles.

"Dude." Tucker's jaw was hanging open loosely as he stared at the battle scene before him. "Either Skulker met Technus and got him to do an upgrade on his suit, or it's another whacked up ghost from the future out to chew Phantom."

"Another whacked up ghost from the future?" Sam echoed sharply, raising her eyebrow at the two boys with a frown marring her features. "What does that mean? What happened yesterday?"

"DUCK!" At Brad's sudden holler, the trio quickly dropped their bodies and flattened themselves against the road as missiles and lasers came flashing over their heads in a flurry of bright lights. Incoherent yells could be heard over the din of the explosives and the three were suddenly surrounded by a cloud of dust that descended on them like a swarm of bees.

Once the dust settled, a strong gust of wind blew past them. Rather it was _someone_ who had just blown past above their heads. The teens heard a loud crash of someone smashing through glass and a shout of pain echoed in their ears. Brad gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly before flinging his bag at Tucker as he got up from the ground and raced towards the laughing Skulker.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Tucker shouted, fear squeezing his heart tightly as Brad lunged forward and pulled his fist back. He could hear Sam emit a noise of shock when the crackling bolts of green energy began sparking off the blonds' suddenly shiny fist. The next he heard was Skulker screaming in fury, unleashing a powerful backhand at Brad that sent him crashing into wall with a loud thump.

But Brad had managed to distract Skulker enough for Danny to launch a counter-attack. Burning in rage at Skulker's daring action of hurting his friends, the hybrid shot forward and delivered a barrage of ghost energy from his hands before locking into a hand on hand match with the other. With Danny engaged in fierce combat with the upgraded Skulker, Tucker and Sam quickly made their way to the dazed blond.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" The bespectacled boy hissed urgently, dropping their bags and gently helped to steady Brad on his feet. "And since when did you keep the compact with you?!"

"And it stands for Ghost Gauntlets Sam." Tucker quickly explained before turning his gaze to Brad who was slowly regaining his equilibrium. Sam didn't look very pleased with the revelation of _Brad_ having ghost hunting weapons with him and not her. A surge of jealousy ran through her veins but she stomped it down for now. There were more pressing matters at hand.

"Not now." The other gasped, finally managing to regain his breath and state of mind. "We need to get that medallion off him!"

"Medallion?" Brad waved an impatient hand at Skulker with a scowl forming on his lips.

"Hello? Robot guy's neck there's a medallion that looks exactly like the one the little imp had yesterday? Tucker, you should remember since you saw her then!"

"So what if there's a medallion with them?" Sam retorted disdainfully, folding her arms across her chest while Brad simply threw his hands up in frustration.

"Forget it! If you're going to be a complete bitch and let Phantom suffer getting pummeled, be my guest. But I'm not going to stand around and do nothing." With that, the blond took off again into field, dodged a laser beam and headed straight for his target. Sam glared daggers at his retreating back while Tucker's shoulders stiffened slightly, perturbed by all the sudden changes of attitude.

But his concern for Danny overwhelmed the confusion. Tucker shook off the feeling and quickly following after the blond with determination splashed on his face. Sam's lips had curved into an ugly scowl, her eyes narrowing so much that she resembled an evil scheming cat hiding in the shadows. Her fists clenched tightly before she tossed her bag aside and ran into the fray.

Danny bit back a gasp of surprise when Brad flung himself on top of Skulker and dangled precariously from the larger ghost's neck. Distracted, Skulker bellowed and tried to fling the teen off him, giving Danny the chance to turn intangible and sink down through the road and out of Skulker's grasp. Furious that he had lost his prey, Skulker doubled his efforts to throw Brad off his neck, only to have 2 more bodies flung onto his back and threw the ghost off balance.

"Get off me whelps!" Brad was swift to deliver a kick at one of Skulker's joints in retaliation, grunting as he tried to reach out to snag the medallion off the ghost's neck. With his friends distracting Skulker, Danny shot back up from the road and charged his fists up, ready to plunge it at the ghost's chest…

Only to fly back in shock when the screen on Skulker's stomach flickered on to reveal the familiar scowling face of Technus on it.

"Skulker!" The technology ghost bellowed out angrily, his eyes shifting upwards to glare at the other face. The three teens hanging off Skulker's back yelped in shock at the sight of Technus' face on the screen at the stomach region of the robot's body. "You imbecile! You're not supposed to destroy the boy or his friends!"

"We'll be much happier without any of them around!" The head snapped back, glaring down at his stomach. "Saves us all the grief in 10 years time and prevents him from becoming the Master's puppet!"

"Fool! You're dooming us all!" Technus shouted back, a snarl escaping his lips. "I have a right mind to shut down the weapons system and cut off your access to our limbs and take over our body!"

"Not before I destroy the whelp!"

"This gives a whole new meaning of talking to yourself." Danny muttered, clearly creeped out at the argument Skulker was having with Technus. Skulker as the head was glaring down at his stomach where Technus' face was, the three teens dangling on his back wiped clear from his mind until he saw Brad's hand reach out to the medallion resting on his chest plate.

Danny quickly surged forward and grabbed Skulker's arms before he could grab Brad's hand and tear him off his back. Using the distraction, Brad quickly brought his body forward to hang from Skulker's shoulders and swiped the medallion off the ghost's chest. Tucker and Sam quickly got off Skulker's back, believing that the job was done and over with.

But none of the teens could foresee Skulker's next action.

Despite Technus' protests, Skulker twisted his arms out of Danny's grasp and grabbed his forearm with one hand and used the other to grip tightly on Brad's wrist. Both teens struggled against his grip but the robotic ghost wasn't having any of it, his hands tightening their hold on their limbs.

Seeing no other option, Tucker and Sam quickly lunged forward and tried to pry Skulker's fists open. Their attempts were in vain and a hand came squeezing at Danny's heart tightly when he realized that the world was starting to blur into white light. A 'pop' sound echoed in his ears before the street vanished from his sight and then, there was nothing.

* * *

He grunted and held his head as he got to his knees. Tucker rubbed the side of his head that was throbbing as he tried to regain his state of mind. A surge of panic suddenly coursed through his veins and his head quickly whipped from side to side, trying to find out where his friends were.

Sam was lying beside him, albeit too closely for his current liking. Tucker quickly scooted some distance away from her as she stirred and continued to survey their surroundings for Danny and Brad. The mop of pale blond hair was easily visible from a distance, but what he didn't expect to see was Danny, still in his ghost form, sprawled all over Brad's body.

Tucker suddenly got a heavily hormone-conjured image dancing in his mind but quickly wiped it away. He didn't think that his two male friends would be pleased that he had thought such a thing, though it didn't stop him from taking a photograph of their position with his PDA and locked the picture in his secure files after that.

"Tucker, what are you doing?" At Sam's clipped tone, Tucker stuffed his PDA away into his pocket, thankful that he had managed to save the file and lock it away before she could see it. "Where are we? Where's Danny?"

"To answer you in order: I was checking my PDA, I don't know where we are and Danny's over there with Brad."

"What the hell?!" Tucker winced at the menace and incredulity that was literally dripping in the hiss Sam had released and watched as she got to her feet and stormed forward towards the stirring boys.

Danny's mind vaguely registered that his cheek was pressed up against something soft and his body was lying on top of an equally soft object. Something soft, warm and _moving_. Before he could open his eyes to see exactly what he was lying on top of, he was viciously thrown off that object and found himself rolling on a hard and cold surface. His mind quickly sprang back into high alert mode and Danny activated his invisibility on instinct.

He blinked when he saw a standing Sam glare daggers at Brad, who was struggling up into a sitting position. The blond was still dazed and steadied himself with one hand on the floor and the other massaging his temples, hands that were still wearing the compact Ghost Gauntlets.

"Hey Phantom, it's just us." Danny blinked again and turned his head to see Tucker getting to his feet and brushing off the dust from his clothes. Realizing that it was only just his friends and himself, Danny turned off his invisibility. "You ok?"

"Could be better." He stared at Sam who was now in a heated glaring competition with Brad when the blond realized that she was glaring at him. "Though I have this gut feeling that we're not in Amity Park."

"I'd have to say that your statement is a complete 'duh'." Danny gave Brad an amused grin as the other rolled his eyes. Sam continued to glare at the blond who was now ignoring her. "So, what now? I'm guessing we got pulled in with that other ghost from wherever he was from after I pulled the medallion off his neck."

"Whatever this place is, it ain't home." Tucker mused, continuing to survey their surroundings. The place was unfamiliar and when he concentrated hard enough, he swore he could hear the creaking of cogwheels in the air.

"I guess we should get moving. There's a faint light up front and I'm guessing we should start from there."

It didn't take them long to reach the light. But what met their sight was something that never occurred to their minds. Rows of screens filled their vision, each displaying a different scene. Some showed various events that they had gone through before, only with differences and twists in them that made them end much differently then what they had experienced.

"Whoa…" The group wandered forward and took glances at a few screens. Danny couldn't help but watch Brad carefully from the corner of his eye. The blond had wandered to one of the smaller screens, touching it gently with his fingertips as he stared at it. The hybrid levitated off the ground and floated towards him, peering over his shoulder to see what he was watching.

His heart clenched tightly when he realized that Brad was looking at a time where his mother was still alive and with them. The alternate Casse was leaping into their mother's arms with much cheer and vigor, Brad's alternate self was already latched onto her side. The alternate Lee was leaning against the alternate Tobias just some distance away from them, watching their family with smiles. Danny gently touched the blonds' shoulder and Brad swallowed loudly.

"… Steer me away before I lose it…" At the soft and weak beg, Danny obediently steered Brad away from the flickering screen, eyes drooping slightly as he saw the scene of an alternate and very much alive Billie Angeles kissing the forehead of Brad's alternate self. The blonds' eyes misted over for a moment before he brought his sleeve to his eyes and rubbed them furiously. Tucker watched them silently while Sam seethed beside him.

"So… what are we looking for?" Once Tucker had finished his sentence, as if on cue, one of the screens flickered repeatedly, catching the group's attention. They wandered forward towards it, curious to see what had prompted the screen to flicker wildly. The group paused in front of the screen, watching it carefully as it flickered into a rather peaceful looking scene of a street.

Whether it was Amity Park or not, the teens didn't know until Red Huntress, or rather Valerie without her mask, came zooming across the screen on her jet sled. That was when the street became chaotic.

Ghosts of endless shapes, though none of them recognizable, came swarming towards her. Some shot down by her guns but more of them ruthlessly blown apart by her grenades. But what startled them were her companions. The green beastly animal that came racing through the mob of ghosts; clearly not Wulf, but he bore a striking resemblance to the ghostly werewolf in accordance to Casse's sketch of him. The red and white streak that was Hawk of the Justice League, partner to Dove, who was fighting without any restraint.

All three of them were destroying the ghosts with such ruthlessness that it made Danny's skin crawl and his insides shift with unease. But what came next turned his blood cold, causing his muscles to tense stiffly at the ever changing scene. This didn't go unnoticed by his companions, but they too stared at the scene.

In the midst of fighting, a dark shape, recognizably a he, came walking down the street towards the fight. The way the figure walked so sedately, it gave them the impression that he could care less if there was fighting in front of him. But who he revealed himself to be stunned them.

A much darker looking Phantom stared straight at them from the screen with empty _blue_ eyes that were surrounded by green instead of the regular white of the eye. No longer small or skinny, but not quite as muscular as heroes they knew such as Superman or Batman. His hair was still a vivid white, though there were streaks of black patterned across it and was grown down to the base of his neck.

He no longer wore the black and white hazmat suit. Replacing it was a black buttoned up trench coat that resembled the coat from his Halloween costume, black fingerless gloves, black leather pants and sturdy black boots. Not a single speck of any other color other than black could be seen on his clothes. Danny caught sight of something glinting from beneath the collar of the trench coat but could not identify what it was. The wind ruffled his future self's long hair as he stared forward blankly, right at the group in front of the screen.

Danny shivered, wondering if that was really him in the future. But what happened that made him that way? He had to ponder that thought until an unearthly screech echoed from the screen and he lifted his head to see Valerie curse violently and shot towards him, anger, hatred and vengeance plastered over her face.

The future Phantom didn't seem to be phased by Valerie's war cry, just staring as she jetted forward, her gun raised and ready to fire. The instant she pulled the trigger, he was no longer standing at the spot where he had been. Instead, he appeared just behind her as the shot hit the concrete ground. A bead of sweat rolled down her cheek and Valerie tried to turn to shoot him.

She moved a fraction of a second too late. The future Phantom pulled his arm back, his nails seemingly extending out in a flash of bright green before he plunged forward and slashed the woman viciously. Valerie fell from her jet sled, clutching her wounded shoulder and quickly programmed her sled to catch her.

The future Phantom shot down from the sky towards her, his green claw-like nails extending out forward. But he was taken down by the green beast, which roared angrily and tried to bite and tear him apart. The beast raised his claw but never got a chance to bring it down, the future Phantom extended his claws further and stabbed the beast's arm before kicking the large body away from him.

Hawk came lunging forward, his mouth releasing a blood curling roar with his fist pulled back and plunged it forward at the future Phantom. But the hybrid simply activated his intangibility and the fist went right through him before he reached up and grabbed Hawk's wrist with a firm hand.

Hawk was then thrown viciously into several buildings with such brute force that the first two buildings he had gone through crumbled and crashed into rubble. And the future Phantom had yet to twitch or show any emotion to what he was doing. The group leaned forward to get closer to the screen, captivated by the event that was seemingly taking place right at that moment until a voice came creeping up from behind them.

"And just what are you four doing in my lair…?" Danny quickly spun around and shot a ghost ray at the intruder. The other ghost dodged the ray and Danny found himself face to face with a pair of stern red eyes that were veiled under a purple cloak. Almost instantly, Danny could feel that this ghost would be a formidable foe because of the aura of power he could feel radiating off the other.

And he had a gut feeling that if he engaged with the other ghost in a fight, he would lose to him in that fight. Danny didn't know the ghost's motives other than that they had trespassed his property but he did know that they had to get out of there. And fast. He drifted backwards a little, his eyes scanning forward and spotting a cupboard full of CW medallion before he made a decision. From the corner of his mouth, he whispered to Tucker.

"Tuck, grab the medallions from the cupboard while I distract him. Put them on and call me when you're all done."

"What?!" Danny winced at the incredulous hiss that his ears picked up from his best friend. "Danny, are you crazy?!"

"We don't have time to argue Tucker! Just trust me!"

With that, Danny lunged forward and threw a fist at the other ghost. Vaguely he could hear Tucker curse him lightly but saw his friends run over to the cupboard and toss the medallions over their necks. The purple cloaked ghost swung his staff at him but Danny soundly flipped over the other's head and shot towards his friends.

Sam threw a medallion over his head and Danny quickly grabbed Sam and Tucker by the waist and hollered for Brad to secure himself on his back. He grunted and quickly dodged a beam aimed at them that made Brad almost slip off his back. With two of his friends in his arms and one hanging off the back of his neck, Danny flew forward at full speed and went through into the large screen that was playing the future.

Clockwork smirked and lowered his staff. The smaller screens were returning back to their slightly larger size and cluttered back to the middle of the room to surround the biggest screen. He grinned as one of the medallions from his cupboard spontaneously vanished and the large screen that centered in the room flickered and rippled, signaling that someone had gone through it.

His smile grew wider and his eyes twinkled merrily as he turned with a swish of his cloak and vanished in a swirl of green. Everything was happening, just as they knew it would.

* * *

In the calm blue sky, a swirl of green flickered and out popped a rather large and strange looking figure. The figure tumbled and four yells echoed in the air as they came crashing down onto the pavement. Luckily, they hadn't been floating very high in the sky.

"Phantom, this has to be one of your worst ideas yet." Tucker muttered, rubbing his sore bottom and glaring daggers at his hybrid best friend. Sam was preoccupied with glaring at Brad, who was lying on top of Danny on his back, rather than to glare at the hybrid himself for the insane idea.

"Look, there was no way I was going to win a fight against that ghost." Danny responded, wincing slightly at the weight that was still perched on his back. "Brad, do you think you could get off me?"

"Give me a second to consider that." The blond muttered, obviously as peeved as Tucker was at the plan he had cooked up. Brad raised his fist and rapped the back of Danny's head repeatedly. "That was for that stupid idea. Now I'll get off."

Danny breathed once Brad had rolled off him. He struggled up to his feet and glanced around the street. It was definitely Amity Park since the great big huge sign of welcoming visitors (Welcome to Amity Park, a safe place to live!) greeted his sight once he looked up. A feeling of irony overcame him and Danny's lips quirked into an odd smile; the sign was pretty much a gigantic lie blown up into a billboard.

"So, this is our future… but, where were we when that event happened?" Tucker wondered out loud, glancing around the streets. Brad made a noise of agreement and threw some ideas around with Tucker and Danny on the reasons why they weren't seen in the event. Sam found her temper running short, anger surging through her veins that her two best friends were conversing with Brad and not her.

'_I wish Brad would just shut up and stop talking!'_ The violet accents of the bracelet glowed a little before dimming down once she wished it through her thoughts.

Immediately as she had finished the wishful thought, Brad started hacking and coughing violently. Alarmed, Tucker reached forward and patted the blonds' back as he hunched forward and clutched his stomach.

"Brad? You ok?" The other teen continued to hack and cough violently before trying to open his mouth to speak to them. But when his mouth opened, no sound came out. Mortified, Brad tried again but still his voice did not sound.

"Dude, this is the most rotten time to lose your voice." Danny said sympathetically, patting the now silent Brad's shoulder, the other teen looking extremely pissed and pouty with his arms folded indignantly across his chest.

Sam's shoulders tensed. Her wishful thought came true? She shook herself mentally and insisted that it was just purely coincidental that Brad had lost his voice after she made that wishful thought. There would always be plenty of coincidences in the world. Sam shoved those pesky thoughts aside and looked up to see Tucker and Danny talking with Brad making hand signs to communicate with them.

Before they could make any sense of the future, Danny yelped when an ecto net suddenly encased him and threw him backwards. He landed loudly on his rump, his limbs cramped up together tightly in the net and he struggled furiously to get out. The sound of a jet sled, a beast's howl and running footsteps invaded his ears. He ceased his struggling and the group looked up to see the future Valerie and her newfound friends charging up towards them.

The twenty-four year old woman halted her jet sled, her eyes wide open in shock as she lowered her weapons. Her body trembled violently as she stared at them.

"No… it can't be… the three of you are dead!"

-

**TBC in Chapter 9…**

* * *

**Authoress' Ending Notes:**

1) Phew, doing a rewrite of TUE is tough, especially when I really didn't like that episode very much because of the plot holes that screamed in my face. I try to make everything connect and have a proper reason behind it. Hopefully I did that ok!  
2) Uh huh, I've made the future characters a little darker, I've got this terribly bad habit of twisting characters around and deliberately making them go under alot of pain and pressures. One such character as you might have read above, is Valerie. That should be explained in the next chapter. Valerie fans please don't kill me? (looks at audience nervously)  
3) Thank you **Calovan** and **Enchanting Elf** for reviewing the previous chapter! And to the others whom placed this fanfiction under their story alert and favorites list! :)  
4) I've decided to push back posting my second AT project for the moment because I feel like I need to revise what I've written for it so far and refine it a little more. But the most concentrated fanfic I will be doing is of course, Phantom & Angel :)  
5) Do review if you have the time and if you've spotted any mistake I might have made, please do tell. n_n Constructive criticism is welcomed and no; telling me that I'm writing a fanfiction that is based on 'one of the worst cartoons ever' is not constructive. n_n Thanks for reading!

**Cheeri!**

**Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	10. Shadow of Myself Part II

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress' Beginning Notes: *sigh* I've been having some trouble continuing the AT series because of the lack of feedback I'm getting. Even though yes, I do know that plenty of people have stumbled across this fanfic, I have absolutely no clue if they truly like to read it or just flip through and get put off by the long chapters that I write. I guess I'm losing my faith in what I'm writing, but I'll try finding a way to continue... Reality does bite though. This chapter dragged on a little further than I expected though it's shorter than my previous chapters. But once again, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the chapter =)

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 9****: **

**Shadow of Myself (Part II)**

* * *

"No… it can't be… the three of you are dead!"

At her words, the group froze in their tracks and stared incredulously at the older Valerie who held out her arm to stop her two companions from leaping at them.

"We're dead in the future? Now I'm REALLY curious to know how that happened." Brad rested his hands on his hips with a scowl on his face in a way of showing his silent disgruntled response to Tucker's flippant comment. He then smacked the back of the other boy's head with the back of his hand. "Ok, I meant that to sound serious but I guess it didn't huh?"

"No, seriously?" Danny couldn't help but mutter out sarcastically as he glared at Tucker through the barbs of the net with a scowl. He wiggled about in a vain attempt to loosen the net but to no avail. "And do you guys mind? It's a little cramp in here…"

Just as the three teens went to move towards Danny, Valerie reacted and fired three separate shots at their feet to halt their steps. Tucker didn't know whether Valerie had improved her aim or not, but her shot at his feet had actually hit his ankle. He yelped out in pain and fell onto his bottom while reaching forward to clutch the burned ankle. Brad made a soundless yelp of shock and quickly knelt at Tucker's side to pat the smoking burn.

"Did your aiming deteriorate as you grew up?" Danny snapped out, increasing his struggles against the ecto-net in his attempts to escape it. "Because it looks to me like instead of protecting anyone, you're either the cause of their injuries or soon-to-be deaths!"

"You can never win a war without casualties." There was just something about the way Hawk said it that made his skin crawl and double his efforts to tear the net apart. The former-superhero sounded much too feral and blood-thirsty, his lips spread into an almost maniacal grin that could easily rival the Joker. As Danny continued to fight with the net, he watched Valerie and her companions warily, clearly untrusting of them after what he had witnessed on the screen earlier on.

"If you were a real hero, you'd be able to find a way to win it without the casualties!" Tucker yelled, recovering from the pain of the burn on his ankle. Danny winced a little when he saw the charred flesh and wished that he had been more alert to dodge the net and avoid this confrontation.

"These things change when the situation does." Valerie snapped back, clenching her fists tightly while the large green beast beside her growled and bared its teeth. "And right now there isn't any other choice! The Master is ruthless and you fight fire with fire in these times! I was right before when I said that ghosts were the biggest menaces of all and now the world is in ruin because of them!"

"The Justice League would never swoop down to the level that you guys are in now!" Danny hurled out, trying to avert Valerie's rage from his friends to him. Better him then them because they were defenseless against Valerie and her two new and very dangerous companions. "Just because the situation changes doesn't mean you have the right to throw other people's lives away just like that!"

It worked, but way better than he had ever expected it to.

The green beast had released a deafening roar before it lunged forward at Danny, teeth bared menacingly and eyes narrowed with anger. The hybrid flinched at the sudden wave of dizziness that washed over his conscious but didn't think much of it and focused all of the power in his body to break the net apart.

The timing was crucial and the atmosphere tense as the net slowly ripped as the beast drew nearer and nearer in its leap. The net finally slid off his body and Danny quickly flitted upwards just as the beast landed and clawed the spot he had once sat on. But he was still on high alert, knowing that the beast wasn't the only one he had to worry about.

Danny quickly flipped over as Hawk came barreling over towards him in blind anger. Again he felt his stomach flip but forced the feeling down as he twisted his body and unleashed a sidekick that smacked the back of Hawk's head. That sent the former superhero slamming down hard against the pavement but not hard enough to make the concrete crack.

He quickly turned about and shot upwards as a flash of bright green zoomed past where he had once floated. The next wave of nausea was so strong that Danny felt so sick he didn't manage to evade the next blast headed his way.

"Phantom!" Sam's voice barely registered into his mind as he slammed against the concrete floor and landed in a heap. It wasn't that the pain from the blast or impact was great; the feeling of his churning stomach overwhelmed his senses, his body barely registering the pain.

Faintly he heard yells echo in the air as he tried to steady himself back up to his feet. Another wave of dizziness washed over him but Danny gritted his teeth and forced his feet to stand. He was immediately flung backwards and into the wall of a building when Hawk's fist connected with his stomach just as he had managed to gain some equilibrium back.

"What the heck is wrong with him? Why isn't he dodging them?"

"How should I know how his body works?! You are so lucky that Brad can't talk right now or he'd be… ACK! Brad! Get back here!"

At Tucker's frantic calls, Danny forced his eyes open to find out what was going on. Brad had activated the compact Ghost Gauntlets, charging them as he ran towards Hawk and plunged his fist forward that connected with the costumed hero's jaw. Danny's eyes widened when the beast raced forward and jumped onto the blond, pinning him down hard on the solid floor with his claws digging into Brad's shoulders.

The blond released a silent cry of pain as the beast roared and its claws dug through his clothes and pierced through his skin. At the first sight of the blood spilling from the blonds' shoulders, Danny reacted.

He threw all feelings of nausea away to the back of his head, focusing solely on the beast which was baring its teeth menacingly at Brad's pain scrunched face. Danny tossed the debris off him and flew forward in a blur of black and white, slamming his fists at the beast's side and throwing the beast off Brad.

Danny quickly circled his arms around Brad's waist and flew backwards with the blond in his arms, not wanting to aggravate the injury by grabbing his shoulders. He settled back with Tucker and Sam, slowly depositing Brad onto the floor before flinging up a shield. Just after he had formed the shield, a barrage of explosives rattled the earth as they slammed against the green shield and detonated.

From behind him, Danny could hear Tucker unleashing a tirade at Brad while ripping his sleeves off to serve as make-shift bandages. The blond was in too much pain to even gesture back his replies to Tucker while Sam was oddly quiet.

The smoke had yet to clear but besides Tucker's ranting, Danny could hear something else happening from beyond the shield. He couldn't make out any words, but he could hear an additional two voices in a shouting match between Valerie and her companions. Shots were heard and more shouting ensured, the thumping of feet landing hard on the concrete so audible that made Danny wonder just who else had joined the fray.

The dust began to settle down, but Danny kept the shield up, still wary of their surroundings and uncertain of what would happen if he were to let it down. He could feel the tension rising in the air as the smoke finally dispersed and allowed him vision of what was going on beyond the shield.

Danny's eyes widened when he realized that there was a blond woman wearing a black unbuttoned trench coat standing right in front of him just behind the shield. The red hooded man, who seemed to be her companion, was just behind her, staring at him through shadowed eyes. Valerie, Hawk and the beast were nowhere to be found.

He eyed the woman warily, noting the two guns in her hands, but her attention was drawn to his friends behind him. Danny could hear her suck in her breath deeply, her sapphire blue eyes staring over his shoulder intently. There was something about the woman that struck Danny as familiar, but he couldn't quite place his finger on what.

"You can't keep the shield up indefinitely."

Immediately Danny's attention focused on the red clad archer behind the woman and stared at him defiantly. The hybrid watched the duo carefully, eying the archer as he clipped his bow onto his belt while the woman shook herself slightly before looking straight into his eyes.

Yes, there was definitely something familiar about her but nothing seemed to register into his mind as to what it was.

"Your friend needs medical attention and we can provide it for you." Danny simply raised an eyebrow at the archer, as if to prompt the other to persuade him further. "I promise you, we won't be pulling any fast ones on you. We're not a part of Valerie's 'demented League' or even like her at all."

Danny took a quick glance backward to see Tucker lightly slapping Brad's cheeks while Sam hovered beside the other boy but clearly wasn't about to lend a hand. That's when he realized that Brad was unconscious; the blonds' face had turned deathly white while the puncture claw marks on his shoulders continued to bleed freely. He bit his lip, still uncertain of whether to trust the strangers' offer.

"Would it ease you if I swore on my honor as a true hero that we won't attempt to kill you or your friends?" Danny stared at the archer for a moment and then to the silent woman. He alternated his gaze between them before he found his voice to speak.

"You're trying too hard." He muttered, his eyes still shifting between the two adults. Finally, he closed his eyes for a moment in contemplation before speaking up again. "Fine. We'll accept the help, but I'll be watching you."

"Wouldn't have it any other way Phantom." A wave of familiarity washed over him when the blond woman spoke but there was something different about it as well. He wondered if he could make up his mind of whether the woman was familiar or not. It was going to give him a headache just thinking about it.

Slowly, he allowed the shield to drop, still eying the two warily before flying backwards to check up on his friends.

"He's out." Tucker muttered, as Danny knelt at Brad's other side. "The claws basically punctured holes through his shoulders and one of the holes almost hit his heart. We really don't have any choice but to go with them…"

"Why not just take off the medallions and go back to our time?" Sam snapped impatiently, keeping an eye at the two adults who were slowly making their way towards them. "We wouldn't have to deal with two strangers in a strange future!"

"If we did, we'll have to face our parents in questioning of what the hell happened to have Brad in this state!" Danny hissed, gesturing to Tucker to help him put Brad onto his back. "And frankly, I'd rather deal with strangers in a strange future than to face our parents! Mine would probably go on a ghost hunting spree and I'll have another load to worry about!"

"It's not like your parents could ever catch you, besides your dad…"

"Look Sam, just trust me! Don't underestimate my parents either. My dad's gotten way better than you realize!" Danny straightened his posture and made sure that Brad wasn't slipping off his back as the two adults reached them. "Is there something else you want to say to further assure me or something?"

"Actually, we'd…" The archer's companion jabbed her elbow roughly at his side, making the archer release a soft 'oof' of pain before correcting himself. "Ok, more of just me than her anyway. I just wanted to confirm your identities. Samantha Manson, Tucker Foley and Bradley Angeles right?"

"If you were wondering that we were the three dead kids, then yes we are."

"SAM!" Sam simply gave Tucker a disinterested look at his outraged cry. In turn, Tucker glared her with such intense ferocity that Danny almost took a step away from him. Before an argument could spark between them, the woman interrupted them calmly.

"If you want to argue, do it somewhere else. Right now he," She pointed a slender finger at the unconscious Brad whose blood was beginning to stain Danny's jump suit. "Needs medical attention. Follow me."

"Hey! Aren't you going to tell us who you are?!" Sam shouted at the blond woman's retreating back. When she received no response, the raven haired teen snarled and crossed her arms across her chest angrily. "Humph!"

"Don't mind Ca…"

"Red Arrow! The clock is ticking!"

"Alright, alright. I won't say it!" The archer, now identified as Red Arrow, sighed and rubbed the back of his head before giving the group of teens a shrug. "Don't mind her; she's a very capable fighter, just a little standoffish, but she does have a really kind heart underneath that tough girl exterior. Come on, we'll head over to our AP base."

"AP base?" Tucker asked curiously as they fell in step with the archer, trailing behind the blond woman. "Do you think you could tell us more about this future?"

"Not here." Red Arrow replied, his tone apologetic. "The Master has eyes and ears all over the place. I'll explain more about it when we get back to the base. Come on, we can't loiter around the streets for too long; as soon as our two groups clash, he'll always send Shadow to try 'cleaning' us up."

"And we'll want to know all the details about Shadow, whom previous ghosts that came into our time have mentioned me to be him." Danny said firmly, looking straight into Red Arrow's eyes and tried to gauge his reaction. The red clad archer raised his eyebrow and his eyes widened slightly, only in mild shock. "You'll explain that fully won't you?"

"I don't have any reason to keep anything that I know from you." The archer responded evenly with a nod. "You can fire away once we get there."

"I hope he has the answers to our questions." Tucker muttered quietly under his breath. Danny was pretty sure he was the only one who heard it because Sam was too busy glaring at the blond woman's back from the distance, apparently still peeved at being ignored.

But he wholeheartedly agreed with Tucker. He really hoped Red Arrow had the answers to their imminent questions.

However, none of them realized that Red Arrow's ghost detector was beeping softly from his belt, showing a second green dot trailing just behind the group.

* * *

Lee didn't know what she was doing wandering around the streets aimlessly. Her father had nicely kicked her out of the house for fresh air, insisting that having her cooped up in the house was not good.

How he even managed to do it so nicely without a hint of maliciousness was a mystery to her.

Initially, she tried to call Brad but was perplexed to find that his number was not available. Lee calmed herself and tried calling Danny's house, only to get the answering machine which served to fuel her worry even more.

She forced her worry down, not wanting to overreact in case her brother and friends were simply immersed in their studying to answer her calls. Instead of going over to Fenton Works, Lee found herself walking through the streets trying to shake off the worry that was welling in her heart. She passed by the mall, the park and even the Amity River, but the strings of worry were still tugging at her heart.

Finally caving in to the worry, the blonds' feet began to automatically make their way towards Fenton Works. Just as she was heading past the Amity River, a voice began shouting her name from behind. Lee halted in her steps and spun her heel to see Jazz jogging up to her.

"Hi Jazz, what's up?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" The red-head teased lightly, brushing her bangs from her forehead with her bag tucked neatly under her arm. "How's Casse doing?"

"Not too good…" Lee sighed, shaking her head while running a hand through her blond bangs. "Dad says we'll have to admit her into the local hospital later on today if she gets worse. He hasn't told Uncle Bruce yet; we all know that he'll throw a fit and insist on bringing Pixie back to Gotham."

"And that's probably the last thing you guys want." Jazz nodded her head and patted Lee's shoulder sympathetically. "At least you know your Godfather cares right?"

"Way too much Jazz, way too much." The younger girl muttered, causing Jazz to bring a hand up to her mouth to stifle the giggles that were threatening to erupt from her lips. "Not even Alfred's that bad, or your mom for that matter. I swear that Uncle Bruce must have been a mother with plenty of kids to fret about in his previous life."

At the mental image of the playboy billionaire of Gotham in a dress and nagging at several children scattered around him, Jazz couldn't help but burst into pearls of laughter. Lee raised an enquiring eyebrow but Jazz simply shook her head, too immersed in her laughter to respond.

Once the mirth had dissipated, Jazz wiped the tears of laughter that had sprung from the corners of her eyes and straightened her posture.

"So, then how come you're not back at home? Though I have a vague feeling I do know the answer, I just want to hear it from you."

"My dad kicked me out of the house… nicely." Lee groused out, causing Jazz to giggle at the pout that had sprung from the younger girl's lips. "I mean, I don't know how he does it. He made it look so natural and not forcing at all!"

"So then I thought about calling up Dwarf and the rest of them to check how they were doing after that freak earthquake but Brad's phone is either having a flat battery or he turned it off and I get your house answering machine when I try." Jazz raised an eyebrow as Lee rattled on. "So then I thought they were probably too focused on studying so I left it as that and –"

"You're worried about them aren't you?"

"Huh? What?" Lee stopped in her rambling and turned to look at the amused Jazz. "Me? Worried? Nah, they should be fine. I mean, I don't think anything big would happen after that earthquake, right? Besides they should be studying right now and –"

"Lee." Jazz interrupted and placed her hand on the blonds' shoulder to stop her again. "Just admit it. You're worried about them."

The oldest triplet shut her mouth with her lips curling into a Casse-like pout. Now that she had a good look at Lee, Jazz marveled at how similar the triplets would look like with some expressions; the pout being one of them. It was either because they were identical (Jazz never got around to asking if they were) or they could just mimic each other's expressions very well.

"Come on, you're starting to look like Casse if you continue pouting like that." Lee rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Jazz. The older girl returned the action with ease. "And since you're so worried, let's walk over to my place then so that you can check up on them and finally throw all that worry away."

"You are evil Jazz, has anyone told you that?"

"Danny has on many occasions; mainly because I always stuff ice into his shirt or pants on weekend mornings."

* * *

"Just lower the damned shields Nightwing, before I get Robin to get Oracle over there to kick your ass. … I don't need to give you a goddamn reason to why I'm bringing him in." The teens watched in fascination as the blond woman snarled into the phone in her ear while Red Arrow simply sighed and shook his head in resignation. "Look dick-head, we have a casualty here and if you're not going to drop the goddamn shields now, I'll hang it over your head that you let him die!"

"She's rather loose-tongued." Tucker commented quietly, tightening the make-shift bandages around Brad's bloodied shoulders, wiping off as much blood as he could. Danny nodded in agreement, shifting slightly to get a better grip over the unconscious blond. Sam was silent, apparently still glaring at the woman who was spewing curses by the truckload into the receiver.

It had startled the teens when they realized the AP base Red Arrow had been talking about was actually the Angeles household. It wasn't terribly run down like many of the buildings they had passed by on the streets but it certainly looked like it had seen better days. But unlike the other buildings, a green ghost shield and a semi-transparent shield were surrounding the house, protecting it from meta-humans, humans and ghosts.

But it seemed as if the base member in the house was unwilling to release the shields after he was told that they were bringing in Phantom.

"For the love of god, just lower the goddamn shields! Damnit, do you want Brad to die Nightwing?!"

Just as the word 'die' left her lips, the shields were instantaneously dropped followed by a bark that echoed from the house.

"Hurry the fuck up then!"

"Son of a bitch." The woman muttered before gesturing the group to step in before the shields were activated again. Not wanting to be left out, the teenagers hurried alongside Red Arrow into the area as the shields suddenly activated. "Oi, Nightwing! Is Bee available for first aid?"

"No, Bee is not available! I just handed whoever I saw first the med duty for the day. Just leave them in med bay and get yours and Arrow's ass to main room now! The both of you are late in reporting for the past three days! Goddamnit, I should put a bloody leash on you!"

"Goddamn asshole." The woman cursed again, turning to Red Arrow. "You can take them to med bay and see who ChickenWing called to nurse duty. I'll cover your ass in the meeting."

Behind Red Arrow, Danny choked and quickly turned his head away from them to hide his laughter at the mention of chicken wings. Sam and Tucker gave him odd looks, but Danny simply shook his head, wanting to keep the joke of throwing out ideas of what the 'CW' of the medallions meant between Brad and himself.

"Please don't make any one of them call me up to split you two up if you get into another argument. The last time that happened, we almost ended up without the AP base." Red Arrow pleaded, putting his hands on his hips with an exasperated look on his face. The woman merely snorted.

"No promises. I can hardly stand his head-in-the-ass attitude after what happened to Raven and Cyborg. Starfire should be sainted; she's the only one who can stand him and still be attached to him at the same time for all these years." She folded her arms across her chest and 'hmmph-ed'. "And I'll fry his ass off, break his limbs and shoot him in the head if he tries to even break anything in the house."

"Just don't start lunging at each other's throats for the entire meeting please. Please?" The woman scowled and turned her head away from Red Arrow. The red clad archer was undeterred and side-stepped to face her and pleaded with her again. "Pretty please? Pretty, pretty please with uh… lots of pixie dust?"

"Ugh."

Danny thought that Red Arrow was doing a remarkably good job at the wounded puppy look even with a mask on. Even he could practically see the sparkles dancing out from the mask covered eyes. The hybrid heard Tucker chortling from behind him but he didn't hear any reaction from Sam.

Though he did think it was odd that Red Arrow had used pixie dust instead of the regular 'with sugar on top'. Perhaps pixie dust was an inside joke between them. Either way, it strongly reminded Danny of Casse; recalling how she had earned her nickname with her siblings.

"Oh bug off. Your puppy eyes don't beat Nath's. Now hurry up and get them to the med bay, you made a promise to them didn't you?"

Before Red Arrow could respond, she turned her heel and strode into the house without as much as a glance backward. The archer scratched the back of his head and sighed, muttering incoherently under his breath while jerking his head towards the house, gesturing for the teens to follow him in.

The interior of the house hadn't changed as much as Danny thought it would have. Despite the deep cracks in the walls and the mess of various items cluttered all over the place, the house looked the same as he remembered it from his time. The furniture was all the same, a little aged and worn, but still the same.

Red Arrow ushered them up the stairs and led them to the room that formerly belonged to Lee. Idly, Danny wondered where the future version of Lee and Casse were; since Valerie had already confirmed that Sam, Tucker and Brad were dead in this future, he couldn't help but wonder what ever happened to everyone else. What about their families? Were his parents and Jazz alive in this future?

"Alfred?" The teens paused as Red Arrow stared incredulously into the room. They each shuffled to the side of the archer and peered in to see a balding old man carrying himself with dignity looking back at them.

"Certainly Master Red Arrow. Master Nightwing has entrusted me with medical duty for the day. Now, I hear that we have some injured to tend to?"

"I am going to kill that bloody bird." Red Arrow muttered, flipping his hood off his head to reveal a mess of shocking red hair. He ran a hand through the tresses of his hair and sighed. "Just don't get a heart attack when we show you who Alfred."

"I highly doubt it sir. I have witnessed many strange things in my time, this should be no different." The man replied smoothly, gesturing to one of the beds for Danny to deposit the weight off his back. The hybrid gave his friends and Red Arrow a nervous look, having already realized that this Alfred was one the same as Bruce Wayne's butler.

Hesitantly, Danny moved forward and with Tucker's help and deposited the pale blond onto the bed. If Alfred was shocked, he certainly didn't show it. Instead, he immediately set to work, stripping Brad of his shirt and began assessing the damage.

For a while, the teens simply watched Alfred work on nursing Brad's wounds without a single sound. The man did however, press a button on the wall, uttering something so soft into it that none of them could hear it before returning back to work on the claw punctures.

Moments later, a tall beautiful raven haired woman soundlessly strode into the room.

"Is it really that serious to call Arella in Alfred?" Red Arrow spoke from the corner nearest to the door, watching them from the shadows of the room. "From what we could tell, it looks like it was Beast's claws that did a number on him."

"Miss Arella needs to tend to the hole that was punctured near his heart." Alfred responded without preamble. "In addition to the loss of blood, the hole next to his heart could prove fatal and kill him since it also gives bacteria a chance to multiply in the open wound."

"And while I heal that hole, I might as well heal the rest of his injuries." The pale skinned woman spoke softly, making her hands hover above Brad's shoulders before a gentle soft glow began to emit from her palms. "It seems that Beast has become much more savage lately. We have had reports of many other civilian casualties whose injuries were caused by him."

"It looks like Valerie and her goons are more trouble than the Master you've been talking about." Sam muttered, glaring at Red Arrow from her position at the window. "Now spill. What the hell is this future?"

"Sam!" Danny and Tucker shot Sam displeased looks but the girl didn't retract or amend her words. She simply continued to glare at the red clad hero while Alfred and Arella watched silently.

"I did give my word that I would answer whatever questions you may have." Red Arrow stepped forward, grabbing a chair and sat down while resting his elbows on his thighs and his chin on his palms. "But first, I'll have to ask you guys from which day did you come from? Obviously you all came before the Explosion of NB."

"I wanted to ask what NB stands for, but I guess you'd answer it later." Tucker mused for a moment before answering Red Arrow properly. "Sunday, day before our C.A.T…"

"Shit!" The teens jumped slightly at Red Arrow's loud exclamation. Arella and Alfred continued to work on Brad's injuries quietly, unfazed by the outburst. "That's the day before the Explosion of NB!"

"Do you think you could elaborate for us on the events?" Danny forced out, both confused and strangely fascinated about learning about their future. "Starting from that Explosion of NB?"

"Alright. You all better sit down and make yourself comfortable then. This is going to be a very, very long talk."

* * *

"It all started with the Explosion of NB; NB standing for Nasty Burger. It's unclear on how and why, but nine people were caught in the explosion. Out of the nine, there was only one survivor."

Red Arrow drew in a deep breath, eying the three behind his mask as they watched him, their attention unwavering as they listened intently. Arella was still healing Brad while Alfred had taken seat on the next bed. The red head continued, ticking off the names as he rattled them off.

"Jack and Madeline Fenton, Tobias Angeles, Leonard Lancer, Jasmine Fenton, Bradley Angeles, Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley. These were the eight people who lost their lives in the Explosion of NB." Tucker went pale while Sam griped her arms tightly as their names were listed. Red Arrow then looked at the both of them sharply. "Daniel Fenton was the sole survivor of the explosion."

Danny suddenly felt his stomach churn violently, making him feel sick. So many questions were now racing in his mind. Why had that the group met up at Nasty Burger? How did the explosion occur and… why, why, why had he been the only survivor? What happened to Lee and Casse?

Suddenly, he wasn't too keen on finding out what had happened.

"The incident made world news because Tobias Angeles is one of the world's top bio-medical scientists and that he's Bruce Wayne's best friend. At the time of the incident, his youngest daughter Cassandra was in the hospital recuperating from a relapse and his eldest daughter Amilee was at home. The Nasty Burger franchise were sued penniless after the incident."

It felt so hard for him to swallow and breathe. Danny had a chilling feeling that everything was going to go downhill from there. He could feel it and he knew that Tucker and Sam felt the same.

"Since they became orphans, the Angeles girls were sent into their Godfather's care. Despite Mr. Wayne's insistence in wanting to take care of him with his Goddaughters, Daniel Fenton was sent to a close friend of his parents', Vladimir Masters."

He could have sworn that his blood had frozen solid at the mention of Vlad Masters. If the incident got him sent under Vlad's care, Danny knew that it was definitely a one-way ticket to complete hell. Suddenly, the tiniest pieces of the puzzle began connecting with each other as Red Arrow continued.

"But that was the last anyone heard of him. From then on, it was either he was good at eluding the paparazzi or Mr. Masters was locking him up in his castle in Wisconsin and not letting him out. After a few months, Mr. Masters had announced to the media that Daniel had committed suicide. The girls were devastated but most people thought that there was something off with how Mr. Masters announced Daniel's death. But even with all that, life still continued as per normal."

A 'however' or 'but' was definitely going to come up. Danny could feel it.

"Then a year after the incident, Shadow appeared. To be honest, we don't know how he came about but all we knew was that he was the former Phantom, ghost of Amity Park who had disappeared after the Explosion of NB, and that he was under the command of 'The Master'."

"He had changed, completely." Red Arrow stared at Danny with an even gaze. It wasn't malicious or full of contempt but more of wonderment. "Both Amilee and Cassandra were insistent that Phantom was under the Master's control, believing that something had happened to him in the twelve month span of when he had disappeared. But the Justice League didn't want to take any chances and it proved to be a wise choice when they labeled him a dangerous adversary. Days later after his first appearance, the Master sent a ghost army into the Real Realm and began his attack."

"Can I interrupt?" The archer watched Danny closely before nodding his head, prompting the hybrid to continue. "Who is the Master? Or have you not been able to indentify him?"

"We aren't a hundred percent sure, but Ca… uh; Angel insists that the Master is Vladimir Masters." Red Arrow's near slip-up didn't go unnoticed by the teens and they eyed him warily, but the archer continued with his talk. "Nightwing doesn't believe her though. But I'm inclined to thinking her way after I heard all her reasoning and explanations. It makes sense, but we still don't concrete evidence to show that he is but of course, also not enough evidence to show that he isn't."

"I guess that's fair enough given the circumstances." Danny sighed softly, not liking this future one bit. "So, what happened next?"

"The next big incident didn't happen until another four years later." Red Arrow continued easily, his eyes staring into space for a moment like he was lost in thought. "The Master attacked, using the ghosts' ability to overshadow a person and took control of Lex Luthor and some other villains. While the League was busy on the ground, the Master sent Luthor into a kamikaze mission by ramming a space shuttle into the Watchtower. Majority of the heroes and workers who were at the Watchtower managed to escape, but we still had seven casualties."

Red Arrow paused and stared down on the wooden planked floor, his hands clasped together tightly as he listed the names.

"Batman, Green Arrow, Mister Terrific, Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen, Michael Holt and Amilee Angeles died that day. Lex Luthor too perished in the forced suicide mission. That incident is known as the Watchtower Tragedy which served as a turning point in the war. The Justice League was disbanded shortly after the incident. Humans began rioting and scathing towards the Justice League and the remaining originals also found themselves in disarray with the loss of Batman from their ranks. Many heroes hung up their mantles while only a handful continued their crusade. Among the seven founders, only the Flash has been known to have continued fighting, the rest are all unknown."

He could almost swear that the blood (or was it ectoplasm?) had drained from his face and nearly dropped out from his levitating position in shock. Danny stared at Red Arrow, the severity of the future finally sinking into his mind. He shivered slightly, picturing the destruction of the Watchtower and wanted to cry when he imagined Lee disappearing into the blaze of fire.

Danny wanted to, no, _needed_ to prevent this future. There was no way he was going to let this future take place. But first he had a question that Sam unwittingly voiced out.

"Why was Lee at the Watchtower anyway?"

"When the war broke out, she got involved in the Humanitarian Pact with her sister. The two of them assisted in some of the Justice League's missions like tending to the wounded or engaging in peace talks with some ghosts who were willing to have them with humans. It seemed like not all the ghosts were under the Master's command and many were driven out of their homes in the Ghost Zone."

"Miss Amilee did miracles." Alfred murmured wistfully, catching everyone else's attention. Danny felt a fist clench his heart at the wistful fondness in Alfred's tone but stared in wonderment at the hint of pride that was laced with it. "Even though Miss Cassandra did an equally excellent job in assisting in the Humanitarian Pact, Miss Amilee threw herself into peace talks and went as far as to defend the ghosts when there were human protests on giving them leniency and shelter."

"Cassandra had been in the Watchtower on the same day." Red Arrow explained quietly. "But unlike her sister, she had been closer to the docking bay and was easily herded into one of the Javelins to escape. Amilee had been further away since she had been at Central Command at the time when the attack started."

From there, Red Arrow paused and took a moment to look at each teen to see their reactions. Tucker's face had paled so much that his dark skin looked like it had been powdered over many times over. Sam was leaning heavily against the wall, the shadows hiding her eyes but Danny could see her biting her bottom lip so hard that blood was beginning to trickle down to her chin.

Danny had the feeling that he wasn't looking any better. His stomach was tossing and turning with anxiety and self-disgust. He didn't know if his future self had been the one to overshadow Luthor and gone on the suicide mission but the thought that he might have directly caused the death of one of his friends made him feel sick.

Suddenly loud coughs were heard, making Danny spin around to see Brad trying to get into a sitting position, coughing violently.

Immediately he levitated towards the blond, patting his back gently before blinking and rubbing his eyes to see if he was hallucinating. The claw marks were gone; in the place of the puncture holes were dark red bruises. He muttered his thanks to Arella many times, though the woman frowned and looked at Brad with a perplexed expression.

"Is he suffering from anything else?"

"Um… he lost his voice when we got here for some reason. Maybe… he got a throat infection?" The hybrid was thankful for the distraction; he desperately wanted to take his mind off the dark future that they were in but he definitely did not want to be the one to tell Brad about the events that caused it to happen.

Brad had finally begun taking a good look at his surroundings and shot Danny an alarmed look when he realized that he was in his older sister's room… or of what looked like it. Before Danny could reply to him though, Brad had spotted Alfred and blinked rapidly while rubbing his eyes hard. That's when he realized that he was shirtless and began messing up his hair as everything hit him at one go.

"Calm down! Ok we're like, ten years into our future; yes that's Alfred over there. Yes, you're shirtless because they needed to take it off to tend to the claw marks that you got from that big beast which I have to tell you, trying to attack them was a completely stupid stunt. And finally yes, we are in your house and in Lee's room because the place is doubling as a base of operations for… whatever name the group has and her room is the med bay."

The blond gave Danny an incredulous stare when the hybrid was done spilling out answers. It was then that he realized that Arella was hovering over him, still checking him over for the reason behind the loss of his voice. He began inching away from the strange woman with a wary expression, who gave him a bemused look in return. From his seat at the next bed, Alfred chuckled quietly before getting up and silently moving over to Brad's side.

"I must say, it is good to see you again Young Master Bradley. I've almost forgotten that you never did like strangers approaching you. Unfortunately if Miss Arella is to find out what is preventing you from speaking, you must allow her to get close to you."

Brad stared at Alfred before he eyed Arella warily. After a moment, he grudgingly stopped moving away from Arella to allow her to continue to find the cause of the loss of his voice. Danny allowed an amused smile to grace his lips and received an irritated scowl from the blond in return.

The tense atmosphere was slowly easing away until a series of knocks echoed from the door.

"Arrow, you had better have finished the storytelling by now. ChickenWing wants us to go investigate Gotham City Sector Four and Amity Restricted Sector because the Master sent his army at those two areas some time ago. He thinks that the Master is up to something because the place looks untouched and we all know that if he leaves anything untouched after sending his army, he's planning something."

"GCS Four and APRS?" Red Arrow abruptly got to his feet with a frown marring his face as the blond woman strode in once the door swung open. "But GCS Four is a memorial site and APRS is frigging deserted."

"Exactly my point." Angel, as Danny recalled Red Arrow addressing her as, turned to face the archer with her arms folded across her chest. She hadn't even taken a glance in the direction of the beds to check up on the injured and was completely ignoring the teens. But then again, Danny felt relieved that she was ignoring them, she didn't look very pleased. "But the dick-head insists that we check the two sectors out and make sure both are completely clean. Says it's punishment for not reporting in earlier even if we did contact Oracle."

"Christ." Red Arrow muttered, running a hand through the tresses of his hair with an annoyed expression. "Well if it keeps him from nagging at us for the next few days, then I'll go to GCS Four. Unless you want to go there instead."

Their conversation faded in Danny's ears when he noticed Brad's incredulous stare that was trained on Angel from the corner of his eye. He had his right index finger pointing at her while his mouth opened and closed like a goldfish in water. Forgetting that he didn't have his voice, Brad began mouthing words out until he remembered that he couldn't speak.

It startled Danny when Brad suddenly grabbed his shoulders and began pointing and mouthing out his words frantically at him. Unfortunately for the blond, Danny hadn't the faintest clue of what he was trying to imply. Frustrated that he couldn't get his point across, Brad shifted about the bed, completely ignoring the chastising look Arella was giving him. He grabbed one of the metal boxes on the bedside and chucked it at Angel's head.

She reacted swiftly, turning her head to the side as she spun on her heel and grabbed the box before it reached her head. Both blonds stared at each other until Brad started pointed at her again, this time looking downright furious as he threw a silent fit.

While Danny tried to pacify Brad, Tucker hobbled over to them silently, curious to know what was making their friend pitch a fit. Just as he got to Brad's bedside, his PDA was promptly snatched out of his hand, much to his displeasure. The dark-skinned boy glared at Brad who was busily tapping the screen of the PDA to care about the stares he was getting.

"_You morons, that's Pixie!"_

The words that flashed on the screen of Tucker's PDA made the teens and Angel freeze. Alfred raised an eyebrow and stared at the blond woman with a stern look. Danny blinked and snatched the PDA from Brad's hands and rubbed the screen, thinking that they might have read wrongly. He got a smack on the back of his head from Brad for that action.

"_Casse_?!" Three voices chorused out incredulously while the older woman spun her heel to avoid looking at them. Suddenly, the pieces started to fall into place and it clicked in Tucker's head.

"So that's why Red Arrow stumbled when he was trying to address you and made it out as if you were two different people when he was explaining the situation to us." Danny nodded his head, understanding what Tucker was saying while Sam glared at the older Casse's back. Brad prodded Tucker's arm and waved a few gestures to him while pointing at the older Casse. "Oh, and Brad says, 'Turn around and look at me damnit!'"

When the older Casse refused to face them, Brad ignored the protests from Arella and Alfred and got out of the bed. He brushed off Tucker's offered hand to assist him and hobbled over to Casse; Red Arrow had wisely stepped aside and watched the impending scene from the beds.

Brad took in a deep breath and poked the older Casse's side. It was small, but it certainly invoked a squirming reaction from her. Again he poked her side, this time rapidly repeating the pokes and she definitely began to squirm. She slapped his hand away but Brad was undeterred and continued his poking on her sides. It was then that Danny realized that Brad was poking her ticklish spots.

Danny glanced over to Alfred, who looked vaguely amused as the older Casse tried side stepping away from Brad but the other stayed stubborn and followed her. The hybrid could hear Red Arrow's quiet chuckles and Sam's snort of disparagement at the childish looking scene.

"Fine! I'm looking at you already!" The harsh snap immediately caught Danny's attention and his head swiveled around to see the older woman glaring at Brad who had his arms crossed over his chest with a triumphant expression. Even though she was gritting her teeth and clenching her fists tightly, Danny could see that the older Casse wasn't terribly angry at Brad but couldn't decide whether she was keeping appearances up or if it had become a habit over the years for her to become very defensive.

They watched as the two siblings stared at each other with their arms crossed over their chests. Brad made the first move and jabbed a finger at the older Casse, his lips moving rapidly but still no sound came from his mouth. Casse blinked and stared at him.

"What's wrong with you? Did you lose your voice or something?"

Brad threw his hands up in exasperation while still trying to communicate with her. Thankfully, Tucker intervened by interpreting Brad's gestures.

"Well he's asking this: 'Why the hell are you trying to avoid me, carrying two bloody guns at your waist and while I'm at it, why are you dressed in those skimpy revealing clothes?!'"

As Brad nodded his head vigorously to Tucker's words, Casse's hands quickly flew to the zipper of the trench coat and quickly zipped it up to hide the red tube top. Danny allowed his lips to curve into a small smile. Even if they weren't from this time, Casse still took her brother's words into consideration and acted accordingly.

"Look." Casse's voice sounded strangely strangled and hollow as she spoke. "You guys have been dead for ten years. It's bad enough that I see the memorial statues on a daily basis, but to see you guys just so goddamn alive is eating at me because even though you're all here now, you aren't really here at the same time."

"They can't replace your timeline's versions of themselves." Danny agreed quietly, his eyes watching the older Casse with a soft, understanding expression. "Because you wouldn't know how they would be at your current age when given these circumstances; growing up can change a person. Because they are as how you remember them and you want to turn back time to prevent them from being killed, it hurts a lot more when you see them up front doesn't it?"

"Yes it does." She replied quietly, finally leaning backwards to slump onto the chair Red Arrow had sat on earlier. Casse buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking slightly as she breathed heavily to calm herself down.

It didn't really surprise Danny when Brad shook his head silently and reached over to hug her shoulders, rocking her gently. The hybrid could see the older Casse's shoulders stiffen before relaxing, leaning against her 'older' brother slightly. His heart swelled slightly at the sight and couldn't help but wish he could return to their time to prevent them from being killed and to finally snuggle up against his own sister after that was all done.

He wanted to protect them all. His family, friends, everyone. Danny promised himself that he wouldn't let them fall into this future and in the worst case scenario of them truly succumbing to that fate; he would fight to not be placed under Vlad's care.

"Pipsqueak! Arrow! What the hell are you two doing?!" The sudden bark from the medical bay (or rather Lee's room) door startled the teens. This prompted everyone to look up as the door swung open with a loud bang.

The man who had shouted was tall and broad-shouldered, wearing a black spandex suit with a blue bird insignia on his chest, shoulder length jet-black hair and a black eye mask. The beauty who had followed him in had a voluptuous body, her orange skin contrasting surprisingly well with the purple uniform that she wore. Her flaming red hair flowed listlessly behind her and her green eyes looked at them worriedly from behind the man.

"Do you mind Nightwing?" Casse snapped, gently pushing Brad away from her as she glared at the man. "We're not fucking workaholics who don't make time to eat or sleep like you. We'll leave when we will so piss off."

"The Master might be scheming to destroy the rest of Earth and we can't afford to slack off now!" Nightwing roared, glaring back at her with much ferocity. The orange skinned woman laid a gentle hand on his shoulder while he continued ranting. "For Christ sake, the Renegades went and almost killed retired heroes! We need to –"

"Master Nightwing! If I may." Nightwing stopped in mid-shout and everyone turned to look at Alfred who was giving the black clad hero a stern look. "Shouting in the infirmary is unsightly and there are still injured here; one is merely refusing to co-operate by not resting like he should."

That's when Nightwing finally took a good look around the room and spotted the teens. Danny felt a shiver run down his spine when the black clad hero glared venomously at him before his eyes fell onto the shirtless Brad. Nightwing's eyes narrowed from behind the mask as he strode over to the blond and grabbed his shoulders.

Brad released a soft hiss of pain at the sudden contact, making Casse abruptly get to her feet to slap Nightwing's hands off him. Brad's eyes shifted uncomfortably between Nightwing and Casse, the two adults glaring at each other while having a hand resting on each side of Brad's shoulders. It would have been amusing if it weren't for the fact that the two adults looked like they wanted to tear each other's throats apart.

"Just hurry up." Nightwing snarled, taking his hand off Brad's shoulders. "And take them with you, we can't house civilians here and you'd better find a way to return them back to wherever they came from."

"We're not animals." Sam snapped angrily, matching Nightwing's glare. She never got a chance to throw any scathing remarks when he ignored her and spun his heel and out of the room. A moment later, a shirt that was similar to what Brad had been wearing earlier was tossed at the teen.

"Starfire, let's go." They stared at Nightwing's retreating back as he disappeared down the stairs. Starfire bowed to them politely before hurrying off after him, closing the door with a gentle click.

"Stupid dick-head." Casse cursed, scowling at the closed door while Brad slipped the shirt over his head and checked the portable Ghost Gauntlets on his hands. "He's the former Robin if you guys were wondering."

"Did Batman's death affect him that much?" Tucker questioned as he watched Brad test the Gauntlets before letting them slide back to compact size. "The last I knew, they were on bad terms and that's why Robin went to head the Teen Titans in Jump City?"

"It affected him more than you think." Red Arrow answered, checking over his bow and counting the arrows in his barrel. "Robin admires and respects all that Batman had done and when he was killed in the Watchtower Tragedy, the realization hit him hard that he no longer had his mentor around to guide him."

"You're no different though Red Arrow." The archer turned and raised an enquiring eyebrow at Danny. "I mean, you're the former Speedy aren't you? And Green Arrow was your mentor too wasn't he? Robin should understand that he's not the only one who lost his mentor."

"That's why he changed his name to Red Arrow, to honor Green Arrow." Alfred smiled, beaming at the red faced archer who scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "He refused to take the title of Green Arrow, stating during the memorial that 'there will only be one Green Arrow in the world'."

"Better than ChickenWing that's for sure." Danny couldn't help but cover his mouth to hide his laughter while Brad turned his face away, his shoulders shaking in mirth. Their actions received raised eyebrows. "What's so funny?"

"It's a private joke." Danny giggled, sniggering behind his hand before straightening up and attempting to look serious. The grin on his face however, showed the failure in that attempt. "So, looks like we're all stuck with you two to scout those areas until we get back to our time huh?"

"Or we could just take them off now and just go!" Sam sniped, obviously not enjoying her stay in their morbid future. "We've found out enough already and we all know that we need to just avoid the Nasty Burger."

"That's not true; we don't know why the Fentons, Mr. Lancer and Mr. Angeles were there." Danny pointed out, wanting to make sure he could get as many facts as he could before returning back to prevent the disaster. "I would like to find out more about it and was hoping Casse and Red Arrow could enlighten us when we're out with them."

Brad sent a shrug in his direction but nodded his head, not completely sure of everything but Casse placed a hand on his shoulder and promised that she would fill him in. The blond teen just sent her a look which read 'you'd better tell me every single detail' and Casse just scowled back at him.

"At least let us check you all over for any minor injuries to treat. It seems that Mr. Foley is in need of medical attention with that burn on his ankle. Miss Cassandra and Red Arrow must recharge and replenish their weaponry before heading out as well; you might not know which enemies will lurk when you reach the sectors."

"Thanks for the reminder Alfred. You might want to give Brad some painkillers though. Even if Arella healed the puncture marks, I don't think it means that it doesn't hurt anymore." Casse's lips curved into a wry smile as Alfred responded with a curt nod. "I suppose we'll meet you guys at the front door then."

"I hope you know what you're doing Danny." Sam hissed as Tucker allowed Arella and Alfred to check him over. The raven haired girl was displeased that Danny hadn't agreed with her on anything. "Because this isn't one of your brightest ideas."

"Yes Sam, I love you too." Danny muttered sarcastically, not noticing the blush that streaked across Sam's face as she turned her head away from him. His ears picked up Casse and Red Arrow's conversation as they went through their devices.

"Arrow, is your detector glitched or something? Mine doesn't show any other ghost in the vicinity other than Phantom. Yours is showing one more in the room."

"Huh? That's weird." Red Arrow scratched the back of his head, his eyes wide in puzzlement. "It says the ghost is right by Phantom, but how come yours isn't picking up anything?"

"Beats me. Guess we need Oracle to take a look at it once we're done scouting, we don't have any time right now to contact her to get a replacement."

Danny's brows furrowed as they left the room. Another ghost next to him? He would be able to sense the ghost if that were the case so… was it really a glitch in Red Arrow's detector?

* * *

Lancer didn't want to believe it, something was terribly wrong with this picture yet somehow everything seemed to fit.

The answers to the C.A.T had gone missing and coincidentally, Dashiel Baxter had come to him, claiming to have seen Daniel Fenton with the answer envelope. The balding teacher sighed and leaned back against his chair. He was having a hard time believing that Danny would even think of cheating for this test; sure his current results were far from excellent but he had determination and a group of supportive friends.

So why did he change to swoop this low? Lancer couldn't find the answer no matter how hard he tried.

Lancer stared at the ceiling, his hands clasped together resting on his lap as he thought of the various scenarios. If Danny did cheat, there was enough reason to expel him from school; the lightest punishment was a warning and a month suspension. But having the answer booklet itself was already questionable and could get Danny scrutinized. His parents would be notified and Lancer was pretty sure that they too would be wondering if they had done anything wrong in raising him.

Despite his dislike for the Fentons eccentricity and strange devices, Lancer knew that Jack and Maddie Fenton loved their children dearly and put their family and friends before anything else. He respected them for that.

Leonard Lancer closed his eyes and released another sigh from his lips. It seemed that there was going to be a painful meeting with the Fentons after the examination tomorrow. He simply wished that it was all a horrible prank.

* * *

The APRS turned out to be the area where the Nasty Burger had once stood. The ground was littered with debris and blackened by what Danny thought could have been the explosion. It was as if the town has simply left the area as it was, shaken by memories that didn't allow them to forget and to move on.

Tilted buildings and abandoned homes surrounded the site, like a true ghost town where no one else dared to live. Danny watched his friends from the rear; Brad listening to what Casse was telling him while Red Arrow and Tucker conversed lightly. Sam was just in front of him, but wasn't close enough to talk to him or to join in the other two conversations.

Her attitude was puzzling him greatly. It seemed as if that if anyone disagreed with her, her mood would turn black and that's when everything would go horribly wrong afterwards. Danny didn't like the feeling of foreboding that was creeping through his body but he quickly shoved it away and concentrated on the more pressing matters at hand.

"Do you think we should split up and cover more ground Casse?" The group had stopped just some ways away from the large black crater which Danny assumed to be the remains of the Nasty Burger. "We can check out GCS Four afterwards and head over to Oracle to check what's wrong with this piece of junk?"

"Hold on Arrow. I don't like this." The teens watched the older Casse curiously as she eyed their surroundings warily. "There's something off around here; I don't know if it's a ghost or if the Master has gotten himself new allies but I think it would be better to stick together."

"You're the boss lady." The archer chirped cheerfully, receiving a glare and a smack on the shoulder from the woman. Brad raised an eyebrow at their exchange, crossing his arms over his chest and tapped his foot while shifting his eyes between the two adults. Danny blinked as Tucker began to chuckle quietly and raised an enquiring eyebrow at his best friend.

"Brad's overprotective older brother side is coming out." Danny blinked as Tucker enlightened him further. "It's because he thinks that Red Arrow is hitting on Casse."

Danny choked and quickly covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. The adults raised eyebrows at them while Brad continued to stare at Red Arrow with much scrutiny. Sam simply ignored the conversation, staring off into space with a bored expression on her face.

"Well, just stick close together. Stay sharp and don't let anything out of the ordinary escape."

"Yes madam."

"Arrow, you'd better stop doing that before I make sure you will not have any Father's Day in the future."

"I think Brad would probably maul and kill him first." Tucker piped up idly, causing Danny to snort and cover his smile. Casse blinked and cocked her head to one side to look at her brother. Brad did look a little murderous while glaring at Red Arrow and Tucker and Danny were finding it difficult to hold back their laughter. The archer had thrown both his hands up in a surrendering gesture, blinking rapidly as Brad continued to glare daggers at him.

Before anyone could say anything else, Brad had marched forward and began pushing Red Arrow roughly into one direction, far away from Casse. Tucker and Danny succumbed to the mirth and fell into pearls of laughter at the look of incredulity on Casse's face.

Danny turned his head to Tucker and jerked his head in the direction where Brad had pushed Red Arrow into, gesturing that he wanted to talk to Casse alone. Catching onto what Danny was thinking, Tucker nodded and grabbed Sam's wrist and began dragging the protesting girl in the same direction Red Arrow and Brad had taken off into.

"Smart. But you do know that it'll be disadvantageous to us because Arrow might not be able to protect all three of them right?"

"Brad can take care of himself pretty well with the portable Ghost Gauntlets; don't underestimate him." Danny grinned, following Casse's lead as they scouted the area. "So, do you have an answer to what I asked earlier? Arrow didn't have the answer but I thought you might."

"About why the parents were meeting at the Nasty Burger that night?" Danny nodded his head and waited patiently for Casse to reply to him. His eyes slid across the scene before him and tried to spot anything that didn't seem right until Casse spoke up.

"There was a rumor about it, but I'm not sure how accurate it is though." The hybrid simply gave her a look that prompted the older woman to continue. "Well, they were saying that the C.A.T answers that Lancer had been keeping were stolen by Danny. The rumor went on to saying that Danny had cheated in the C.A.T and Lancer wanted to talk to his parents at the Nasty Burger since the school grounds were closed after the exams."

Danny managed to catch himself before he dropped out of the air in shock. The C.A.T answers? The only time he had been close to Lancer during the weekend was when Box Lunch had attacked the Nasty Burger and he definitely did not steal the answers then! Brad could definitely vouch for him at that time!

"I'm… not sure about the rest, but it seemed that Jazz, Sam, Tucker and Brad had gone to the Nasty Burger to defend Danny. Dad apparently had been looking for Brad and followed him to the Nasty Burger when… it happened."

Realization hit Danny hard when he quickly went through his thoughts and stopped at the particular one when Box Lunch had attacked the Nasty Burger. Didn't she mess up some of the equipment when she went rampaging there? Could that have been the cause of the explosion?

The pieces had finally fallen into place and even though the puzzle had been solved, the sense of foreboding was still creeping through his veins.

A sudden series of loud beeps from Casse's detector sprung them to attention and the two narrowly dodged the ten sharp claws that came diving down at them. Immediately, Casse had unbuckled the guns at her waist and fired a few shots in the direction where the claws had come. Danny stayed on high alert, charging his ecto-energy in his hands in case he needed to form a shield in an instant.

Casse quickly tapped the earpiece and barked into it while dodging another set of claws that came her way. "Arrow! Shadow's appeared at the right side of the crater!"

"We're on the way!"

Danny quickly flung up a shield as another few sets of claws came his way. He grunted as each set flew in continuously until he came face to face with his future self. Danny stared into the blank blue eyes of his future counterpart who slammed a fist on the shield, shattering it upon impact before it connected with his chest.

He flew back several feet and crashed into the hard concrete floor. Danny coughed at the dust that settled around him and spat out green blood, wiping his chin of the dribbling blood as he stared at Shadow.

The older ghost stared back at him blankly before cocking his head to one side and jumping nimbly away as two bright green shots were fired at the spot he once stood. As he landed, the nails extended once again to long bright green claws and he stood there, poised and ready to attack them again.

"Phantom, are you ok?"

"I've felt better." He replied hoarsely, struggling back up to his feet. He wiped his chin with the back of his hand and grimaced when it came out sticky with green. "Any weakness of my future self that I should know of?"

"He doesn't have any as far as we know." Casse shouted back, shooting a barrage of shots at Shadow who simply weaved his body around the shots and jumped backwards, as if gauging of when he should attack them. "The only times he's ever faltered was when Lee was around."

"Incoming!" Danny quickly ducked down as did Casse at the shout. A volley of arrows came raining from the sky at Shadow, who simply extended his claws out longer and slashed the arrows to pieces. Red Arrow stood just some ways from Danny with Brad, Tucker and Sam quickly making their way towards him from the rear.

For a moment, Danny swore he saw a flicker of emotion in those blank eyes at the sight of them. But it was gone as soon as it came. Without warning, he shot forward with his claw outstretched and aimed straight for Red Arrow.

The archer quickly notched his arrows and let them slice through the air as Shadow approached him. Only at the very last minute did Red Arrow flee from the spot as Shadow's claws plunged forward and dug into the concrete. But he had unwittingly left the three teens wide open and vulnerable to Shadow's impending attacks.

Danny cursed colorfully as he shot forward and quickly threw up another shield as Shadow dug his claws out and slashed forward at his friends.

"What are you guys doing?!" He grunted; beads of sweat dribbling down the sides of his face as the claws began to crack the shield. "RUN!"

Tucker quickly grabbed both Sam and Brad's arms and pulled them away just as the shield gave way. Danny was sent kissing the concrete once again but was saved from being pummeled further into the ground by Casse and Red Arrow.

After making sure that the other three were out of harms way, Danny shot forward and delivered a punch to Shadow's gut. The punch didn't seem to phase the older hybrid as he grabbed Danny's arm and tossed him over his shoulder without a second glance. Danny gritted his teeth and planted his feet firmly on the wall of the building he was thrown into. Cracks formed at the point of impact but thankfully, the building didn't crumble.

Only Red Arrow and Casse were nimble enough to dodge Shadow's relentless attacks and attack him at the same time. Danny felt useless because his power was only a small fraction of Shadow's power, feeling the big gap of experience and power between himself and his older, darker self.

"Stay behind us." Casse ordered, aiming a few more shots at Shadow as Red Arrow used a variety of different arrows to distract the other hybrid. "It's obvious that you can't match up to him because of the power difference and believe me, the last thing I want is for you to get pulverized now and not prevent this future from happening."

"That's a really painful 'duh'." Danny wheezed out, feeling the pain of the bruises overcome his senses for a moment before he jerked himself back to the present. Nevertheless he complied with Casse's order and began drifting backwards from the main battle and closer to his hiding friends.

But he didn't expect to find a large black and purple flamed horseman, definitely not the Headless Horseman that he knew of, hovering menacingly behind him. Danny could hear yells and shouts around him, but they all faded when the horseman drove a sharp punch to his gut, knocking the wind out of him and sent him flying straight into a building.

"Shit, it's the Fright Knight!" Casse cursed, quickly grabbing something from her belt as Red Arrow took one of his special arrows from his barrel. "This was a fucking set up! Stupid son of a bitch, I'm going to kill that assed bird!"

"What do you want Fright Knight?" Red Arrow snarled, his eyes quickly darting around to find if the ghost army was around them. "What does the Master want now?"

Danny wheezed at the weight of the debris that was sitting on his stomach and quickly turned intangible to fly out of the rubble. Just as he had gotten out of the crumbled building, a firm hand seized his throat and began choking him. His bright green eyes widened as his older counterpart stared at him blankly while tightening his hold on his neck.

"It's simple. My Master wants them dead." The purple flamed horseman, now identified as the Fright Knight, pointed a finger to the struggling Danny and raised his sword to point at Brad, Tucker and Sam who had been chased out of their hiding spot by some other ghosts. "The future will not change, we will make this future happen! The future is inevitable!"

"In your fucking dreams I'll let it happen!" Casse snapped, cocking out the energy cartridges of the guns and quickly replaced them. "Go crawling back to your Master and tell him that his reign of tyranny will never reach other timelines!"

"Insolent insects!" Danny gasped for breath as the hand around his throat tightened its grip. He tried turning intangible to escape but still his older counterpart kept a firm hold on his throat. From the corner of his eye, he could see Brad clenching his fists and moved to activate the compact Ghost Gauntlets, only to be stopped by Tucker. "The Master will reign supreme in any timeline as he so desires! There is nothing our Master cannot overcome!"

The grip around his neck loosened slightly, allowing Danny to quickly gulp in the necessary air he needed. But he froze as he watched helplessly as the Fright Knight's sword crackled with energy and shot devastating beams of purple at Tucker, Sam and Brad. Casse and Red Arrow tried to move forward to intercept the beams but were too late.

The force of the explosion blew them off their feet and Danny squeezed his eyes shut as the dust particles collided with his skin. Once his eyes were open again, he immediately tried locating any one of them. Casse was hurling numerous curses at the Fright Knight and shooting blindly at him while Red Arrow punched the ground with a frustrated cry.

It then sank into his mind but his heart refused to believe that it was true. Desperately, he tried searching for Tucker, Sam and Brad, wanting to find any clues that might have allowed them to escape. Then he saw the three twinkling medallions winking up at him from the ground where they had once stood and almost cried with relief. They went back to their time. He didn't even think of how they could have reacted fast enough to take the medallions off. They were safe and that's what mattered the most.

Now it was his turn to get back to their time.

As he struggled to pull the medallion off his neck, he swore he could hear something echoing from Shadow's ear, a commanding voice that sounded sinisterly familiar. And the command itself was enough to make him terrified out of his wits.

"Force the medallion into his body Shadow."

He flailed his limbs, trying to desperately get loose as Shadow's free hand extending its claws and inched closer towards him. The claw grasped the CW medallion tightly before the sharp claws pierced through Danny's chest. The hybrid released a scream of agony as the claws went through his skin and forced the medallion into his chest.

Danny could feel his eyes rolling to the back of his head as the pain seared through his body. His throat felt choked up and breathing seemed like the biggest chore that he had to do to survive. His hands griped the claw that was wrapped around his neck tightly and tried to squirm away weakly, but his body felt heavy and stiff. No matter how much he tried, he could not summon the strength to struggle anymore.

He could only vaguely hear Casse and Red Arrow's shouts as his body slammed against the concrete ground for what seemed to be the hundredth time of the day. But the pain seemed like millions of miles away as his vision began to darken. As Danny's mind began to shut down, he swore he could hear his own voice whispering into his ear.

"Hold on Danny… just hold on…"

* * *

"Wow, it looks like someone really did a huge number on the Nasty Burger yesterday." Lee commented as she and Jazz passed by the closed restaurant. The windows were shattered and plenty of chairs and tables were hanging off from the ceiling and walls of the building. "I know Dwarf said something about it getting trashed by the ghost that appeared in our house but, geez."

"Wait, a ghost appeared at your house?" A tinge of worry spiked Jazz's heart as she watched the younger girl. "What happened? Did the ghost do anything?"

"If you mean scare the crap out of me and smack my dad with a wooden chopping board… then yes, the ghost did do something." Lee responded with a note of sarcasm and a shrug to Jazz. "Good thing Pixie wasn't downstairs too, I'd pitch a fit if she got hurt in the state she's in now."

"I can imagine." Jazz sighed, giving Lee a quick glance through and deciding that the other girl was fine. "I'd be doing the same if that ever happened to Danny too."

"The curse of being the older sister." Both girls chorused at the same time, exchanging grins with each other before continuing down the road. Just as they were four streets down from Fenton Works, they heard loud crashes and yells from one of the alleyways. Startled, they exchanged a wary look with each other before cautiously moving towards the alleyway.

"How the heck did we… Sam, will you get off my leg please?"

"Only if you get dimwit to get off my arm! Ow! Stop hitting me you moron!"

There was plenty of scuffling happening but the voices were definitely familiar. As Jazz and Lee peered into the alleyway, they saw Brad, Tucker and Sam in a tangle of limbs with Sam glaring daggers at Brad who was trying to get himself disentangled with her arm.

"Uh… guys? What are you doing here?" All three of them froze at the sound of Jazz's voice. They looked up to see both Jazz and Lee hovering at the entrance to the alleyway before striding in to help disentangle them.

"So, could you guys tell us why you were all in the alleyway and look as if you went through a hurricane?" Jazz asked stiffly, worried that she couldn't see Danny among them. Lee was busily fussing over her brother while Tucker and Sam were patting the dust off their clothes. "And where's Danny?"

"Danny should still be at home, or he could have gone out since we left some time ago." Tucker quickly spat out the first excuse that came to mind, feeling worried that Danny hadn't followed them in returning to their time. The bespectacled teen was still confused as to how their medallions had come off at the same time, without their knowledge, to allow them back to their time. "He should be fine. The earthquake just rocked your house a little."

"If you're sure about that…"

"Dwarf, what's wrong with your throat?" All eyes turned to the two blonds to see Brad trying to gesture to Lee to explain about his predicament but to no avail. Tucker quickly intervened as Brad's expression grew incensed when he failed to communicate with Lee.

"He lost his voice. Brad started coughing a lot just now and he can't use his voice anymore for some reason."

"What?!" Brad took a step back as Lee started to check his throat area. "Dang, a throat infection? We'd have to take you to the doctors if it's made you lose your voice completely!"

Brad began waving his hands about, shaking his head furiously at the mention of being sent to the doctors. Tucker couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic towards him because not only could he not speak; he couldn't get his point across when he tried either.

"He doesn't want to go to the doctors. Maybe it'll just pass after a while Lee. Don't worry about it too much." Brad nodded his head furiously at Tucker's words, a look of gratitude sent in the bespectacled boy's direction.

"How can I not worry?!" The girl shouted; border-lining hysterics at this point, waving her hands in the air in exasperation. "Casse needs to be sent to the hospital later on because she's getting worse and now Brad's gotten a throat infection that's made him lose his voice completely?!"

Immediately, Brad grabbed Lee's shoulders and began mouthing his words, his expression frantic at the mention of their younger sister's condition worsening. Tucker, while he was just as worried about Casse, gently pried Brad off Lee to give her some space to explain.

"Her fever hasn't broken yet; she's starting to get violent fits and now she can't even swallow any food! The next person to tell me not to worry about anything concerning my family, I swear I'll strangle them!"

The blond began to rant excessively on just about everything while the rest blinked at her as she continued her tirade. Sam was just about to shoot a scathing remark in her direction but Jazz had gone forward to calm Lee down before she could do so. The Goth glared at their motley crew but inside there was a hurricane of worry sweeping through her veins, wondering why Danny had yet to appear.

"Well I guess we'd all better head back to check the damage to our homes after that earthquake… Hey wait a minute, where are all your bags?" A note of suspicion crept into Jazz's voice as she eyed the three younger teens warily, suddenly having a sinking feeling that her brother was in danger.

"Um well… they're right there?" Tucker thanked their lucky stars that they had landed back in the same area they had left their bags in or they might not be able to lie to Jazz or Lee very well. He could only hope to distract Jazz long enough for her to not realize that Danny wasn't exactly in the same timeline as they were in.

The older Fenton eyed them suspiciously but decided to let it go. Lee began to push Brad in the direction of their home while Tucker and Sam went their separate ways, albeit reluctantly. But Jazz caught sight of the worry that was palpable in Tucker's eyes as he left and couldn't help but urge her feet to walk home faster.

She just hoped that Danny was at home like Tucker said he would be.

As Jazz walked away, a green portal appeared in the dark corner of the alleyway. It rippled slightly, like a gentle touch on the water's surface but nothing seemed to have appeared to have emerged from the portal. The swirl of green closed and a pair of green eyes flashed momentarily before it vanished as quickly as soon as it came.

* * *

Hushed voices invaded his ears as consciousness returned to him. How long he had been out or where he was, Danny didn't know. He grunted softly, a sudden searing pain coursing through his veins as he tried to get up.

"Stop moving. You'll only make it worse." His eyes shot open and his body instantly jerked into a sitting position. The pain from his chest intensified tenfold and he bit his lip to prevent himself from screaming out in pain. A pair of slender black gloved hands grasped his shoulders and gently pushed him back down on where he was lying.

"What did she tell you about moving dip-stick?" This voice was familiar and there was no mistaking the drawl and nickname that came along with it. Staring down at him was an older looking Ember McLain with another female face he couldn't recognize. "Looks like Shadow did a number on you."

"Ember, be nice." The green haired ghost chided, checking over Danny's chest. "Red Arrow and Angel will happy to know that you're up, they brought you here after the ambush and are talking with Technus now."

"Wh… Who are you?" Danny managed to wheeze out as the pain increase its pressure on his chest. "Where am I?"

"Calm down dip-stick. You're still in the future if that's what you were wondering." Danny shot Ember a dirty look but grimaced as the pain shot through his body again. The green haired ghost on Ember's side made a disapproving noise and shook her head. "What? Ok, I couldn't resist. It's been frigging years since I could last tease the dip-stick without getting my ass handed to me Kitty."

"Well do it after he heals." The ghost, identified as Kitty, shot back. She turned to look at Danny with a kind smile. "Stay here, we'll get Angel and Red Arrow to come over."

"… You don't hate me?" Kitty blinked and turned her head back to look at him curiously.

"Why should I? All the ghosts know that Shadow, the future you here, is being controlled by the Master." The look in her eyes turned soft and she shook her head sadly. "I don't hate you. I … sympathize with you because you lost your free will."

"You're too kind Kitty! Too bloody kind!" Ember shouted at Kitty's retreating back before turning back to level a glare at Danny. The hybrid winced at the harshness of the glare but didn't want to try moving his body again because of the pain. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing until a sigh invaded his ears.

"When I look at you, I keep on thinking how you'd turn out to be if you weren't under the Master's control." Danny opened his eyes and slowly turned his head to look at the ghost rocker. While her attire and overall attitude hadn't changed, she seemed a lot softer than her younger self. "If you weren't under his control, the Ghost Zone wouldn't be under his reign and we'd all still have our homes."

"… I guess I'm that terrible in the future huh." He could actually have decent conversation with the future Ember without her throwing a tantrum. Even if she still called him dip-stick. "Maybe the Box Lunch and Skulker had the right idea of wanting to destroy me back in the past."

"That's not true." Danny didn't expect her to reply so sharply to his statement. He looked up to see her eyes harden. "If you were destroyed in the past, it could have an adverse effect on the future. We don't know if destroying you would save us years of suffering or make it ten times worse. If anything, the best shot is to just warn you and hope for the best that you change whatever it is that is needed to change the future."

"And I've given both Skulker and Box Lunch a good dressing down about it." Danny flexed his fingers for a moment before pushing himself up into a sitting position. Ember gave him a disapproving look but nevertheless, helped him into position. Danny muttered a quiet thanks to her before looking up to see Technus, not as eccentric looking as he did in the past but more business-like and commanding.

Danny also noted that the large robotic body was nowhere to be found and wondered what exactly Technus had done with Skulker.

"The wounds might have healed, but you'll be in pain for a while." He only trusted himself to nod his head at Technus' statement, grimacing as another flash of pain stabbed at his chest. "And we have to find a way to remove the medallion in your chest if you are going to return to your time."

"We've got no idea how Shadow did it." Danny's eyes slid to the side to see Red Arrow and Casse, both bandaged and bruised but looking absolutely perplexed. "His claws went straight into you and just pushed the medallion into your chest! We've never seen him do anything like that before!"

"Wait. How did you –"

"I told them about the medallions." Technus interrupted, holding up a hand to halt the chatter. "I recognized the medallions that Angel and Red Arrow had given us to look at as the same medallion Skulker had received when we were taken to the past. If I am correct, if the medallions are taken off when you are in a timeline that is not your own, you will be transported back to your proper time."

"Yea, that's the gist of it." Danny wheezed out, rubbing his chest a little to soothe the pain that was burning in his ribs. "Brad and I figured that out when Box Lunch rampaged around and messed up the Nasty Burger."

"We have to find a way to get it out of you." Casse muttered darkly, rubbing her bandaged arms. "For all we know, the Master might have done this on purpose and is planning something even bigger. From what I've gotten from the Fright Knight, I think the Master is going try to make this future become your reality."

"The question is: how is he going to do that?" Danny's eyes slid from ghost to ghost that were surrounding him. Technus and Ember were the only two ghosts he knew from his time. Kitty was leaning against a taller, broad shouldered male ghost with a dark shadow looming behind him while the ghost that had spoken up was a large white beast-like creature with his right arm completely carved of ice.

Murmurs erupted from the rest of the ghosts, all trying to exchange ideas of how the Master could do so. Technus however, already caught onto the idea.

"Wait; there is a way the Master is able to do this." The murmurs quieted down and all eyes were trained on the technology savvy ghost. Casse and Red Arrow had stridden over to Danny's bed side and waited for Technus to continue. "He'll use Shadow to take on his former appearance to do the act. By using Shadow like a puppet as he has always been used as, he'll be able make him almost mirror his former self."

The murmurs kicked up again and a feeling of dread sunk into the pits of Danny's stomach. He had no idea if his friends would be able to differentiate him from his darker counterpart if the Master did send Shadow back into the past. The thought of his friends not being able to tell the difference made him feel nauseous and it doubled with the pain that was still searing in his chest.

Casse started to gently rub his back in soothing circles when she first noticed the slight green hue in his cheeks. Red Arrow had placed his hand on his other shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. Danny appreciated their concern and understanding, but it didn't alleviate the worry that was welling up in his heart.

"Silence!" The murmurs ceased at Technus' bellow. "For now, we'll continue on as before. But I'll be trying to find a way to remove the medallion from Phantom but until then, there is nothing else we can do."

"Great, another waiting game." Ember scowled, flopping back against a chair with her arms folded across her chest. Red Arrow lifted his head up to look at Technus with a grim expression.

"I think you might have to think and act fast Technus; they came from the day before the Explosion of NB. We can't waste any time."

"I will work my best and if Skulker behaves, we'll be twice as efficient." Technus promised. "But until then, please take Phantom with you. I cannot guarantee that the other ghosts are as understanding as most of us are on his predicament. Box Lunch is one of them."

"Noted." Casse replied curtly, her hand moving up from Danny's back to rest on his shoulder. "We need to head over to Gotham City, open a portal to Sector 3 and we'll walk to Sector 4 from there."

"You can find Wulf near the old Prison." Kitty piped up, snuggled in the arms of the blond ghost. "He's been clearing it out and making it more comfortable for other ghosts to live in."

"Thanks Kitty." Casse's face turned to look at Danny's downcast one. "Think you can walk or levitate at least?"

Silently, Danny gently pushed Casse and Red Arrow's hands off his shoulders and slowly shifted his legs to dangle at the side of the bed. Without warning, he hopped off the bed and hissed softly as the pain built up in his chest burned against his ribs. He wobbled as his knees started to give way, only to have Red Arrow grab his arm to support him as he tried to regain his equilibrium.

When Danny didn't manage to find his center, Red Arrow casually brought both his arms over his shoulders and hoisted the hybrid onto his back in a piggy back ride. Danny glared as the archer chuckled cheerfully and gave him a grin from behind his hood.

"I give you credit for trying, but bull headedness is not going to get you anywhere here." Danny noticed the amused smiles the ghosts seemed to be giving him while Casse sent them a wry smile. "Now, let's go find Wulf, finish scouting GCS Four and then we can roast the chicken when we get back to AP base."

"You sound awfully cheerful about it." The hybrid muttered as he rested his chin comfortably on Red Arrow's shoulder while the archer walked. Casse strode forward and walked by Red Arrow's side as they headed towards the 'Prison'.

"Well, he did send us into a bloody ambush. I'd say it's quite lenient that we're only roasting his ass in return." Now Red Arrow was beginning to sound much too cheerful for Danny's liking. "Say Casse, you like barbeque chicken don't you?"

"Don't ruin my taste buds with his tainted meat." She shot back easily, not looking the slightest bit uncomfortable at Red Arrow's sudden sadistic mood. "If anyone gets first shot at him, it'll be me."

"You two creep me out…"

The walk was short, but it was long enough for Danny to recover some of his strength to move on his own instead of hitching a ride on Red Arrow's back. But it didn't seem to shock him too much when they reached the 'Prison', which turned out to be the remains of Walker's Prison.

The hallways were empty and the rooms were all bare. The bars of the 'cages' had been torn out and replaced with doors and windows were made by slicing large square holes through the thick walls. At the end of the familiar corridor and into a familiar but not as dark room, Danny spotted a black furred wolf arranging furniture in the brightly lit room.

"Hey Wulf." He could hear a note of gentleness in Casse's voice as she strode forward to scratch behind the ears of the great big wolf. Wulf grinned and nuzzled his muzzle against her hand, sighing in contentment as she scratched behind his ears. "Could you open a portal to GCS Three for us?"

"_Si_ _amiko_." The green clothed wolf smiled, nudging Casse's palm with his wet nose before shuffling to the side, raising his claw. With a great big swipe, he clawed the air and ripped a hole out of nowhere. "Wulf say good luck. Come again!"

"We'll try to visit you again Wulf." Red Arrow promised, petting Wulf's head gently before scratching the back of his ears. The ghost wolf grinned and gave Red Arrow's face a hearty lick, making the archer grimace at the green slobber that dribbled down his cheek. "Except that you could minus the licking part. Yuck."

"Come on Phantom. We'd better move." Awkwardly, Danny faced Wulf, having only heard of the great big ghost wolf but never having seen him in person. Slowly he brought his hand out and slowly scratched Wulf's chin, a small grin forming on his lips as he noticed the ghost wolf's tail wag about happily.

"Go, _amiko_." Wulf smiled, nudging Danny towards the portal where Casse and Red Arrow had gone through. "Good luck."

"Thank you Wulf." The wolf only grinned at him as he floated into the portal, his vision replaced with swirls of green before the scene of streets and buildings and a waiting Casse and Red Arrow returned to his sight.

Danny just prayed that the Master hadn't sent his ruthless future counterpart to the past yet and that he wouldn't be too late to save his family and friends.

* * *

"Excellent. Everything is going according to plan." Shadow watched his Master from the shadows, his eyes glowing with a mixture of blue and green in the darkness. The Fright Knight was kneeling on the floor with his head bowed, waiting for their Master to continue. "Well done Fright Knight. Even though you've failed to kill the children, you've made the distraction long enough for Shadow to keep the little nuisance from returning to his time."

"Master, forgive me for my failure!" The Fright Knight bowed his head lower in shame. "I assure you; I shall not fail again!"

"At ease Fright Knight, at ease. I will give you another chance to redeem yourself."

"Master, what are your plans now that you have trapped the child in our time?" From his seat on the chair, the Master's mouth curved into a sinister smile, the top half of his face hidden in the shadows.

"It's rather simple Fright Knight." The Master made no movement, simply tapping his fingers together with his lips still curled in that sinister smile. "With my control over Shadow, he will take the place of his younger self and force this future upon that timeline. There will be no escape for any timeline within my reach to fall under my control."

"And you my dear Fright Knight." A shiver ran down the Fright Knight's spine as his Master continued to speak. "To redeem yourself, kill the child and those other two meddlesome heroes with him. They've been a thorn on my side for far too long; especially that wretched Angel."

"Yes Master! With your command, I shall slay them all! There will be no one to oppose you!"

"Leave me now Fright Knight; I must prepare Shadow to infiltrate the past to make this future come to pass." The Fright Knight bowed his head once more and swiftly exited the room without another sound. The Master raised his hand and beckoned to Shadow. "Come to me my pet."

Obediently, the hybrid levitated to the Master and knelt on the floor when he reached the chair. The Master idly tapped his black gloved fingers on the arm rest of the chair, his greenish blue chin resting on the palm of his other hand with his smirk still evident in the light.

"Return to your human self." At the command, two rings of light swept across Shadow to reveal a haggard raven haired young man in worn tattered clothes with a shining spike collar adorning his neck. His skin was too pale to be considered healthy and his baby blue eyes remained blank. "Now, your age. Turn back to fourteen my pet."

Suddenly, Shadow's body stiffened and jerked awkwardly. His fist started clenching tightly and his eyes began flickering wildly with emotion. The Master calmly raised his hand and chanted something in a foreign language. The spike collar glowed a deadly dark pink that spread across the young man's body and all his movement stopped.

"Let's try that again; turn back into your fourteen year old body my pet." The glow dissipated and another two rings of light swept across Shadow's body and when the light dimmed, a fourteen year old Danny Fenton was kneeling in his place. "Excellent work my pet. Stand."

The Master's red eyes gleamed in the shadows wickedly as Shadow obediently got to his feet. He pointed his hand at Shadow, his smirk growing wider as he spoke. "You will go to the past and make sure that this future comes to pass. If it doesn't, kill them all."

A stiffening of Shadow's shoulders made the Master flick his hand and the collar glowed dark pink again, Shadow's shoulders immediately slumping back into a relaxed position. The Master leaned back against his chair, his fingers intertwining with each other as he made a thoughtful sounding noise.

"But I suppose you could spare your mother… after all, a king needs a queen to rule by his side…" A flicker of emotion flashed in Shadow's eyes but it vanished as soon as it came. "And of course, that girl you've kept close to your heart. Ah, that girl who gave you all the comfort you wanted and needed after the incident… too bad she fell in the Watchtower Tragedy."

The Master smirked as another flash of emotion danced in Shadow's eyes. "Now go my pet. I'll be watching you. You cannot escape my control and be careful; I might just change my mind and kill her there and then."

A bright green portal formed at Shadow's side, glowing with a strange hint of pink Shadow looked at the Master before turning his heel and entering the portal without a single sound. The Master smirked as the portal winked out of sight, the light in the room shifting slightly to shine on his face.

Revealed from the shadows was the smirking face of an older Vladimir Plasmius, staring at the spot where Shadow had once stood before he got to his feet. He lazily strode over to the side table of his 'throne room' and glanced at the picture that sat snugly on top of the table, hidden by the shadows.

He picked up the photograph, idly caressing the frame and smirked at the picture. Grinning faces, eyes filled with happiness and the atmosphere of innocence, they were no more. When he heard the news of Maddie's demise, he cursed the boy for not saving her, vowing to make his life completely miserable for ruining his chances of ever wooing her back to him.

He took everything from him; all the memories that he held so dear, the remaining friends he loved, whatever he wanted to protect, everything. If he could not have what he wanted, Vlad was not going to let Danny get what he wanted.

"Too bad I won't really give you the chance to get your precious back little badger… too bad at all…"

* * *

Jazz felt a shiver run down her spine as she reached for the key to Fenton Works. She rubbed her arms furiously to quell the goosebumps that had formed on her skin and shook her body for a moment. With a click, she swung the door open, greeted by the sight of their house in complete disarray.

"Danny?" Cautiously, she stepped over the fallen items that were littered on the ground, calling out for her brother. "Danny, are you here?"

As Jazz went to check the kitchen, she didn't notice a flash of green light emit from the basement. 'Danny' slowly walked up the stairs as she entered the living room, wanting to head to the laboratory to find him. Jazz almost fell over in shock when she bumped into him and quickly grabbed his arm to prevent him from falling backwards.

"Danny!" Relief crept into her voice as she checked her 'brother' over, not quite fully believing that Danny hadn't gotten into trouble after the earthquake. "Are you alright? I tried calling you but you never answered!"

"… I'm… fine." Jazz was startled at 'Danny's' soft reply, almost needing to strain her ears to hear him. "Just… tired."

"… Are you sure?" There was something about her 'brother' that screamed that there was something wrong. It didn't feel like him, he seemed too distant and unfeeling for some reason that she couldn't understand. "You seem a little…"

"Just tired." Though he sounded firm, his blank eyes were starting to worry Jazz even more. "Going to… lie down."

He gently shrugged her hands off his shoulders and slowly walked out of the room. Jazz folded her arms across her chest as she watched his retreating back, suspicion beginning to crawl under her skin. Her eyes narrowed slightly, her hand cupping her chin as she immersed herself in her thoughts once he was out of sight.

She couldn't explain it, but even though he looked like Danny, she couldn't… feel that it was him. There was too much of a drastic change; only a few hours prior he had been cheerful, albeit exasperated at his friends but nonetheless he had been cheerful and his eyes had definitely not been so horribly blank.

'_It's not Danny… but where is he? Who's this imposter trying to take his place?'_ The questions whirled in Jazz's mind, her worry increasing with each question raised. _'Should I approach him? But that would mean I'd have to reveal to him that I know about his dual identity… if it really is him in the first place. Maybe I should ask for another opinion…'_

The phone began to ring, breaking Jazz out of her reverie. She quietly strode out of the room and reached over to grab the phone when their answering machine picked the call instead. Jazz allowed her hand to drop to her side as she let the machine pick up the call.

'_*Beep* Hey __Danny, Jazz. It's Lee. I just called to tell you guys that if you wanted to get a hold of any one of us, you'll have to call our cell phones and not our house. We're going to admit Casse into the hospital now and hopefully find out just what Brad's suffering from that made him lose his voice. I'm staying overnight but Brad will be going home to get some rest and will still be going to school tomorrow to take the C.A.T. So… yea. Take care guys.'_

As the message finished, Jazz allowed her body to lean against the wall heavily. Her second opinion was going to be much too busy worrying about her own family and Jazz didn't want to give Lee more worry that she already had. She tilted her head upwards to stare at the top of the stairs where 'Danny' was supposed to be.

'_I guess I wou__ld have to do it sooner or later, telling him that I know about his dual identities… But is this really the time?'_

_-  
_

**TBC in Chapter 10…**

* * *

**Authoress' Ending Notes:**

1) Um yes, it's dragged on longer than I expected because I wanted to explain exactly how that future came about with a lot more twists and turns. Hopefully, it isn't confusing! By the next chapter, everything should be resolved and there's a small little hint that's floating around this chapter about something that _might_ be explained in the next chapter =D  
2) Thank you to **Anthiena** and **Enchanting Elf** for reviewing the previous chapter(s) =)  
3) Sadly, I've decided to discontinue my 2nd AT project, because I particularly disliked how I went about with it. I'm either scrapping it or will try doing heavy revision of whatever I've done so far.  
4) Well it's December so I might as well say: Merry Christmas in advance to all and have a Happy New Year =)  
5) Please review if you have the time to do so, I do like reading through constructive comments and I hope that I have improved in my writing thus far (You'll need to poke me if there are any mistakes ^^; )  
6) Thanks for reading (if you have read the whole thing)

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	11. Shadow of Myself Part III

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress's Beginning Notes: Apologies for the late update; apparently my brain refused to get the scenes right and I had to redo the chapter a few times before I was satisfied with the result. Just to note, for anyone who's been wanting to see how the triplets look like, I ordered some commissions and those can be viewed under my deviantart favorites in my Devi page. http: // kenzeryuu . deviantart . com . Please enjoy the chapter. I hope it doesn't disappoint you guys!

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 10****: **

**Shadow of Myself (Part III)**

* * *

Jazz's suspicion had begun to increase as the minutes of the night ticked away; 'Danny' was much too quiet and he barely acknowledged their parents when it came to dinner. If anything, it looked as if he was trying to avoid them at all costs. She would catch glimpses of something flickering in his empty eyes, but it would disappear as soon as she spotted it.

It was confusing but she was determined to find out if her hypothesis of 'Danny' being an imposter was right. But she had no definite plan of action to prove it. How could she try proving that this imposter wasn't her brother without giving away the fact that she knew his secret identity? Jazz knew she was driving herself into a corner with no way out; it was a give or take situation and both outcomes didn't look very appealing to her.

"Jazz? Is there something wrong?" Jazz's head whipped around to see her mother looking at her with a worried expression. She internally grimaced at the thought that she had completely forgotten to play the part of clueless older sister in front of their parents. Jazz forced a smile on her lips and waved her hand dismissively.

"Nah, it's nothing." Maddie raised an eyebrow at her and Jazz knew she had to come up with a proper excuse. "I guess I'm just feeling tired. I did a lot of studying today at the library and with that earthquake that happened earlier on…"

"Oh alright… but if you're not feeling well, I'm not letting you go to school tomorrow." Internally she breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that her mother had accepted the lie. "Go on to bed then, I'll check up on the both of you later."

"Ok mom. Good night." Jazz stood up and kissed her mother's cheek before making her way up the stairs, feeling Maddie's protective gaze train on her back as she moved. Once she was out of the line of sight from the kitchen, Jazz moved quickly towards Danny's door and peered in.

'Danny' was just sitting by the window, staring at the cloudy sky with that empty gaze that made Jazz shudder. She observed him carefully, taking note of any little action that he did, trying to solidify any evidence that could help her prove that this 'Danny' was an imposter.

It took a while, but her determination and patience paid off when the proof that she needed unfolded before her eyes.

The silhouette of a thin framed teenage boy seemed to melt away as the rays of the moon peeked from behind the clouds. In its place was a much more muscular, though not very beefy, stature of a tall young man, staring out blankly at the starlit sky.

She sucked in her breath deeply, taking note of the torn and ratty clothes that hung off his lean frame, the stiff set of his jaw that made his lips form a thin straight line. The messy mop of black hair that hung down to the nape of his neck and casted shadows across his face made Jazz want to observe him more closely.

Slowly, Jazz tried to move forward, but the door creaked as she shifted and by the time she looked up, the man was gone and 'Danny' was back at the window. As he turned his head to stare at her, a shiver ran down Jazz's spine as 'Danny' slowly got off from the window ledge and walked towards her without a sound.

Jazz barely had any time to comprehend when he moved swiftly; grabbing a hold of her wrist so tightly that she flinched in pain. When she opened her eyes, she met the cold empty eyes of the older man who simply stared at her with those blank eyes. Jazz froze on the spot, a trickle of sweat rolling down the side of her face as she stared back into empty blue eyes.

"Wh… who are you? Where's Danny?" As soon as she found her voice, her tongue shot out the words demandingly, throwing the fear to the back of her mind. Jazz struggled against the tight grip he had on her wrist and glared at him. "Let me go!"

All he did was stare at her intently, the goosebumps were beginning to form on her skin at the intense stare and double her struggles to free herself. Jazz froze when he finally moved his head forward, his lips barely brushing against her ear, whispering something that could have been considered apologetic if it weren't for the fact he had said it so robotically.

"I'm sorry."

Jazz didn't understand what he meant until a sudden pain in her stomach seared through her body. Her head drooped down to see a firm fist planted against her stomach and the coppery taste of blood began to seep into her mouth. She coughed for a moment, her eyes drooping as her consciousness began to drift away. Jazz slumped forward into the stranger's arms and felt her body slacken as her world grew dark.

His soft, robotic apology rang in her ears as Jazz closed her eyes and fell unconscious.

* * *

"So… you mentioned that this GCS Four is a memorial site…"

"I told you that you'll understand when we get there." Danny sighed and scowled at the older Casse, folding his arms across his chest with his lips puckered into a pout. He had been trying to pry some information about the sector they were headed to but with no success. He had tried to ask Red Arrow but with the archer under the threat of being castrated if he spoke up, the older man could only offer him sympathetic shrugs.

He didn't understand why Casse was avoiding telling him about certain things. Granted he knew that if he had too much information of the future the timeline could screw up, but he was starting to get the feeling that Casse was hiding something big from him.

And damn was her evasiveness annoying him to hell.

The walk continued on in silence, both adults walking strangely close to each other that made Danny's eyebrows rise above his hairline as he followed behind them. Interesting. No wonder Brad had been so protective earlier on; the blond must have sensed that there was definitely something more than just friendship going on between Red Arrow and the future Casse.

Danny hid a smile at the thought of Brad chasing away any male red heads who would come in the proximity of his younger sister. Even if he understood the protective brother complex, it didn't make it any less funnier at the mental images of his friend glaring any red headed males away from Casse.

His thoughts then returned to the present, taking time to reflect on whatever had happened in the past… was it twenty-four hours? Danny wasn't quite sure, but all he knew was that he had limited time to return back to his timeline to prevent his older self from solidifying this future.

There was no doubt that he was worried out of his wits. Danny wondered if anyone had managed to pick up that it wasn't really him with them, unless Shadow had found a way to evade everyone and not set off any alarms. It was a completely feasible thought and it only served to worry him even more.

Another thought was nipping at him at the back of his mind. That voice that he heard when he fell unconscious from the attack earlier on… had he been hallucinating? Danny would have labeled himself as a nutcase but why had that voice sounded like him? Granted it had been slightly deeper than his normal voice, but it definitely still sounded a lot like him.

How was it possible for him to talk to himself, to cheer himself on to hold on? It was completely baffling and Danny was still trying to find a logical explanation to it. Immersed in his thoughts, he didn't realize that Casse and Red Arrow had stopped walking and had continued to float forward without stopping.

"Uh Phantom! You might want to…" ***Bang!*** Casse and Red Arrow winced as Danny floated face first into smooth granite surface and fell backwards onto his bottom while covering his bruised nose with a soft whine of pain. "Look out in front of you…"

"Fanks for 'he late 'arning." His words muffled and strange sounding as he tried to ease the pain off his nose. Danny groused for a moment before tilting his head upwards to take a look at what he had run into and stared in awe.

Standing before him was a statue of Batman, Green Arrow and Mister Terrific, all three of them in their heroic poses. Batman with his bat-a-rang clasped in his fingers in the middle, Green Arrow with his quiver and bow ready to strike to his right and Mister Terrific in a fighting stance to his left.

The precision of the statue left Danny breathless; it almost felt that they were the real deal if it weren't for the fact that they were grey and completely solid. A bright gold plaque at the base of the statue caught Danny's attention as he shifted to his knees and crawled over to it.

'_**In memory of three of the world's best heroes, you will always be remembered.'**_

Suddenly, a thought raced through his mind to explain why Casse had been so reluctant to tell him about the memorial site. Danny's head jerked up and quickly scrambled to his feet. He shot through the statue with his intangibility and stopped in his tracks when he got through.

A cluster of statues met his eyes but it was who the statues resembled that made his blood turn cold. Situated to one side, he could immediately recognize the statues of his family and friends.

His parents had been done as one statue, with Jack's arm wrapped around Maddie's shoulders with her leaning against him, both their smiles frozen in time. Mr. Lancer's statue stood to their right, a gentle smile gracing his lips. Jazz's statue was to their left, a cheerful wave and smile greeting his eyes. Tucker's stood just beside Jazz's, his expression gleeful while spinning his PDA on the tip of his finger while Sam had her arms crossed over her chest, a simple soft smile carved on her lips.

A little away from the tiny cluster of statues was Tobias and Brad. Even though both were carved as separate statues, they looked as if they were made into one. Brad had his arms casually folded across his chest, almost leaning against Tobias who was on his right with a relaxed smile drawn on his lips. Tobias stood tall with his hands dug into his pockets and his expression schooled as his usual stoic and neutral face.

Danny shivered as he took in the sight of those statues. He glanced at the golden plaques that decorated the bases of the statues before he tore his eyes away from them to inspect the other tinier cluster of statues that stood close to Tobias and Brad's.

He stared in awe of the tall, broad figure of Oliver Queen, looking like he was banishing the creases off his business jacket while Michael Holt adjusted his laboratory coat to his left. Bruce Wayne stood on Oliver Queen's right, standing proudly with his left hand resting on another shorter statue's shoulder.

Danny sucked in his breath deeply as he levitated closer to that statue, already knowing who it was.

Standing next to Bruce Wayne was the older Lee, dressed in a casual shirt, a simple pair of jeans with a headband and a sweet smile. She had definitely not just grown her hair out, but had grown taller as well in the years and though her figure wasn't as voluptuous as Starfire's, it was still noticeable at just how much she had grown from when she was a teen.

He marveled at the differences he found in the statue of the woman and compared them to his friend as he remembered her. It was strange; there was a sense of familiarity yet if he hadn't known better, Danny knew he might not have been able to identify her just like the older Casse.

Once he finished inspecting Lee's statue, he stole a glance to the side to see Casse staring at her father's and brother's statues with Red Arrow hovering behind her shoulder. Danny turned his attention to the plaque that was embedded in the base of the statue and read the words softly.

_**Amilee Angeles**_

_**Casualty of the Watchtower Tragedy**_

_**Loving Goddaughter, Sister and Mother**_

_**You will be missed dearly**_

Danny flinched and shot upwards in shock once he had finished reading the plaque. Immediately he spun around and raced over to Casse, grabbing a hold of her shoulder with a firm grip that almost made the blond woman unbuckle her gun. He glared into her eyes as she stared back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Since when did Lee become a mother, without a husband?"

"Look, not everything is your business to know of." Casse snapped, brushing his hand off her shoulder and glared back at him with equal force. "Lee being a mom isn't any of your business Phantom; stop poking your nose in the wrong places"

"She's _my_ friend." Danny snapped back angrily, his eyes flashing slightly in anger. "Of course I want to know what had happened to her! This is almost as good as telling me that she got raped or something!"

"It's. None. Of. Your. Business." The blond snarled, punctuating her words slowly as she intensified her glare at Danny who likewise glared back. Red Arrow made a small gulping noise at their glaring match, shifting from one foot to the other uncomfortably.

"Ok, come on you two. We don't have time to bicker like this." The archer sweated profusely when he got two glares in return for his intervention. "Look, we have to scout the area. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go to the mansion, get Oracle to fix the ghost detectors and give us any information that would help us figure a way for Phantom to return to his proper time."

"Well I just want to know how and what happened that made Lee a mother unless she decided to adopt a kid which is actually, highly unlikely in my point of view!" Danny threw his hands up in exasperation, completely annoyed that his question was not getting answered. "What the hell is wrong with wanting to know about that?!"

"Because it's…"

A loud noise caught their attention as both Casse and Red Arrow's ghost detectors began beeping at an alarmingly fast rate. Immediately the trio flung themselves away from the spot they had been as a large purple bolt came thundering down from the sky, scorching the ground black where it had struck.

Danny grunted as he crashed into his parents' statue, rubbing the sore spot behind his head and looked up to see the Fright Knight descending from the sky on his steed. From the corner of his eye, Danny could see Casse and Red Arrow taking out their weapons, poised and ready for the impending attack.

The large black horse landed gracefully on the scorched earth, flicking his ears before the Fright Knight dug his heel into his steed's side, causing the creature to neigh loudly and deliver a devastating back kick to the objects behind it.

Danny's face paled when Tobias and Brad's statues crumbled to pieces, shattering instantly from the impact of the hooves and splayed across the ground. His shocked numbed mind barely registered Casse's shriek of anger and the buzzing shots of the gun echoing in the air. He was snapped out of his reverie when someone suddenly grabbed a hold of his shoulder, causing his fists to flare up with ecto energy as he spun around to face the person and swung a fist at him.

The crackling hiss of spandex burning met his ears as he came face to face with another red clad superhero, the bolt that was splashed over his chest instantly allowing Danny to identify him as the Flash. Immediately he powered his fists down and the older Flash grimaced as he waved his hand about to cool it off.

"That's going to leave one heck of a burn kid." The teenage hybrid flinched, his shoulders stiffening tightly. The Flash didn't respond immediately, instead quickly grabbing a hold of Danny by the waist and bent his legs in a running start position. "Hang on."

"Wait! What…" Danny clamped his mouth shut as the Flash sped around with him in his arms. He squeezed his eyes closed when he could no longer take any notice of their fast moving surroundings, desperately trying to hold down the nausea that was forming in the pit of his stomach. Even though it had only been a few seconds of hyper speed, it felt like hours to Danny as they came to a stop just by Red Arrow.

The hybrid stumbled and groaned when the Flash finally placed him back on the ground on his feet. The speedster of the disbanded Justice League mumbled a short apology while Danny regained his equilibrium. Loud bangs and gun fire invaded his ears as Danny shook off the last of the nausea and looked up to see Casse hurling everything she had at the Fright Knight, unsuppressed fury marring her features.

"We're not going to be able to stop her at this rate." Red Arrow muttered; his teeth gritting against each other while gripping the arrow in his hand tightly. He tried aiming at the Fright Knight, who was suspiciously alone in attacking them, but wasn't able to take the shot with Casse shooting at the ghost unrelentingly. "Damnit, he's really ticked her off this time. Wa… Uh, Flash! Do you think you could grab her for me?"

"And risk getting castrated?" Red Arrow threw the Flash a look of annoyance, his eyes screaming 'this isn't the time for jokes!' as he loosened and tightened his grip on the arrow in his hands repeatedly. "Oh alright. But if she does decide to kick my balls because of this…"

"Just do it will you?!" The Flash raised his hands in a surrendering gesture before speeding off in the direction of where Casse was attacking the Fright Knight recklessly. Red Arrow laid a hand at Danny's chest, preventing him from moving forward and only shook his head. Danny stared at Red Arrow for a moment before directing his gaze back to the battlefield, wincing as the Fright Knight destroyed the statues of Michael Holt and Oliver Queen with another strike of purple lightning.

He could see Red Arrow's grip on his bow tightening as the two statues crumbled, but for what reason, Danny didn't know. But he could tell that Red Arrow had a look of grim satisfaction in shooting his arrow and injuring the Fright Knight once the Flash had taken Casse away from the fighting zone. Danny could hear the colorful curses that were flying in the air as the Flash returned to their spot with Casse flailing in his arms.

"Let me go! I swear I'll tear that fucking ghost apart piece by piece!" The blond snarled angrily, fighting viciously against the Flash's grip. Her hands gripped the guns so tightly that Danny swore that he heard a light cracking sound emitting from the handles of the guns. "Let me go Flash!"

"Not until you calm the fuck down." Flash grunted when Casse elbowed him harshly in the chest. "Red Arrow and kid version Phantom, keep Fright Knight busy while I tend to our not so angelic Angel here."

"Fuck you!"

"Really, wouldn't you prefer to do it with Red Arrow?"

Danny definitely did not want to hear the argument any further and quickly shot forward, shooting a well aimed ecto-ray at the Fright Knight's shoulder that distracted him long enough for Red Arrow to pelt the ghost with a barrage of arrows. The Fright Knight didn't seem phased by the attacks and simply lunged forward and swung his sword at Danny.

Red Arrow frowned as the Fright Knight focused his attention solely on Danny, the hybrid dodging the swipes of the sword and the hooves of the horse. Grabbing another arrow from his quiver, the red clad archer aimed and released; the arrow hitting its mark by slicing straight into the horse's foreleg like a stabbing knife.

The massive beast neighed loudly, rearing on its hind legs and causing his rider to quickly abandon the animal as it collapsed to the ground with a loud thump. Unfazed with the loss of his steed, the Fright Knight charged towards Danny and shot bolts of purple lightning at him.

"By my Master's command, you shall die whelp!"

"… Why does every single nitwit of a ghost call me whelp?" Danny scowled as he quickly dodged the onslaught of purple lightning that was aimed at him. He winced when he didn't move fast enough and was pelted by three bolts in the chest. The wind roared in his ears as he flew backwards and could feel his back breaking whatever it was he had crashed into before slamming down into the grassed floor heavily.

When he opened his eyes, he stared at the half crumbled faces of the statue of his parents. Danny's head snapped upwards to see that the remnants of the statue, a hand squeezing his heart tightly as he tried to force the tears that were forming from his eyes down. Mr. Lancer's statue suffered damage too; the left half of the statue had crumbled to pieces while the right remained in tact.

A surge of anger began to pulse through his veins as he glared venomously at the Fright Knight, his eyes flashing dangerously while his fists clenched tightly and began to glow brightly. The black ghost simply narrowed his eyes in glee, pleased that he had gotten his prey riled up.

"Come whelp, I'll make your demise quick and painless." Danny growled lowly as the ghost taunted him. The anger began to build up and pound loudly in his chest as the hybrid witnessed the Fright Knight demolish the statues of his sister and friends before proceeding to destroy Bruce Wayne and Lee's.

As the pieces of the statues fell to the ground, something inside of Danny snapped; like a guitar string that was overstrained. He swallowed a deep breath and clenched his fists tightly before he opened his mouth to scream in fury. But the next thing that happened startled him completely.

Instead of scream, a loud echoing wail was unleashed from his throat, causing the pieces of the crumbled statues to shatter into smaller bits and sent violent ripples in the air. Red Arrow quickly flung himself away from the path of the wail, his mouth dropping open and gaping in shock of the power that Danny had unleashed.

The force of the wail pushed the Fright Knight backwards, his heels digging deeply into the soil as he tried to push himself forward with no success. The Fright Knight soon found himself unable to withstand the power of the wail and flew backwards, slamming through three buildings before coming to a stop at the fourth.

As the buildings crumbled on top of the Fright Knight, Danny closed his mouth and stared at the destruction that laid in the wake of his sudden attack. A strange buzzing noise began to sound in his head, blocking out any other noise as he continued to stare with a dumbstruck gaze. He didn't notice the Flash trying to catch his attention or Red Arrow pulling his arm harshly a moment later that forced him to the direction the archer was pulling him to.

He'd barely even registered the fact that the hero had shoved him down a manhole before following in after him until the pungent stench of the sewers hit his nose.

"Gah!" Danny quickly regained his sense of mind and caught himself in the nick of time to hover above the surface of the sewerage water, clasping his hands over his nose in an attempt to ease the strong smell off. He looked up and stared at the three heroes, tearing slightly at the stench that invaded his nose. "Gross! What the heck are we doing in here?!"

The Flash regarded him with mild amusement, crossing his arms over his chest before cocking his head towards Red Arrow, not answering Danny directly.

"I guess he didn't see the army of ghosts that were swarming the sky towards us back up on the surface." Danny blinked and stared at the Flash, allowing the information to process into his mind slowly before it clicked that they would have been outnumbered if they had stayed on the surface. Casse was strangely silent, her face turned away from the three males that prevented Danny from seeing her expression.

"Ok… so now what?" The two male heroes gave Danny raised eyebrows of amusement while Casse continued to look away from them. "Other than hiding here, where can we go? I'm pretty sure you guys must have used the sewers to travel around sometimes if you can handle the stink."

"Very smart kid." Danny threw the Flash a dirty look and gnashed his teeth silently, thinking that it was too bad that he still had his hands clapped over his nose and mouth to ease off the stench or they would have been able to see it. "I have one of my mini underground bases around here; Red Arrow and Ca… I mean, Angel can…"

"Look, I know that she's Casse." Danny interrupted, pinching his nose with his fingers and waved his free hand to gesture to the silent blond. "So you can just call her by her name. Geez. You and Red Arrow are seriously alike; do you guys just call her by her name most of the time and use Angel whenever anyone else is around?"

"That's basically it." The hybrid wanted to slap his palm to his forehead when the Flash answered him flippantly with a shrug. "Ok, so we can head over to my Gotham base and take a break. No it doesn't smell. Dude, I have to live there sometimes!"

"That doesn't reassure me much." Red Arrow quickly turned his head to one side and clapped a hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter at Danny's deadpan expression to the Flash's indignant one. "But since I really don't have any say in this matter… lead the way."

"Everyone always has a say in any situation that they're in... unless of course you're a hostage or being mind controlled."

Danny groaned and followed behind the Flash, passing by Red Arrow as he walked over to Casse and placed his hand lightly on her shoulder. She didn't respond to the touch and simply stared into space until Red Arrow began to shake her lightly. Casse looked up to see worried green eyes staring back into her own and gently touched Red Arrow's hand, squeezing it for a moment before slowly brushing it off her shoulder and turned to follow Flash and Danny.

Red Arrow stood there silently as Casse walked away, his head tilting upwards to the covered manhole and closed his eyes. He stayed there for a moment, collecting his thoughts before turning his head back down and walked down the path where the rest had left.

* * *

Jazz slowly opened her eyes and closed them immediately when she was blinded by a bright light. She rubbed her eyes with her wrist and tried to sit up, only to fall back onto her bed when a sharp pain stabbed through her abdomen.

She groaned and winced, curling her body under her blankets in an attempt to ease the pain. Slowly she steadied her breathing, calming her racing heart before slowly uncurling from her fetal position and pushed herself up into a sitting position. The pain stabbed at her stomach again, making Jazz flinch and hunch her stomach again to ease the pain.

The event from the night before suddenly came racing back into her mind and the pain suddenly felt like it was millions of miles away. It wasn't her brother, but yet the young man bore a striking resemblance to him despite the street rat look and obvious muscles. The image of his blank eyes entered her mind and Jazz couldn't help but shiver.

As she rubbed her arms furiously to ease the goosebumps that had formed on the surface of her skin, Jazz turned her neck to glance at the clock that sat on her desk.

And shrieked as she fell off her bed in shock at the realization of the time.

Instantly, the sound of hurried footsteps invaded her ears and the panicked call from her parents snapped Jazz out of her dazed shock.

"Jazz? Sweetie, is there something wrong?" Arms were wrapped around her shoulders and Jazz found herself cuddled in her mother's arms, the older woman gently stroking her hair and she glanced down at her worriedly. The large stature of her father towered over Maddie, hovering behind her with his brows creased with worry.

"Jazzy-pants?" Jazz opened her eyes to see both her parents watching her carefully, feeling the distinct comfort of her mother's arms around her. "What's wrong princess? Are you ok?"

"I'm… I'm ok. I just didn't realize how late it was." Jazz tilted her head up to look at her mother, suppressing her shiver when she saw the time again. "Mom, why didn't you wake me up for school? I'm about half an hour late now."

Maddie hesitated, her hand still absently stroking Jazz's hair while Jack reached forward to feel their daughter's forehead. There was a pause before she replied to Jazz's question.

"You didn't look very well Jazz. Danny said you collapsed last night when you went to check up on him." Maddie smiled gently as Jazz blinked up at her. "He carried and tucked you into bed last night sweetie. He even checked up on you before he left for school too."

A whirlwind of questions began to fly through her mind as Jazz stared at her mother. Why would the imposter want to check up on her? After all, he had been the cause of the collapse from the night before. Did he have some sort of guilty conscious that propelled him to check up on her? It was just so confusing…

"Jazz?" Jazz looked up to see her mother looking at her worriedly again. "I think you should go back to bed sweetie, you're looking a little pale."

"It's ok mom. I'm fine." She assured the older woman, hoping to manage to get past them to get to the school. She had no idea if the imposter was out to sabotage her brother by cheating in the C.A.T and wanted to find out. "In fact, I'm fine enough to go back to school; even if I'm a little late."

"I don't think that's a good idea princess…" Jazz's lips quirked into a crooked smile as Jack fussed over her. "Danny was also worried about you when you didn't wake up earlier this morning… are you sure you want to go back to school? We were about to call you in sick today."

"I'm fine dad. Really." She curved her lips into her best winning smile against her parents, pushing herself into a comfortable seating position and out of her mother's arms. She ignored the pain that stabbed at her stomach and looked at her parents. "Don't worry. I guess I just tired myself out a little too much yesterday."

Both Jack and Maddie shared a worried look with each other and Jazz knew that she needed to give them some more solid reassurance that she wouldn't overexert herself.

"I'll come straight home if I start to feel sick again ok?" It took her parents a moment to consider, exchanging glances with each other before Maddie hesitantly nodded her head in agreement. Jazz smiled and threw her arms over her mother's shoulders to hug her. "Thanks mom, dad."

"Will you be alright to go to school yourself Jazz?" Apparently Jack still had some apprehension in allowing her to school. Jazz giggled as Jack eyed her seriously from behind Maddie, resting his hand on his wife's shoulders. "I'm serious princess."

"I know you are dad." She leaned forward to rest her hand on top of her father's, squeezing it gently with a smile. "I'll be fine. Don't worry ok? Have I ever let you down?"

It was an obvious trick question but Jack still took it seriously; his face twisting into a pained expression of being torn between wanting to point out certain occasions and keeping quiet about them. Fortunately, Maddie had already caught the teasing tone in Jazz's voice and laughed, patting Jack's hand comfortingly as she stood up from the floor.

"Alright then, we trust you sweetie. I'll call the school and tell them you'll be in late."

"Thanks mom."

Maddie lead Jack out of the room and shut the door quietly behind them. Once they were gone, Jazz hunched over and grimaced as the pain shot through her stomach again. She rubbed her stomach to ease the pain before slowly getting up to her feet and headed for her closet.

As quickly as she could, Jazz changed into her casual attire and avoided hunching her stomach. As she grabbed her bag and headed out of her room, she tried to formulate a plan; but with such limited information, Jazz knew she was going to have to thread into unchartered waters and risk having a high chance of screwing up. For the lack of better words that she could think of.

She quickly bade her parents a quick goodbye and fled from the house as fast as she could. She didn't have enough time to formulate a good and foolproof plan; Jazz knew that she had to act immediately if she wanted to expose the imposter.

But a thought continued to nag at the back of her head as she quickly strode towards the school. If the imposter had such a guilty conscious on hurting her to check up on her, why was he taking her brother's place?

* * *

The trip down the sewers was relatively silent; the only noises present among them was the sound of sloshing footsteps in the murky water and the dripping of the same water dribbling down the manholes. All four of the weary beings immersed in their own thoughts to communicate with each other.

Danny was still quaking in fear at the sudden unleashing of his power at the Fright Knight. Had he unlocked his full powers? The destruction that was left in the wake of his attack had been devastating and suddenly, Danny felt his blood run cold at the realization that he could possibly be the biggest threat to anything with that power.

And suddenly he was wishing that he was a normal teenager who had nothing else to worry about but the normal status quo, his parents and grades in school.

But the thought of his powers pulled out another question to his mind. Why was it that Shadow's powers seemed to differ so much from his? When they had first clashed, Shadow had been swift and powerful with years of experience, but the only powers that he had seemed to release was through making those green claws that extended from his fingers. Had the range of attacks he could do become limited but forced the power of it to become so great that it overcame the lack of attacks?

Things were becoming so confusing and complicated; Danny couldn't even organize his thoughts properly and think through each of them one at a time before another worry would spring up and ruin the momentum. But the next thought that flashed through his mind managed to catch his attention long enough for him to ponder through it more thoroughly than the others.

What about the sorceress Zeraphina? Wouldn't she be able to help him return to his timeline? Yet as he recalled, a price would have to be paid for whatever wish that he had. She had been lenient when Jazz and Lee had been captured by the Injustice League, but would she be as lenient in light of this event? Would she even be the same Zeraphina he knew from his timeline? More and more questions began to form in his mind but still he pursued the thought, trying to outline a plan which could perhaps be the solution to his problem.

"…You can stop floating forward at any time now kid." Startled at the sudden intrusion of the Flash's voice into his thoughts, Danny flailed his arms as he lost his balance in the air and landed with a loud splash into the sewer water. "Oh you're going to really smell now."

Danny shot the speedster an annoyed look, flicking off his sewerage soaked bangs and levitated out of the water and tried to shake off as much of the liquid off his body.

"You know, that's not going to work very well."

"Gee, you think Red Arrow?"

"Calm down kid, it's a harmless comment. I have a shower here you can use. …You can use showers can you?"

"I've never tried it before because most of the time, I just use my intangibility to get whatever crud is on me off." Just as Danny had finished his sentence, he activated his intangibility and the excess water that had clung onto his body sloshed back into the sewerage loudly. Unfortunately, he was still considerably wet and smelly.

"Well, I guess it's a good enough time for you to find out right?" The Flash gestured to the next pathway that Danny had missed and continued walking down the sewers. "How come you don't know if you can use the showers?"

"Hey, it's not like I got an instructions manual on how to use my powers when I first got them." The hybrid snapped, becoming increasingly annoyed with his string of bad luck. As he groused silently about it, he didn't notice the contemplative looks the other three were giving him.

Again, silence enveloped them. Only this time, Danny was seething about his bad luck instead of pondering a way to make contact with the sorceress. As they reached the odd looking door at the end of the tunnel, the Flash stepped forward and groped the side of the wall next to the door before pushing some of the tiles with his fingers. It didn't take Danny very long to realize that the tiles were actually keys with the small beeping noises that were made when the Flash pushed them.

The door slid open silently and Danny quietly followed the Flash as he stepped through the door with Casse and Red Arrow behind him. Just as they had all gotten through the door, the Flash abruptly halted in his steps, causing Danny to bump right into his back at his sudden stop.

"What are you doing here?" The shock and incredulity in the Flash's tone piqued Danny's curiosity and the hybrid slowly floated upwards to peer over from the Flash's shoulder to see who he was talking to.

Standing at the opposite side of the room was an older and wearier looking Shayera Hol. While she had aged gracefully in the years, Danny could see that there was a slight dull in her eyes and posture. The fierce and determined Thanagarian warrior was gone; in her place was a melancholic and thin woman who looked as if she lost everything in her life. Her wings were draped over her shoulders like a cape but the feathers had dulled from the vibrant color that Danny had remembered from his timeline. Even if she still had her powerful mace attached to the side of her hip.

Even if she was the well known Hawk Girl, the woman at the opposite side of the room seemed like a complete stranger to Danny.

Her dark green eyes swept across the room to look at them, her shoulders tensing violently and her fists clenching tightly at the sight of Danny peering over the Flash's shoulder.

Alarmed at her violent reaction, Danny quickly ducked back behind the Flash, trying to hide his entire thin body behind the larger stature of the speedster from the Thanagarian. The intensity of her glare and reaction to seeing him had sent shivers down his spine. Even though Danny knew that his older self had a notorious reputation, it still scared him of how bad it really was.

"Shay I –"

"Wait." Danny's body stiffened at the hard edge in Shayera's voice but his expression turned into mild shock when her following sentence came out much softer. "Come back out here."

Danny looked up questioningly at Casse and Red Arrow, but both could only offer him shrugs of confusion. Even the Flash had a look of confusion splashed across his face as he stepped to one side to allow Danny to move forward.

Hesitantly, he turned around and looked up nervously at Shayera, fidgeting about as she strode over towards him. As her shadow loomed over him, Danny began to fiddle with his fingers, almost dreading at the thought of what the former heroine would or might do to him.

It surprised him when she gently cupped his chin and cheeks to bring his head up from its downcast position to look up straight into her eyes. A soft and motherly expression met Danny's eyes, confusing him as her hand slowly raised up to run her fingers through his hair. He swallowed loudly, feeling the sting of tears beginning to prick at the edge of his eyes.

"Why don't you hate me?" He whispered hoarsely, suddenly feeling very small and childlike as he stared into her gentle eyes. Looking at the shadow former heroine had made his heart bleed freely; he felt the guilt that it was still _him_ who caused millions of lives to be in pain and lost the lives of many more important people. A different and controlled version of him, but nevertheless, it was still in essence himself.

Shayera didn't respond, simply caressing his cheek with her fingertips before pulling him into a hug. Everything began to hit Danny at this point. The death of his family and friends. The war against the Master. The increasing friction between the renegade ghosts and humans. The cause for all the pain and hardships of this future all pointed at him.

_He_ was the culprit who caused the destruction of peace.

Finally the dam broke. Danny dissolved into tears as he clung onto Shayera, sobbing hysterically at the reality that _he_ was the biggest threat there was to his family, friends and the rest of the world. No matter how good his intentions were, his own conscious would constantly remind him of this fact.

It wasn't a dream. This was completely real and the truth behind it hurt so damn badly.

Cradled in her arms, Shayera gently rocked the sobbing hybrid like a baby, humming a soft tune from her throat as she did this. From the side, Casse leaned back against Red Arrow's chest, closing her eyes and taking slow deep breaths. The Flash watched his former teammate fondly, folding his arms across his chest with a soft smile.

The former heroine pulled Danny away from her, wiping off his tears with the back of her hand and gave him a gentle smile as she ruffled his damp hair. Her smile suddenly turned teasing as she pointed a finger at another door behind her.

"You need a shower young man."

The comment made Danny hiccup and splutter through his sniffles, unable to voice out to regain some of his dignity. Shayera picked him back up to his feet and gently shoved him into the direction of the shower. Danny stumbled but stood back up straight, rubbing his eyes with his arm and stared at the winged woman. All she did was smile at him and his eyes glanced up to the other three, receiving nods in return before trotting off to the showers.

Once he was out of sight, Shayera turned to the three young adults, her eyes shimmering slightly as the moist tears leaked from the edge of her eyes. Immediately, the Flash was in front of her, enveloping the older woman in a bear hug.

"You've grown taller Wally." She murmured softly as the Flash finally relinquished his grip on her. Shayera turned to Casse and Red Arrow, a sad smile gracing her lips. "You've all grown up…"

"We haven't seen you since the official announcement of the Justice League's disbandment." Casse moved forward to hug the other woman fiercely, burying her face into the crook of Shayera's neck. Shayera returned the embrace with equal force. "It's been too long."

"How did you find my Gotham base Shay?" As Shayera pulled away from Casse, she turned to give Red Arrow a quick hug as well before answering the Flash.

"I went to see Barbara at the Mansion. She told me that you might be here since it was your usual routine to scout Gotham around this time." The Thanagarian woman then turned to Casse with a small smile. "I saw Nath when I was there; he's really getting bigger and he wants his auntie C to come home soon."

The corner of Casse's lips twitched into a soft smile at the mention of her nephew while Red Arrow released a hearty chuckle and shared an amused glance with the Flash.

"He's already nine years old; four years ago you were teasing him about being so tiny."

"And he's looking more and more like his father… only he has his mother's eyes." The group of four went silent at Shayera's quiet murmur. "It's no longer hard to believe that Nath is his son."

"Splitting image of his old man…" The Flash mused softly, throwing Casse a gentle look before turning to Shayera and gesturing to the chairs. "So while we're waiting for the kid to clean up, let's sit. We have a lot of catching up to do."

* * *

Tucker couldn't help but glance over in 'Danny's' direction in the classroom as the class scribbled their answers on the C.A.T. His best friend had been unusually quiet and withdrawn earlier, even to the point that 'Danny' barely acknowledged them when he and Sam greeted him.

Brad was, understandably, in a worried and semi-annoyed mood. Because of the loss of his voice, Dash took the opportunity to fully ridicule him and relished in the glee that the blond boy couldn't lash back at him verbally. Though Brad hadn't lashed back at jock at all even with gestures; he was more worried about Casse to regard whatever crap Dash was throwing at him, but the constant jeering had definitely got on his nerves.

The only sounds present in the room were the scratching of pencils on paper and the occasional rustle of the said papers. Tucker returned to his exam paper, easily solving the problem and scribbling down his answer on the answer sheet before peeking up to look at the clock by the door.

A flash of red caught his eye and he blinked when he saw Jazz peer into the classroom from the edge of the window of the door, her eyes trained on 'Danny'. His brows creased into a frown, confused at the older teenager's curious actions.

Something was wrong. But Tucker knew that he wouldn't be able to act until the exam was over. Until then, all he could do was finish his paper, try to make out the situation and wait for time to slowly tick away.

* * *

The shower had been refreshing to both his mind and body. Deciding to make himself a little more hygienic, Danny had taken the shower in both his human and ghost forms. He was surprised that yes; his ghost form could in fact take showers. Even the sewerage smell had disappeared from his hazmat suit; something that he didn't bother to think twice about.

Double checking that he was in his ghost form and not his human form, Danny emerged from the showers feeling considerably better than when they first arrived in the Flash's base.

The four adults were sitting around the makeshift kitchen, each with a cup of coffee in their hands while they conversed quietly. Shayera turned her head to see him and greeted him with a warm smile.

"Feeling any better?"

"Much." He replied shyly, running a nervous hand through his clean damp hair. "Thanks for letting me use your shower Flash."

"No problem kid. Casse and Red Arrow just finished telling us what's been going on." The Flash disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a steaming mug, offering it to Danny who quietly accepted it. "So you're stuck here until the ghosts can find a way to get that medallion out of your chest huh? That sucks."

"I'm… kind of worried if the Master sent Shadow to my time and is messing it up now." Danny admitted quietly, staring down at the brown liquid that swirled in the mug. "I wonder if my friends have figured out if it isn't me back home."

"The only thing I can think of is that Shadow must be avoiding them so that they wouldn't be able to catch the difference and complete his task." Casse murmured, sipping her coffee before leveling Danny an understanding look. "I don't think it's a matter of them not being to tell the difference, but if they've managed to even have any contact with him in the first place."

"Yea… but it's still worrying."

"Something's been bugging me though." Everyone looked up to see Red Arrow put his mug on the counter and fold his arms across his chest, his eyes trained on Danny. "About what you said earlier. You weren't always like this, as a ghost, were you?"

Danny flinched and fiddled with the mug, an idle thought wandering through his mind if he could eat as a ghost, refusing to meet the questioning gaze of the adults. Inwardly he cursed himself for the slip up; he already had a hunch that the future heroes didn't have a clue that Danny Fenton and Phantom were one the same. It was either that or they were refraining from speaking out, unsure if Sam, Tucker and Brad had known of his dual identities.

But Red Arrow's question already proven to him that his hunch was right. No one in this future had managed to find the link between his two selves.

"It's alright if you don't want to talk about it." Danny's head lifted to look at Shayera, the Thanagarian woman sipping her coffee mutely before continuing. "Some things are better left unexplained until the time is right."

"But the thing is…" Casse's head lifted up slightly to eye Danny warily. "When is the right time and what is the right thing to say?"

"You'll only understand when it suddenly hits you that it feels like it's the right time to say it. The words will just come out naturally."

Danny pondered over Shayera's sage words, reflecting on his current situation of keeping Sam and Tucker in the dark about Brad knowing his dual identities or to even finally reveal his secret to someone else close to him. The strings of his heart began to tug when he thought of revealing his identity to Jazz. Somehow, he just wanted to be completely honest with her after the incident with the Joker.

But it was still going to take a while for him to get over the fear of rejection from his parents with their obvious hatred towards ghosts to tell them his secret.

Hesitantly, he brought the mug to his lips and sipped the lukewarm liquid and was surprised at the sweet taste of cocoa that rolled his mouth. Once it was swallowed, Danny eagerly drank the rest of the cocoa, suddenly feeling starved and dehydrated. After draining the mug of its contents, he licked his lips appreciatively and set the mug on the counter. The four adults exchanged amused looks with each other at his gleeful expression.

"So… I take it that even as a ghost, you can still eat and drink." The Flash teased, leaning forward to poke Danny's cheek, eliciting a pout from the hybrid before grabbing the empty mug. "Want another?"

The pout was replaced with a gleeful grin and Danny nodded his head eagerly, much to their amusement. With a good-natured chuckle, the Flash disappeared back into the kitchen to refill the mug and returned just as quickly to hand the mug back to Danny. Just as the mug was placed in his hands, Danny drank the cocoa quickly, relishing the warmth that spread through his body.

After finishing his second mug, Danny breathed out a sigh of satisfaction and set it back on the counter with a small shake of his head to prevent the Flash from refilling it. Danny levitated off the floor and folded his legs into a lotus position, receding back to his thoughts with a refreshed mind.

He organized his thoughts carefully before taking each one out to think through thoroughly. Danny quickly shoved the unimportant ones aside and finally picked out his earlier thought; the one he had been thinking of before they had reached the Flash's base.

Zeraphina was his best bet in returning to his own timeline to stop Shadow. But he was still uncertain; his previous worries over the thought sprouting back into his mind. His rational side was advising him to stay put and wait for the ghosts to find a way of removing the medallion from his chest, but the more worried side of him was telling him to take the plunge and reminded him of the lack of time that he had to return to his timeline.

It was now or never.

"Hey… Casse?" The blond lifted her eyes from her mug to regard him with a tilt of her head. "Do you know if the old worn house down in the dinky part of Amity Park has been torn down?"

"You mean that plot of land that no one knows who it belongs to?"

Danny nodded and Casse made a thoughtful noise from her throat as she pondered the question. However, it was Red Arrow who answered the question.

"It's still there. No one's been able to figure out what to do with that piece of land. It's like it totally slips out of everyone's minds when it comes to the meetings of trying to rebuild Amity Park."

"That's not all." Immediately all eyes fell on Shayera, who had finished her coffee and set the mug on the counter with a thud. "Dr. Fate mentioned this before; that area is guarded with a high level of magic. Not even with the combined efforts of all the magic and sorcery users in the Justice League could figure out a way to break the barrier."

That was all Danny needed to confirm his thought that Zeraphina was indeed, still around in this timeline. Now all he needed to do was to get there and find something that he could use to pay the price of the wish he was going to make.

"So, why ask about that worn out lot?" Danny blinked as Casse raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. "Unless there's something you actually know about it…"

"Y…yea… I do know something about it." Instantly, all the attention was focused on him and Danny fiddled with his fingers that rested on his lap nervously. "Do you remember the sorceress Zeraphina Casse?"

"You mean the lady who helped us out back when her sister and some other friend got kidnapped by the Joker ten years ago?" The Flash wrinkled his nose as he jerked a thumb at Casse but the blond had already nodded her head to acknowledge Danny's question. "What of her? We've never seen her again after that."

Danny hesitated for a moment before he answered, still staring at his fiddling hands.

"That's… the area where she's supposed to be living in." Casse and the Flash immediately straightened their backs, both fully aware of the sorceress's strong magical power having witnessed her in action in person. Shayera and Red Arrow though, were still blinking owlishly at him. "I thought… I thought of going there to see if she really is still there and wish for a way to get back to my time…"

"… Why didn't we ever think of that?" Casse breathed out, her eyes slowly glimmering as all the possible what ifs' came into her mind. "We could have saved years of meaningless losses and fighting! Maybe… Maybe even…" She hesitated, as if not wanting to dare to voice out the rest of her thought but gave in after a short moment, her voice cracking with emotion. "We could have stopped the Explosion of NB and the Watchtower Tragedy from happening…"

Her hands trembled as tears began to leak from the edge of her eyes and Red Arrow reacted quickly. He grabbed the mug out of her shaking hands and snaked his hands around her waist to envelop the blond into a tight hug. Casse clung onto the archer as she wept, murmuring incoherently into his uniform.

A pang of guilt stabbed his heart as he watched Red Arrow comfort Casse. He hadn't wanted to reopen any semi-healed wounds but he didn't have a choice in that matter. He watched as Shayera buried her face into her hands, her shoulders quivering at the thoughts of what ifs while the Flash stared blankly into his empty mug.

Danny lowered his gaze to stare at his palms, feeling the guilt increase its pressure against his chest. He was startled at the hand that was suddenly placed on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze as he looked up to see the Flash.

"Looks like we shouldn't waste any time then." He spoke loudly, catching the attention of the other three adults in the room. "Let's go find that sorceress."

* * *

"Mr. Fenton. May I have a word with you?" Brad, Tucker and Sam shot 'Danny' confused looks as he stared at Lancer and nodded his head. With a sweeping motion of his hand, Lancer gestured for the other three teens to move along, leaving him alone with 'Danny' in the classroom.

What he didn't know was that the three of them hadn't left at all, but opted to eavesdrop on the conversation from the outside of the classroom.

The papers of the completed C.A.T exam was stacked tall on the teacher's table, towering over Lancer as he rested his elbows on the table and looked straight at 'Danny'. The teen stood at the other side of the table, his face looking hollow and gaunt. His expression was very worrying to Lancer, never having seen such a blank yet tortured look on a teen as young as 'Danny'.

"Is there anything you would like to talk to me about Mr. Fenton? Like about the C.A.T?" The boy blinked blankly and looked at Lancer curiously as he shook his head. "Are you feeling alright? You look rather ill."

"I'm… fine. Just tired…" The teacher almost jerked back in surprise at the hopeless sounding tone 'Danny' had used to speak with. "May I please leave now Mr. Lancer?"

Quiet shuffles from the doorway alerted Mr. Lancer of the eavesdroppers but decided that it wasn't worth it to give them a detention for worrying over their friend.

"… Of course Mr. Fenton. Have a nice day." 'Danny' bowed his head politely before slowly shuffling his feet out the door. Lancer rested his chin in his hands, the worry beginning to increase in his heart over his student's strange behavior. He dared not to believe that 'Danny' had cheated in the recent C.A.T; it was completely absurd in his mind.

But his behavior was one that he knew that he had to discuss with his parents. Immediately. It was simply absurd to even think that the Fentons would be mistreating their son to the point that he became a depressed boy; the teen had been fine last Saturday when Lancer had last seen him. The beer-bellied teacher made a note to call the Fentons once he got to a phone; he just needed a venue to meet them at later in the day.

With Lancer preoccupied with his thoughts, he didn't notice the floating pen beside him, quietly scribbling on a plain piece of paper before it returned into his pen case. The bald man sighed and turned to grab his pen case when his eyes caught sight of the paper. He reached out for the paper and blinked in confusion at the words that were written in an untidy scrawl.

'_**Avoid the Nasty Burger.'**_

* * *

It was taking quite some time for them to decide who would go with Danny to Amity Park to find Zeraphina. The Flash was definitely going to be one of them accompanying Danny back to Amity Park; he was going to use his super speed to save them the time of waiting for other transport means to get there. With Danny as one passenger, he could only have one other.

Casse had wanted to go, but she was overruled by the other three adults. The Flash had bluntly pointed out that her emotions were far too unstable for her to pursue the mission with a single mindedness of returning Danny to his timeline.

The blond was just about to throw a fit when Red Arrow cut in, offering to stay behind with her and allow Shayera to be the Flash's second passenger. However, Casse wasn't done fighting.

"I'm perfectly capable of pursuing this mission!" The Flash stood his ground as the shorter woman spat at him, jabbing a finger at his chest.

"You're too emotionally involved with this!" He argued, swatting the jabbing finger away from him as he glared back at her. "We don't know if you'll crumble there and wish for something else! Like reviving the dead!"

"I wouldn't wish for that!" Casse shrieked, stamping her foot angrily on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum. Danny winced as her voice steadily grew higher in pitch as she continued to argue. "Are you looking down on me?! You're just as emotionally involved in this as I am and I'm not so stupid to do such a thing!"

"Admit it! You would do such a thing!" The speedster roared back, spreading out his arms as he jerked his head forward to glare straight into Casse's eyes. "Everybody fucking does! I know I would have wished for the Watchtower Tragedy to never happen! I'd wish that Batman were still here to shoot down my witty remarks with his dry sarcasm! For fuck's sake, if you think I'm emotionally involved with just wishing for Batman to come back to us alive, you're fucking worse because your entire family is involved!"

The livid look on Casse's face made Danny cringe and shy away from her. He noticed the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes as she glared venomously at the Flash. For a moment, Danny thought that she was going to lash out at him until Red Arrow intervened, gripped her shoulders tightly and pulled her away from the scarlet speedster.

"Cass, he has a point." She whirled around to face him, this time her eyes were screaming 'traitor' as she focused her glare at him.

"You don't trust me either?!"

"Cassandra Angeles! You stop that tantrum right now!" The bark from Shayera startled them and all attention went to the winged woman who had her arms folded across her chest with her lips curved into a scowl. "Flash is right and you know it. We don't have anymore time to lose and you're wasting it by throwing that tantrum young lady!"

She opened her mouth to argue some more but the words didn't come out. Instead, she turned her head away and began cursing in a language that Danny wasn't familiar with. The hurt was evident on her face as she stormed off, punching a nearby wall in anger.

"Don't worry about her; she'll cool down after a while. This isn't the first time she's done this." Danny sent the Flash a look of disbelief and the speedster explained further. "When she first started out helping the Titans, Nightwing was always putting her behind and she'd throw a tantrum. Despite what she's been through, she's still a little sheltered and for the lack of a better word, spoilt."

"Sheltered and spoilt?"

"Haven't you realized that most of the time, Casse's always been protected and watched over by her brother and sister? And whatever she wants, like their attention and time, they give it to her?"

Danny made a thoughtful noise as he tried to think back of any time that would support the Flash's reasoning. During the Spectra incident, after Casse had her appointment with the ghost counselor, Lee had given in and allowed her to not go to class because she didn't feel like it as well as to accompany her as per her request. When Sam had snubbed her during the Halloween event, Brad had come to her defense. Lee was always fussing over her, granted she did the same for everyone else, but Brad too would loom over Casse like a lurking shadow.

Now that he had a moment to really think about it, Casse did seem to be a little spoilt and sheltered.

"I'll keep an eye on her. We might as well head to the mansion and meet up with Oracle; I need her to take a look at my detector. It was screwing up earlier." The three acknowledged Red Arrow with a nod of their heads, the Flash looping his arm around Shayera's waist before reaching out to Danny. "Good luck. Was nice meeting you properly Phantom."

"It was an honor to meet you guys." The hybrid replied honestly, clinging onto the Flash once the speedster had secured his arms tightly around him. "I swear I'll prevent this future from happening or die trying."

"Don't jinx it."

"We'll contact you if the Sorceress can't help us."

After a short wave and nod from the archer, the world around Danny began to blur as the Flash began running through the streets. He grunted and closed his eyes, hoping that he wouldn't get any motion sickness from this ride. Mentally he counted the seconds as he felt the wind whip through his hair and smack his face.

Danny was definitely glad when the trip was over; his stomach had been threatening to push whatever he had eaten earlier up his throat. Gently, the Flash had set Danny down on the solid ground before he proceeded to set Shayera down. The poor hybrid teetered on his heels and toes for a moment, trying to regain his equilibrium before he planted both his feet firmly on the ground. Shayera didn't seem to be ruffled at the speed that they had been travelling in, her hands resting on her hips with her legs standing firm as she watched him in amusement.

"The fastest I've ever gone is 112 miles per hour in flight… I can barely do half that speed on foot!"

"You get used to it after a while." Danny gave Shayera an incredulous stare. The winged woman chuckled and patted his tuff of white hair. "We've been paired up for many missions and we had to take turns being the transporter in each of the different situations."

"I'm never taking a lift from the Flash in my timeline!!" The hybrid shook his head vigorously at the notion of being in the Justice League in the first place. "I think I'll stick to flying on my own thanks!"

"Never say never kid." Danny scowled at the scarlet speedster's light teasing before straightening up and went hunting for the same lot he had found Zeraphina in. He was uncertain if Shayera and the Flash would be able to enter her domain; if memory served him right, she only allowed those with the strongest desires of their wish and with the ability to pay the price of the wish in.

He was surprised when he spotted her quaint little home easily; the first time round he hadn't been actively looking out for it but now that he realized it, Zeraphina's home was actually very easy to find. But he wasn't sure if Shayera and the Flash could see it; so he went forward and allowed them to trail after him just in case they couldn't see the little house.

"So… are you sure she's around here?"

The Flash looked around the lot curiously, only seeing a worn and crumbling house with a jungle of weeds that was the garden. Shayera on the other hand, was staring at the lot with wide eyes and a slightly opened mouth.

"I don't think you can see it Flash." Danny slowly peered over to Shayera, who had closed her mouth but continued to stare through the gates of Zeraphina's home. "But Shayera can."

"End of the road for me huh." The Flash simply shrugged and gave Danny an encouraging smile. "The both of you can go on ahead. I'll stay out here until either Shay comes out or the both of you do."

Shayera was hesitant on leaving Flash alone and Danny waited for her to finish her fussing before they entered through the gates of the lot. Danny didn't hesitate to fly through the door and into the house, though Shayera was more cautious; taking out her mace just in case before entering. She stole one last look at the Flash who had chosen to sit on the floor outside the lot to wait for them and finally went in.

The house was in the exact same condition as he had remembered it from the time he had first step foot into it when he had stumbled upon it. The same soft glow of a light winking merrily at him from the far right of the corridor where he had a feeling, no, _knew_ that Zeraphina would be there waiting for them to approach her.

Without waiting up for the cautious Shayera, Danny went forward and entered the room, positioning himself in front of the table that held the candle. Shayera came in moments later, her mace still poised and ready for any battle.

"Welcome Little Phantom. Shayera Hol." He could almost feel Shayera tensing up and raising her mace from behind him when the Sorceress spoke. The candle light brightened and revealed Zeraphina, still in her relaxed and elegant sitting position, just as Danny remembered when he first met her. Though he was unsure if she was the same Zeraphina from his timeline, he didn't want to waste any more time by asking her if she was. "You must have a wish to have reached here."

"Yes. I have a wish." The knowing smile was still there. It felt a little unnerving but somehow it was reassuring at the same time. It was odd, yet he could feel as if that she was still the same sorceress who had helped him before. "I wish for the medallion that's been forced into my chest to be taken out."

"What are you willing to pay for that wish to be granted?"

He hesitated. What could he offer? Before she had told him what the price was, but now he had to offer something in return.

'_It's like haggling in a market.'_ Danny mused to himself as he thought hard of what he could give. _'One wrong offer and there wouldn't be a deal.'_

"The price would have to be almost the same as the worth of the wish isn't it?" Shayera finally spoke up, though her posture was still guarded as Zeraphina simply nodded to confirm her question. "Would my mace be enough to cover his wish?"

"Wait!" Danny started and turned to look at Shayera. "I'm supposed to pay for whatever wish I make by myself! I can't just –"

"It is acceptable, if the Little Phantom is willing to accept your offering to pay for his wish." The hybrid's mouth opened and closed like a gaping goldfish, unable to fully believe the sorceress's kindness of letting others pay for his wish; unless there was some ulterior motive that he dared not to think of.

"But I –"

"There are always circumstances Little Phantom." Zeraphina's soft and gentle voice seemed to soothe the tension that was building in his shoulders, allowing him to relax a little. "Slight bending of rules will always be done with these circumstances. Now, it is simply your decision to whether to choose to pay the price on your own, or to accept Shayera Hol's generosity."

Both women watched Danny intently as he struggled with an internal battle with himself; uncertain of what he should do. With a determined look on his face, Danny faced Zeraphina, his voice unwavering as he spoke.

"I will choose to –"

* * *

Despite receiving that ominous note, Lancer chose to ignore it and called up the Fentons to meet him at the Nasty Burger. It could have been the trick of the light, but somehow Lancer had seen rather rude and obscene gestures directed at him from out of nowhere since making the call.

But he hadn't seen any gestures for a while, so he thought that he had been hallucinating it all.

"Mr. Lancer?" The balding teacher turned around to see Sam and Tucker behind him, both with determined expressions on their faces. "Could we speak with you for a minute?"

"Of course Mr. Foley, Ms Manson. What is it that you want to talk to me about?" _'Hopefully about Mr. Fenton's strange behavior today.'_ Lancer prayed as he took a glance at his watch to check the time. Jack and Maddie Fenton were supposed to meet him in ten minutes time. He wasn't sure where 'Danny' was; the teen had disappeared once he had left the classroom.

Tucker thanked the heavens that Lancer was willing to talk to them; all they had to do now was to lure him away from the Nasty Burger. Brad had gone to check up on his sisters in the hospital once school was over before he would return to assist them in their mission. Even Sam had set aside her selfish mood and concentrated on the matter at hand.

"Sir, we kind of heard from the rumor mill that's been flying around the school… that you're suspecting Danny of cheating on the C.A.T." Lancer nodded but wondered if Dash Baxter had anything to do with the spreading of that rumor. "We're a hundred percent sure that Danny didn't cheat; he's been studying with us the whole time during the weekend."

"Even if you do say that," He rumbled, folding his arms across his chest to level the teens with an even stare. "I was informed that Mr. Fenton has gotten the answers to the C.A.T by what means, I don't know. The issue is also about him holding the answers to the test Mr. Foley; not just on the suspicion of him cheating on the test."

"But sir, we haven't bumped into you throughout the weekend!"

"He did with Mr. Angeles on Saturday when the Nasty Burger was attacked by the ghosts."

"But that's a little ridiculous Mr. Lancer. Brad told me that yes, they did bump into you at the Nasty Burger on Saturday, but they were nowhere close to the briefcase you kept the answers in!"

"We're pretty sure someone is setting Danny up." Sam cut in, not wanting to drop the entire task on Tucker just because he had more information than she did. It felt disconcerting that she had almost no clue of what happened on Saturday since Brad had thrown her out of the Angeles home. "We think that whoever told you that Danny had the answers to the C.A.T might be the one behind this. Danny doesn't have any clue on what's going on either."

'_Yes, __it is rather odd that Mr. Baxter knew that Mr. Fenton had the answers.'_ Lancer took a moment to think through what Tucker and Sam had said. _'Unless he had something to do with it. Other than Saturday, I haven't seen any of them until today.'_

As Lancer pondered, Tucker threw Sam a nervous look, still trying to figure a way to lure Lancer away from the Nasty Burger. But the sudden roar of the engine of a vehicle snapped them all out of their thoughts and they looked up to see the Fenton RV parking right in front of the Nasty Burger.

Now Tucker exchanged panicked looks with Sam as Jack and Maddie clambered out of the vehicle. Just behind the Fenton RV, Tucker could see Brad running towards them at fast as his legs could carry him.

"Mr. Lancer?" Jack moved forward and shook the teacher's hand before moving aside to let Maddie do the same. "You wanted to talk to us about Danny?"

"Is there something wrong with him in class?" Maddie was already worried for both her children. With Jazz's sudden collapse the night before and 'Danny's' quiet and strange behavior, she hoped that Lancer might at least shed some light on 'Danny's' behavior. "Did the C.A.T put too much pressure on him?"

"Please Mrs. Fenton, I'm not sure myself. I was hoping that you could tell me if there had been any incidents at home that could have caused your son to behave this way."

"We're going to be so screwed if we don't get them away from the Nasty Burger!" Tucker whispered urgently as Brad skidded to a stop just in front of him and Sam, dropping his hands to his knees and tried to catch his breath. "At least I don't see Jazz or your dad around Brad; it could be–"

"Tobias? What are you doing here?" Brad threw Tucker a look of pure annoyance, waving his hands about in a gesture of 'you HAD to jinx it!' at the other teen who had paled. "Aren't you supposed to be at the hospital looking after Casse?"

"I was going to. However, I need to speak with Bradley before I do so." Tobias adjusted his glasses that sat on the bridge of his nose and looked at the rest with his usual stoic expression. "And I suppose there is a reason for you all to be gathered here?"

"Ok, if Jazz comes along then we are totally screwed." Sam smacked the back of Tucker's head in exasperation, her eyes darting between the empty streets and the group of adults. "I'm serious! We need to really start moving them now because we don't know when the place will bl-"

"Speak of the devil. Mr. Fenton!" All heads turned to the empty street to see 'Danny' shuffling down the pavement with his head downcast. The teen looked up at blinked owlishly at them. "Come here. We need to talk with you."

Obediently, 'Danny' walked towards them. A chill ran down the teens' spines as he moved closed and closer to them. That is, until Jazz appeared from the far side of the street and grabbed a hold of his arm to stop him from moving forward. 'Danny' jerked back and turned his head to look at her stern expression with his blank eyes.

"Jazz? Jazz! What are you doing?!"

"This isn't Danny!"

The group, sans Tobias, tensed at her accusation. Maddie looked at her daughter incredulously and started to move towards them.

"Jazz! I don't know what's gotten into you! That is Dan-"

"No! He isn't *our* Danny!" Jazz pushed 'Danny' away and moved to block her mother from approaching him. 'Danny' flipped in the air to avoid crashing onto the road and landed gracefully on his feet, his eyes never leaving Jazz's. Maddie started at the graceful flip and stared at 'Danny'. Since when…?

"Not our Danny?" The teens echoed (Brad had mouthed his since he still didn't have his voice), their eyes darting between 'Danny' and Jazz in confusion. Tobias eyed the teenagers carefully while the other three adults stood rooted to the spot, stunned into silence. "What do you mean by that Jazz?"

Jazz didn't respond, her muscles tensing, as if waiting for 'Danny' to finally make his move. The raven haired teen had gotten up into a standing position and his eyes had not left Jazz's at any moment since he moved. However, Jazz had caught sight of the shift of his eyebrows that were narrowing downwards and the small flickers of emotions that came and went in his eyes.

"… You know." It hadn't been a question and Jazz only continued to stare back at him defiantly, with her left arm spread out to block her mother while her right hand clutched the Fenton Peeler from under her shirt. The others watched them carefully, still unsure of the situation. "When?"

"I'm not telling you." She declared firmly, finally bringing out the Fenton Peeler and activating it. "But I want to know what you've done to my brother!"

"Jazz! The Fenton Peeler only works on gh-" Maddie started but was cut short at the scream of the weapon when Jazz triggered the gun and shot a ray at 'Danny'. But 'Danny' had been ready, jumping clear of the ray and started moving around in swift, fluid movements to dodge the onslaught of rays that Jazz had shot consecutively right after the first shot.

Maddie reached forward and tried to grab the weapon from her daughter, only to jerk her aim off from where she had intended to shoot. But by a stroke of luck (to Jazz), it had smacked its target head on. Maddie opened her mouth to scream in agony but the sound never came out as she witnessed the next thing that would have never crossed her mind.

The 14-year-old teenager was gone; replaced with a tall and thin young man who crashed unceremoniously on his back before flipping up into the air to get back up. At that instant, two rings of light appeared around the raven haired man's waist and washed over his body, changing his appearance completely.

The two flaps of the trench coat fluttered noisily as he landed on his feet, his black streaked white hair flying in the wind as he raised his hand to his shoulder and semi crunched it to reveal the glowing green claws from his fingertips.

Maddie almost gawked at the sight of the young man who had a stunning resemblance to her son, her mind barely registering the other three teens tensing up and setting themselves into defensive positions. Faintly she could hear both Jack and Lancer spluttering incoherently before her mind finally snapped back to reality.

She shivered as she stared into the blank blue eyes of the imposter, swallowing loudly at the green glow that surrounded his eyes. It wasn't her son; it was a ghost but yet he looked so much like him. Suddenly, a surge of anger bubbled in her veins. They had done something to her son and suddenly all her previous worries were forgotten as she pulled out one of the ecto-guns from her waist and aimed it at the young man.

"Where is my son?!"

From behind the mother and daughter, Jack took out his own weapon and stepped forward, his eyes narrowed into a cold and hard stare as he aimed the gun at Shadow. Tucker and Sam exchanged quick words with each other, Brad simply listening in before they set off to work. Brad approached Tobias and gestured wildly to make his father move from where he was standing while Sam and Tucker took a hold of each of Lancer's arms and forcefully pulled their protesting teacher away from the Nasty Burger entrance.

A dark pink glow began to spark around Shadow's neck area. Jazz noted the slight flinch that he made when the glow had appeared; his eyes squeezed shut tightly, with an expression of pain sculptured on his face. A pang of worry tugged the strings of her heart as Shadow seemed to struggle to his feet, as if he were fighting and losing an internal battle with himself.

The pink glow then curled around his neck and upper torso as the trembling of his body grew more violent. Silence enveloped the entire street, only the wind howled on occasion as it blew. The atmosphere was dangerously tense as Maddie grew increasingly incensed with Shadow's silence and refusal to answer her.

"Where is he?! Where's my son!" She fire three warning shots at Shadow's feet, the hybrid hardly flinched at closeness of the shots as the pink glow suddenly wavered and shattered into a tiny shower of sparks. "Answer me ghost!"

His trembling ceased as he finally stood up to his full height, his head lifting up from its downcast position to stare at them with narrowed eyes. His deep voice came out as a low hiss that echoed through the silent streets, stunning the adults and causing the teens to freeze in their positions.

"I *am* your son woman."

"Liar!" Jack's eyes met Shadow's with an even glare, his jaw set tightly with his teeth gritting against each other. "Our son is no ghost! What have you done with him?!"

Shadow growled loudly at Jack, causing Brad, Sam and Tucker to exchange nervous looks with each other. When they had first encountered him in the future, Shadow had been silent and emotionless, simply attacking them relentlessly without pause. But now it was as if he had broken free of something and had more control of himself.

The hybrid's eyes flickered briefly before blazing with anger, hurt and frustration. The dam had broken and all that was left was to vent out his pain.

"Of course I'm your son! Here, let me refresh your memory! That father-son outing we had when I was six where you took me to see the fireflies in the meadows!" Jack's grip on the gun faltered; his lower jaw dropping slightly as Shadow continued shouting. "And mom likes to do fashion designing whenever she has the free time!" Maddie's eyes widened as her body began to shake, tears beginning to form at the edge of her eyes.

Shadow's eyes glared at them all heatedly, slamming his claws down on the road and slashing the objects close-by to him.

"You never saw it… never took the time to! You were both too caught up with your hatred and sick fascination with ghosts to realize what the fuck that portal did to me!" The hybrid swung his arm violently to the side, stretching the claws out to the point that they pierced through the building on the other side of the street. "I had to worry day in and day out if you were going to kill me whenever I met you in my ghost form! I had to live in constant fear that you would hate me for what I became!"

"At least Jazz figured it out somehow… don't know when, but it would explain why she always had to check up on me every night." Jazz's body tensed, cursing herself inwardly for not being discreet enough whenever she checked up on Danny every night after he returned from his nightly patrols. Sam and Tucker exchanged looks of shock as Shadow continued. "But you two were always yapping about 'tearing those ghosts apart molecule by molecule' or wanting to 'examine their remains'! Why the hell do you think I avoided any confrontation with you two whenever the other ghosts appeared?!"

"Everything was about hating ghosts, destroying them, finding new ways of figuring them out and none of you realized that ghosts are no different from regular humans! We need food, water and rest just like anyone else! Why the fuck are we seen so differently when there are hundreds of aliens hovering up in space looking down on Earth on a daily basis?!"

The green glow that surrounded his blue eyes intensified as unsuppressed anger raged in his pupils. Shadow gnashed his teeth angrily as he lengthened the claws from his fingertips.

"All these years I lived with the guilt that I could never save you over something I have no fucking idea of; all these years I let myself slip under the control of Plasmius because I was wallowing in pain that I lost you all! But now… Now that you don't even want to believe me… Ghosts will always be your most hated fucking enemy, even if one of them is your own son!" He spat out bitterly, his eyes never leaving the group at all.

Suddenly, Jazz knew that Shadow was reaching his breaking point. The feeling just hit her when she looked into his anguished eyes. She gripped the Fenton Peeler tightly and got ready; all his body movements were telling her that he was going to strike.

'…_Wait, how do I__ even know that?'_ Her thought was cut short when Shadow finally lunged forward; his claws outstretched, his eyes bleeding with fury as he released a blood curling roar. By instinct, Jazz fired a shot that never reached Shadow. The hybrid had slashed the beam of ectoplasm like a slice of Swiss cheese and kicked her away with a vicious roundhouse kick.

Maddie quickly fired a series of shots at him, jumping backwards to avoid his swinging legs. Before the shots could reach him, he disappeared; the shots flew to the ground only to char spots on the road. He reappeared in front of her, unleashing a powerful back hand that caused Maddie to fly to one side, crashing painfully against a building that thankfully only received a minor crack in the collision.

Shadow didn't let up with his attacks; his next target was Jack who was relentlessly firing a barrage of ecto-beams at him. Swiftly, the hybrid dodged the beams, arching and curving his body gracefully around them that almost made him look as if he were dancing in between them. Once he had passed the beams that had collided with the building behind him, Shadow delivered a punch to Jack's gut.

Jack's grip on his gun loosened as he dropped to his knees, grunting in pain. Shadow raised his fist, intent on delivering a downward punch to finish the job when a tanned hand caught his wrist and gripped it so firmly that he couldn't force it down. Blue met red as Shadow stared into the stern eyes of Tobias.

From behind, Brad flapped his arms about wildly in shock before running forward, having not noticed that his father had disappeared from his side so quickly. Tobias dodged a series of kicks and punches that were hurled his way, his cheek receiving a long thin cut while the sleeves of his shirt were torn to tatters by the swiping claws. The brunette was momentarily distracted by his son's fast approach which proved fatal in the situation.

Shadow grabbed his arm roughly, his claws digging deeply into flesh before delivering a solid punch at Tobias's chest, sending the bespectacled man flying backwards and crashing heavily against the wall of the Nasty Burger.

"Danny! Danny stop it!" With a snarl, Shadow twisted his body to glare at Tucker. The dark-skinned teen swallowed at the intense glare that was directed at him but stood firmly in position, just a few feet away from Sam and Lancer. "Nothing good's going to come out of this fight! You're not completely in control of yourself yet… because I know that no matter how frustrated you are at your parents, you would never hurt them!"

"The Nasty Burger is going to explode soon and you know it!" Tucker carried on, eyes narrowing as he caught sight of the same suspicious dark pink energy that was clustering around Shadow's neck again. "And you'd want to prevent that future from happening by taking us away from the vicinity! Come on Danny, fight the Master's control!"

"You are a fool boy." The pink energy grew darker and began drifting from Shadow's neck to his side, forming a faint outline of a figure. Shadow clutched his neck in agony, dropping to his knees as his body shook violently. "He'll always be under my control. Dear little badger has been too broken to even break through it."

The pink figure grew clearer and formed into the tall and menacing Vlad Plasmius, smirking sinisterly as he watched Shadow writhe in pain beside him. Tucker, Brad and Sam tensed immediately, already knowing the link between the 'Master' and 'Puppet'. Jazz glared daggers at the pink form as she got up to her feet, already having a gut feeling that she knew who the 'Master' was once she had heard him refer Shadow as 'little badger'.

"Now my pet… bring them all together." The pink glow was still wrapped around Shadow's neck as his body stopped trembling and slowly got back up to his feet. A sense of foreboding swept through Jazz's body, but by the time she wanted to shout a warning, it was too late.

Shadow moved like a black streak that almost looked as if he could rival the Flash's super speed, sweeping each of the targets off their feet and slamming them against the outer wall of the Nasty Burger. Before they could even comprehend what was happening, bright green chains suddenly latched onto them, tying the group securely against the wall.

"Danny, stop! You have to –" Before Jazz could finish her sentence, the Master had lifted his hand and Shadow obeyed the silent command, gagging all eight of them with a splat of ectoplasm plastered over their mouths. Tucker and Sam struggled against the gag, their shouts muffled while Brad tried to wriggle out of the chains by activating the compact Ghost Gauntlets.

All the blond succeeded in doing was giving himself a small electric shock that made his hair frizz and stand up, much to his chagrin.

From behind Shadow, the Master looked as if he was pondering for a moment before he gave another command. "Bring Madeline to me my pet."

Maddie flinched and tried to wiggle away from Shadow's looming hand. Jack put up a fight with the chains and gag, his expression furious as Shadow made Maddie intangible to pass through the chains before spinning another bunch of chains around her to prevent her from escaping. Even as she struggled, Maddie couldn't free herself from the new chains as Shadow carried her bridal style to his Master.

The pink specter calmly knelt to her level once Shadow had sat her on the ground a distance away from the Nasty Burger. He reached out to touch her face and Maddie defiantly turned her face away from his hand. Undeterred, he reached out again and gripped her chin firmly to make her look at him. He smirked when he met fierce and angry eyes.

"Not to worry Madeline… I'll spare you. Of course I will… and you will rule by my side once the world is mine." The Master leaned forward, his breath tickling Maddie's ear as he whispered softly into it. "I love you far too much to simply let you perish here with that… imbecile of a man you have to call your husband."

Maddie stared at him as he got back up to his feet, completely stunned and confused. The Master took no notice and turned to Shadow.

"Make sure that they are completely disposed of and bring my future bride to me once you have done so."

He didn't wait for a response before the pink figure dissipated into the air, leaving Shadow to stare at the stunned Maddie. From the distance, rattles of the chains clinking together were heard as the remaining seven continued to struggle with the chains that were binding them to the wall.

Inside the Nasty Burger, the malfunctioning machines began to spark. The power supply to them had not been cut as the screen of the machines flashed a warning of the excess power that was surging through the machines.

Maddie shifted about, hoping to loosen the chains that bound her limbs together, but to no avail. Her shoulders slumped as she conceded defeat, looking upwards to stare at Shadow. His eyes were no longer filled with emotion and were back to being simply blank, but somehow the earlier outburst didn't feel like it was entirely the Master's controlling.

The raw emotion of anguish and pain had hit her and made her heart mourn for him. Somehow there was truth in the words that had come from his mouth and it made her feel disgusted with herself for being so close-minded when the topic of ghosts came to conversation. Already from the outburst, she had come to the conclusion that Shadow was Phantom, albeit a little older.

She took the moment to fully observe Shadow, taking note of all his features and compared him with Danny. It felt like a stone had fallen and squashed her heart when she realized that they were both almost identical despite the difference in hair color, eyes and slightly different shade of their skin.

Phantom, Danny and Shadow… they were all the same person. Her son. Suddenly she felt sick, her stomach churned as tears welled in her eyes when the entire realization hit her. She had been hunting her son all this time; she had been making him fear them with all their enthusiastic comments of ghost extermination. Maddie silently cried and wished that she had been more observant to realize just how badly she had been hurting him.

Shadow stared at her as her tears cascaded down her cheeks. A flicker of emotion passed through his eyes but the dark pink energy sprung up again and forced his eyes back to its blank state.

"Hey Shadow!" The sudden intrusion of a familiar voice in the air and caused everyone's heads to snap up to search for its origin. "I think it's time to relieve you of whatever crap duty Sir Pink Gay's given you!"

Just as Shadow's head snapped to the side, his face met a glowing green fist that slammed into his nose and sent him flying several feet backwards. Maddie looked up and stared, hovering in front of her was Phantom… no. Danny. Her 14 year old son. The expression on his face was grim but it had softened when he reached down to her. He tried to get the gag and chains off, but frowned heavily when he failed.

"… I guess… it explains the ghost detectors going off when I'm around?" He said with a wry smile as he continued to try cutting the chains. Danny was cut short when five claws came hurtling his way. Quickly, he gathered Maddie into his arms and flew out of the way, setting her back on the ground in a safer place.

"I'll be right back mom." Maddie could only shake her head at him, her eyes pleading for him not to go. "Don't worry; no matter what, I love you mom. And dad, Jazz… and all my friends. I swear I'll protect you all."

With that said, Danny quickly took to the skies and faced off with Shadow, leaving Maddie to stare at his retreating back from the ground with a tear streaked face.

Up in the skies, Danny stared at his older counterpart as Shadow did likewise. From below, Sam had increased her struggling against the chains, her screams muffled by the gag when she tried to catch Danny's attention.

'_Damnit, free us first before going to smash heads with your brainwashed older self!'_

In a flash, the battle started. Both combatants moved so quickly that only blurred outlines of their bodies could be seen flying in the air. The night sky was lit with green as both hybrids clashed energies against each other. As they fought, the spectators below could see each dodge, attack and burst of energy of both Danny and Shadow as the green light burst and illuminated their silhouette.

"Brad? Dad? Where are…What the –" Danny's ears picked up the faint gasp and twisted his body to look down. Standing on the street was a stunned Lee with her mouth opened slightly, staring up at him with wide eyes.

'_What's she doing here?!'_ The four 14-year-olds thought simultaneously as they stared at her with panicked looks. Quickly, Danny caught sight of Shadow who had gone rigid, his blank eyes widening to it's maximum size as he stared at Lee with panted breath. Before he could react, Shadow shot down towards the girl, and Danny hurriedly followed after him while shooting a panicked shout at Lee.

"MOVE IT!" She didn't need to be told twice, quickly turning her heel and scampered out of the way as Shadow dove and barely missed catching her.

"This isn't what I was expecting when that stupid voice told me to come here!!" She screamed, quickly dropping to the ground as Shadow took another swipe at her. Danny didn't even have time to figure out what she meant and continued to chase after Shadow. At his third lunge, Shadow was successful in grabbing Lee and swiftly brought her into his arms before dashing back up into the air, dodging Danny's rapid shot ghost rays and landed neatly on the roof of a nearby block.

Lee struggled in his arms, trying to desperately get out when he brought her face up to his, Shadow's nose nuzzling her cheek slightly before he whispered softly into her ear.

"Precious…"

She froze and stared at him in shock. Shadow's nose didn't stop nuzzling her cheek until he moved upwards to plant a gentle kiss on her forehead.

The action didn't sit very well with not only Brad, but Sam as well. Even Danny felt a little disturbed to see his older self nuzzling his friend like an affectionate kitten. An overly affectionate one at that.

'_**Not everything is as it seems.'**_ Danny recalled what Zeraphina had told him before removing the medallion from his chest. _**'Even if one is known as 'precious', it does not mean that they share the intended definition of love with each other as everyone expects them to.'**_

"Hate to break up the little snuggle fest, but we're not quite done yet." Shadow snarled and extended his claws, poised in a defensive stance. Danny sucked in a deep breath before he took the plunge. He dove down at them, ignoring the claws that were shot and slashed at him until he reached his goal. Quickly, he stole Lee from Shadow's arms before shooting a powerful ghost ray point blank at Shadow's chest.

As Shadow was blasted backwards, Danny quickly dove down to the ground with Lee clinging onto his hazmat suit tightly. He set her back on the ground gently and squeezed her shaking shoulders comfortably.

"Will someone just tell me what the heck is going on?!" The blond waved her hands in the air exasperatedly, her expression a mix of confusion, annoyance and fear. "The minute I'm about to step out of the house to check up on Pixie, I hear this voice coming out of nowhere telling me that I need to be at the Nasty Burger!"

"I don't have time to explain everything to you." Danny replied hastily, his body tensed and poised in case Shadow came back. "All I can ask you to do is to either try to free everyone from those chains or head into the Nasty Burger to find out and deal with whatever is malfunctioning in it. The Nasty Burger is going to blow and with my hands full with fighting, I can't do any one of those things."

"Wait a minute, what?!" He winced at the slightly higher pitch her voice had taken to the news. Danny thought he really needed to work on his tact. "The Nasty Burger is going to explode? How do you know that?"

"Trust me!" Danny could already feel the pinpricks of energy spiking in the air, warning him of Shadow's impending return and was starting to panic. "I'll explain everything later. Please! You have to trust me Lee!"

She hesitated for a split second before running off into the direction of the Nasty Burger. Just as she was half-way there, Shadow dropped down from the sky, intent on getting her back when Danny intercepted him and continued their battle as Lee reached the group.

Brad struggled against the chains as Lee looked at the glowing green object helplessly, trying to tug it off. With no other option, Brad gave her upper thigh a light kick, jerking his head to the compact Ghost Gauntlets in his hands. Catching onto what her brother was trying to tell her, Lee reached down and took the two hand bracers and awkwardly fumbling with them for a moment before she finally got it to activate in her hands.

While Lee continued to fruitlessly release the rest from the chains, Danny continued to fight with Shadow, wisely choosing to block his opponent's attacks rather than to dodge. He reasoned to himself that if he dodged the attack, he ran the risk of the attack hitting any one of them at the Nasty Burger or worse, his mother. Quickly he blocked a punch and countered back with his own, only the fail and slam painfully against the road from the vicious kick that was delivered to his stomach.

Danny's eyes snapped open to see Shadow zip forward towards the Nasty Burger. He ignored the searing pain that ran down his spine and forced himself to get back up, flying back in the sky and grabbing Shadow by the ankle to stop him. As turned to lift his other leg to kick him, Danny pulled the ankle and swung the other in the opposite direction of the Nasty Burger.

Once Shadow had been flung back, Danny steadied himself, preparing for the backlash that would come once he released his new power. As Shadow flew towards him with his claws outstretched, he opened his mouth and with whatever strength he had left, released the loud echoing wail from his throat.

From behind him, Lee had clamped her hands over her ears, whimpering at the spooky wail that rang in the air. The rest of them showed various expressions of discomfort at the sound, since they were too tied up to cover their ears.

Shadow tried to move against the wail that sent violent ripples in the air, shattering glass and crumbled concrete. Sharp pieces of debris flew and smacked at him, cutting his coat and slitting the skin of his face while he continued to force his way against the force that was pushing against him.

Then he lost his equilibrium and was sent flying backwards in the wail, slamming right through the wall of a building that sent it crashing down on him upon impact. Danny landed on the ground with a thud, unable to sustain his ghost form any longer and returned to his human form with the Fenton Thermos attached to his hip.

In the distance at the Nasty Burger, Lee had stopped tugging the chains and was staring open mouthed at Danny's back, pointing and making squeaking noises at his transformation. Tobias had raised an eyebrow at the transformation while Jazz cringed when her father's eyes went wide and if he didn't have the gag in his mouth, would have been gaping like a goldfish. Lancer had blinked repeatedly, finally understanding the reasons behind Danny's disappearing acts in school while at the other side of the Nasty Burger; Maddie closed her eyes and allowed a single tear to fall from her eyes.

Sam tried to kick Lee to snap her out of her stunned stupor but was blocked by Brad, who used his other leg to gently nudge his sister. Tucker was not only too far away to reach her, but was also feeling wary about Brad's reaction, or rather lack thereof, to Danny's switch back to human.

"Note to self: never use full power ever again." Danny muttered quietly to himself as he struggled to his feet. He wobbled slightly, trying to regain some balance. "Ugh. I feel even worse than half dead…"

As he looked up, five green claws shot up from the rubble and crushed the larger pieces of debris into smaller ones. The crumbled concrete rolled over Shadow's haggard form, his coat was torn and ripped, and his arms were sporting various bruises and cuts that oozed green blood. The glow in his eyes had dimmed considerably but what caught Danny's eye was the pink energy that was spewing sparks from Shadow's neck like a broken electrical cord.

With the collar of the coat torn up, it gave Danny a clear view of what was curled around his older counterpart's neck. He gasped when he realized that it was the spike collar, the same spike collar the Injustice League had used on both Jazz and Lee. His mind whirled with questions on how Vlad had gotten a hold of the magical item in that timeline but his thoughts were cut short when a hoarse and pleading voice echoed in the streets.

"Kill me."

Danny stared at Shadow as the other grabbed a hold of the half broken collar and tried to tug it off, obviously having broken free from the control of the Master. His eyes were no longer blank as he stared back at Danny, increasing the volume of his voice as he spoke again.

"Kill me! Just make it stop!" The pink energy started to spark more rapidly, sending shockwaves through Shadow's body as he grunted in pain and continued to try pulling the collar off. "I can't live like this anymore…! Just kill me already!"

"No. I won't." Shadow glared angrily at Danny for refusing his plea. Instead, Danny took the Thermos from his hip and unscrewed the cap before aiming it at him. "I won't become a murderer just because you want to end your life. All… All I can do now is to just keep you in the Thermos until… until I guess when I feel it's the right time to set you free."

"I don't deserve kindness… not after everything I've done!" Danny's hand wavered from the suction button, feeling a sharp tug in his chest at Shadow's bitter remark. "I couldn't protect the ones I loved… I fell under the control of my arch-nemesis because I was too weak to resist him! And the only one I could go to… the only one who could always keep me together after they died…"

"She wouldn't want you to just roll over and die like that." He whispered, his hands gripping the Thermos tightly. "Because it's just like her to worry about others more than on her own self. I might not know the entire story behind why you would pine after Lee… but she wouldn't want you to give up so easily. None of them would."

Shadow stopped tugging the collar and rested his hands on the rubble, tears cascading down his cheeks as he cried silently. Danny swallowed and aimed the Thermos again, hitting the suction button to bring Shadow in.

"I wanted to love her like how mom and dad loved each other… but I couldn't. There was too little time for that kind of romance between us… all I could love her as was as my best friend, my confident, my pillar of support… but I couldn't love her like a lover."

Shadow's quiet confession met Danny's ears as he was sucked into the Thermos. Again he swallowed, feeling a lump form in his throat. As Shadow finally disappeared into the Thermos, his mournful words echoed in Danny's mind.

"You'd better hurry… and I'm sorry."

Once Danny had capped the Thermos, it felt like someone had placed large stones on his shoulders, making his body feel heavy and weak. But the full meaning behind Shadow's last words had finally hit him, making Danny flinch and quickly attached the Thermos to his hip before running back towards the Nasty Burger as fast as his tired legs would let him.

Lee had returned to tugging the chains, fumbling with the Gauntlets' power buttons and tried various ways of cutting the chains. The other teens continued to struggle against the chains as did the adults.

In the compound of the Nasty Burger, the machines began to sound a loud alarm, the electrical energy reaching its most critical level. The alarm startled the group and prompted them to increase their struggles against the chains.

To Danny, everything felt like it was going in slow motion. Even with all his efforts put into running to the Nasty Burger, a gut feeling told him that he wasn't going to make it. From his position he could see it, that tiny orange red glow that was slowly increasing in size in the Nasty Burger restaurant. He stretched out his hand in a desperate attempt to fling himself forward, at least to be a little closer to them with his mouth opening slowly…

And then, everything froze in place as time stopped.

Clockwork appeared behind the time frozen Danny with an amused smile gracing his lips. He fingered the medallion in his hands but didn't put it over Danny's neck immediately. Instead, he looked to the side, his smirk growing wider.

"It seems that… nothing has gone your way now has it?"

"Tell me about it. I don't know how you even do this on a daily basis!" Another Danny Phantom, though older by at least two years than the time frozen Danny, appeared by Clockwork's side. "I didn't think that it would end up this way when I warned her that something was going to happen at the Nasty Burger."

"And of course… warning the teacher to avoid the vicinity?" Danny Phantom rolled his eyes but grudgingly nodded his head. "I thought it was rather amusing that you vented your annoyance by giving him such obscene gestures while you were invisible."

"Of course I was annoyed. Here I was trying to warn him that something bad was going to happen if he went there and he ignores it?" The white haired ghost muttered, running a hand through his hair. "And how do you even control yourself to not act when they get hurt? I had to bite my wrist and pinch my elbow hard to stop myself from jumping in when Brad got clawed by that huge beast."

"That Danny… is the pre-requisite of my job. There are certain things that must be fulfilled and there are things that quite frankly, cannot be avoided." The Master of Time simply gave Danny a sage smile. "Everything happens for a reason, just like what you are doing by watching this timeline back in my office. There is no such thing as coincidence…"

"There is only _Hitsuzen_." The hybrid finished, returning Clockwork's smile with a wry one. "So I guess it's high time for me to get my ass back to your office?"

"But of course." He swore he saw a twinkle of mischief dancing in Clockwork's eyes as the Master of Time created a portal for him. "The timeline must carry on."

Danny Phantom took a glance back, already spotting the frozen group by the Nasty Burger. His eyes lingered at his friends and sister before shifting to each one of the adults and then the siblings. He smiled and turned the portal, disappearing into the swirls of the green. Once he was gone, the portal vanished, leaving Clockwork smiling at the spot where he had stood before slipping the medallion over Danny's neck.

"No!" The word slipped out of his mouth once time began to turn again for him. But Danny lost his equilibrium and began to flail his arms about wildly to regain it. When a hand was placed on his shoulder to help him regain it, he spun around and met the blood red eyes of Clockwork. Immediately, his shoulders tensed for a fight but the ghost's eerie knowing smile somehow made him relax.

It also irked him that Clockwork's knowing smile was startlingly similar to Zeraphina's.

The ghost didn't hesitate and pointed a finger to the front where time was still frozen around him. The Nasty Burger had been on the brink of exploding but relief spread throughout Danny's body when he realized that everyone was still alive and safe. If time didn't move forward again that is.

"Why… why are you –"

"Helping you?" The Master of Time supplied, smiling at the flabbergasted teen who could only nod his head dumbly at him. "I have… employers who wanted you destroyed from your time because of the future that would have surfaced from this event. However, I find that each timeline has their own unique flow and that everything that happens, every little action, happens for a reason. Like for the future that you had seen, not only matured your powers, but your mind as well."

It became a little clearer to Danny as to why the ghost was helping. His newest attack, the Ghostly Wail that he had obtained when he was stuck in the future; witnessing the pain and chaos of the future had intensified his want, his need, to protect everything that he held dear to his heart. But there was still one thing he didn't understand…

"Why did Lancer want to talk to my parents? I mean, I already overheard that Jazz already knows my identity… which explains the late night check ups, but…"

"I can only give a clue in the form of a riddle that you must solve on your own." Danny hesitated, but figured that a clue was still better than none and nodded his head, prompting Clockwork to continue. "Try to think of who wishes to discredit you the most; the answer lies in a little brown envelope that lies hidden beneath many pieces of paper."

"But for now…"

With a wave of his staff, time began to backtrack. Danny watched in awe as everything moved back in time and soon found himself standing in the corridors of the school with Sam and Tucker beside him. Further down the corridor, he could see Dash picking on Brad who was gritting his teeth while putting some books into his locker.

His backpack was handed over to him by the other ghost, who simply smiled and brought the Thermos that held Shadow up to eye level. "Do not worry about him Little Phantom. I will only be keeping him with me for a short period of time for him to reflect on everything that has happened to him."

"… He deserves another chance." Danny murmured, shouldering his backpack. "It's not his fault that Vlad's the twisted evil bastard he is in that future. Everything was beyond his control…"

"Have you learnt anything from this event?" The hybrid pondered for a moment, recalling Shayera's weary face, the look of unsuppressed anger from Nightwing, Red Arrow's determination to continue fighting a battle that he could lose at any moment…

And Shadow's anguished expression and plea to be killed for all he had done.

"That even heroes are fallible. There is no one person who is infallible to the emotions that we feel when we lose someone precious to our hearts. And… everyone deserves a second chance."

"An excellent answer." Danny lifted his head up to see the ghost smiling widely at him. "I hope to see your future flourish in this timeline."

"Wait!" Clockwork stopped and turned to look at Danny with a smile. "I… haven't gotten your name yet."

"My name, is Clockwork." Danny quickly committed the name to memory. "And I shall be seeing more of you soon. But until then, make your decisions wisely. And it would be good if you became… a little more observant to the people and things around you."

Before he could ask what Clockwork meant, time was running again and Sam and Tucker were looking at him oddly.

"Danny?" He blinked and turned to look at Tucker curiously. Tucker wore a worried expression as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Are you feeling ok? You've been awfully quiet the whole morning."

"Yea, I'm fi-" Suddenly, the meaning behind the riddle clicked. Danny dropped his bag on the ground and began shuffling through his books hurriedly. Tucker and Sam exchange confused looks before kneeling down beside Danny as he flipped through the pages of his textbooks.

"Are you really that worried about the C.A.T?" Sam frowned as Danny tossed the books he had flipped through to one side before proceeding to the next. "You do know that Lancer was over-exaggerating everything about the test right?"

"No, it's not that." He replied hurriedly, dumping another book on the growing pile of books and flipped through the next. "It's been bugging me since Jazz was giving me these weird looks since Saturday night and that Tucker mentioned her looking at my bag curiously…"

Even as Brad wandered over to them, Danny continued to search through his books. Tucker offered the blond a shrug when he raised an eyebrow at Danny's curious behavior.

Finally, Danny found it; the brown envelope that was stuck between the pages of his textbook with the large black letters of 'C.A.T Answers' splashed over the cover. Tucker peered over his shoulder to see what exactly Danny had found and his mouth instantly dropped open.

"Danny since when did you –"

"I think I know who planted it in my bag." He muttered furiously, recalling the evening when Dash had knocked him over. "I'll catch up later. I need to talk with Lancer."

He didn't wait for them to reply, stuffing his books back into his bag before quickly getting up and strode towards the teacher's lounge. He rapped the door urgently and came face to face with Mrs. Tetslaff. The physical educations teacher raised an eyebrow at him.

"And what can I do for you Mr. Fenton?"

"Is Mr. Lancer in? I need to speak with him like now."

"Don't you have to go to class for that C.A.T?" She sniffed, obviously feeling particularly malicious to any student that came in her sight. "Run along Mr. Fenton."

"But Mrs. Tetslaff, I need to –"

"What's going on here?" Lancer appeared behind Tetslaff, eying both her and Danny warily. "Is there something going on?"

"Mr. Lancer, could I speak with you for a minute?" Danny quickly cut in before Tetslaff could open her mouth. "It kind of involves the C.A.T."

"Of course Mr. Fenton. Come in." Lancer stepped aside to let Danny into the teacher's lounge before glaring at Tetslaff. "And go back to torturing the seniors in gym class Tetslaff."

Once he had closed the door in Tetslaff's face, Lancer turned around to see Danny digging through his books again for something.

"Sir, I know it seems crazy and all, but I think Dash planted the C.A.T results in my bag on Saturday evening." The teen took out the sealed envelope and handed it to Lancer. "I didn't have any clue about it until this morning."

Lancer frowned and took the envelope from Danny, inspecting it carefully. Indeed, the envelope was still properly sealed and nothing had been tampered with. The balding teacher looked into Danny's eyes, only to see pure honesty in them with no malicious intent.

"So, you believe Mr. Baxter is behind this?"

"Yes sir. He knocked me over when I was heading home on Saturday night."

"I see. This makes things much clearer for me then."

"Sir?"

"Interestingly enough Mr. Fenton." Lancer sat down on his chair and placed the C.A.T answers on his table. "Mr. Baxter was the one who informed me over the weekend that you had gotten your hands on the C.A.T answers. Now that you've come up to me with them and giving me your side of the story… I might just have enough evidence to get Mr. Baxter expelled from school."

"Expelled sir? But isn't that a little…"

"You must understand Mr. Fenton, that this is a very serious offence. Trying to publicly disgrace someone with important test answers is something I do not tolerate at all. Mr. Baxter has crossed the line far too much this time."

"What… What if I requested that he only get a suspension?" Lancer raised an eyebrow at Danny's request. "I mean… doesn't everyone deserve a second chance, no matter how bad they screwed up in the first place?"

Lancer studied Danny for a moment, not caring if he was late in delivering the tests to the students. While Danny had a point, the larger part of him was saying that Dash had one too many 'second' chances that he had wasted. But the look in Danny's eyes told him that he was going to continue to pursue the request until it was fulfilled. Lancer sighed.

"I suppose since you are the victim… We'll talk with Principal Ishiyama about this later with Mr. Baxter with us. Unfortunately, even if the answers have not been tampered with, I won't be letting you do the C.A.T today. Instead, you will do the make-up test with both Ms Angeles's next week. I'll be taking Mr. Baxter out of the test today as well."

"Thanks Mr. Lancer." Danny breathed out a sigh of relief. "So… May I be excused then?"

"Of course. But I'll need you to be at Principal Ishiyama's office after school so that we can see what the lightest punishment is that we can give to Mr. Baxter."

"Sure Mr. Lancer. I'll head home first then."

* * *

Danny sighed and trotted down the pathway towards home. He felt almost pleased with himself for managing to convince Lancer to lighten Dash's punishment, even if he still didn't like the jock. Somehow, it felt like he could see past prejudices and appearances to give anyone and everyone a second chance.

However, halfway down the street, he bumped straight into Jazz. The red head 'oomph'ed in surprise before bending over in pain. Alarmed, Danny quickly guided his sister to some nearby steps and sat her down.

"Jazz? Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

She stared at him for a moment, as if deciding whether or not he was real. That's when it hit him that she must have figured out that it hadn't been him the previous day and gave her a smile as he sat down next to her.

"Uh so… since when did you figure it out?"

"Huh?" She turned to look at him, a little unnerved with his easy smile. "What do you mean by that?"

"Aw, come on Jazz. Stealth isn't your strongest point you know; I know you've been checking up on me every night."

Jazz stared at him. Her mind was telling her to deny his statement but somehow it didn't seem like he would take any denial lying down. He was different than last night, which was strange. How he had changed back was completely baffling and if he was willing to let her in on his secret…

"Since the incident with Dr. Spectra." She confessed, rubbing her stomach with one hand and stared at the other palm. "I didn't want to freak you out or anything, so I thought I could distract mom and dad for you so that you could get around easier you know…? I know that their ghost talks would have freaked you out and made you scared… but it's not my secret. It's yours and I… was waiting for you to tell me on your own, when you felt that it was time that you could share it with me."

"It's *our* secret now." He grinned, leaning over to give her a gentle hug and burrowed his nose into her shoulder. "So what happened to you?"

"… I think you might know about it, but at the same time I'm not too sure… There was someone posing as you since the earthquake yesterday."

"And…? That doesn't tell me how you got injured Jazz." She laughed at his pout, wincing as a fresh stab of pain coursed through her veins.

"Well I confronted him last night and… he knocked me out with a punch to my stomach." Danny winced, already able to assess how bad the damage would be on her. "But the weirdest thing is… he apologized before I blacked out."

He blinked for a moment before his lips spread into a smile. Danny leaned forward and rested his chin on Jazz's shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her for a hug.

"Mm… I guess I'd better tell you everything now?"

"… That would be nice." She reached out and ruffled his hair with a teasing smile. "But first you're going to have to tell me why you're not in school taking the C.A.T right now."

Danny laughed with Jazz and grinned. It felt like the burden that had been placed on his shoulders had been taken off and now he could be completely honest with his sister. And it never felt so good before to talk with her so freely.

* * *

"Come on Cass, please stop sulking." Red Arrow sighed as Casse continued to ignore him as they both walked down the long winding road to the Mansion. "You know that we only wanted what's best."

"…" Again he sighed as she refused to acknowledge him. Why did he have to fall head over heels for the spoilt one again? But her anger, while unreasonable, was also understandable to him. Out of the three of them, she had the strongest link with Phantom.

The walk was long and silent, but they were both confused when they were met by an excited and older Barbara Gordon in her wheelchair.

"There you two are! I've been trying to contact you both for the past ten minutes!"

"Babs? Wha… What's the big deal? What the hell are you doing out here?!" Casse strode forward and took a hold of the grips of the wheelchair, intent on wheeling the excited red-head back into the Mansion.

"What's the big deal? Heck, you have to tell me what the hell it is you guys did because the Master has pulled out all of his forces from the Real Realm!"

Both Red Arrow and Casse stopped, blinking rapidly at the bright eyed Barbara before the information finally sunk into their minds.

"The… The Master pulled out all of his forces? Every-"

"Single one of them?"

"Yes! There are no traces of ghosts around, not even Shadow! Now I want details. God this is the first time in years that I feel so happy!"

While Red Arrow got out more information from Oracle, Casse still stood in a stunned stupor, no longer listening to either one of them. Idly, her hand reached up to finger her choker gem, the realization of the war being finally over sank in.

"Auntie C?" She snapped out of her reverie and turned to see a small and scrawny 9-year-old boy with jet-black hair standing at the entrance of the mansion. The boy rubbed his eyes while clinging onto the grey furred husky stuff toy. "Is it over now?"

She gave him a soft smile before kneeling on the ground and spreading her arms wide open. "Come here kiddo."

The boy's red eyes lit up and he quickly totted down the stairs and flung himself into his aunt's embrace. Casse ran a hand through the messy black tresses and hugged the boy tightly.

"Have you been good to Babs?"

"Uh-huh! I made sure she took all her medicine when she doesn't come out of the cave and when Alfred's not around!" He chirped happily, snuggling against her shoulder while Barbara rolled her eyes and gave them an amused smile. From behind her, Red Arrow smiled at them softly as he removed his hood.

Casse tickled her nephew, grinning as he shrieked and wriggled in her arms. She picked him up and swung him around in the air for a moment, delighting squeals of glee from the boy.

"Alright Nath, why don't you go back inside and we'll have a snack in the dining room?"

"Are you going to stay now Auntie C? And Uncle Roy too?" Hopeful red eyes stared back into hers and she laughed, ruffling his hair.

"For the moment, yes we are going to."

"Awesome! Hey Uncle Roy! Race you in!"

"Hey!" The archer spluttered as the tiny boy quickly sped up the stairs and quickly gave chase. "Get back here you little dust mite!"

Barbara grinned as shrieks of laughter filled the air. She eyed Casse from the side, before smiling, understanding that the blond wanted just a few minutes alone. "I guess we'll meet you inside then."

As she wheeled herself up the ramp, Casse continued to stand at the base of the stairs and stared at the open door of the mansion. From the inside pocket of her coat, she pulled out two photographs and stared down at them with a mournful expression.

One was them before the Explosion of NB, when they had all gotten together to take a picture. She remembered Maddie and Jack pulling her father into the picture for fun, Danny and Brad pressing knuckles side by side while she glomped her sister. Jazz laughing from behind the sisters while Tucker and Sam crowded around Danny.

She eyed the picture for a moment before shifting the other picture to the top. The smaller version of her nephew grinned happily at the camera while snuggled comfortably in his mother's arms. It wasn't too hard to figure out who his parents were given the features that he had inherited from them.

"Auntie C!!!" Her head snapped up to see the boy pouting at her from the doorway. "Aren't you coming in?"

A soft smile graced her lips and Casse pocketed the two pictures before strolling up the stairs.

"Coming kiddo. Why don't you go smear some peanut butter on Uncle Roy's hair again?"

* * *

**Authoress's Ending Notes:**

1) This chapter was tough to get out. I wanted to get most of the facts out and some explanations to be done since there were questions from some reviewers over a few things. Hopefully, most are answered by now.  
2) The next chapter will be an Interlude, where it now shifts to the Original Timeline Danny. No, I haven't forgotten about him.  
3) I guess you guys have an inkling that this isn't going to be the last time we see this timeline's characters with this ending scene. Ahoy for the future?  
4) Thank you **Anthiena**, **Enchanting Elf**, **inukagome15**, **JTN** and **Negima Uzumaki** for reviewing the previous chapter(s)!  
5) And many thanks for the other folks who have faved this fanfic as well =)  
6) Please drop a review when you have the time and do tell me if I have made any mistakes or if there are areas that I need to improve in! Thank you!

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	12. Interlude: Understanding

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress' Beginning Notes: This interlude is considered short in comparison to the massive lengths in the previous chapters. Sorry about that. I've been hopping back and forth between practicing my artwork and writing so yea. Things will get more hectic since my Uni semester is beginning very soon so I thank you for your patience! Please enjoy the (short) interlude!

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Interlude: **

**Understanding**

* * *

Danny sighed as he reached Clockwork's empty office, noting that the couch had returned to the center of the room with the screens waiting for him patiently at the sides. As he took a step forward, the screens automatically shifted back into viewing position, the big screen showing him the conclusion of the event he had meddled in earlier in the timeline.

While listening intently to the conversation Clockwork was having with his counterpart, Danny shifted through the dark corner to find his backpack. It wasn't the first thing he found though; his hands clasped around the cylindrical container that was the Fenton Thermos, still surrounded by the purple energy Clockwork had encased it in. The Thermos shook violently, yet there still wasn't any sound coming out from it.

Danny was thankful for that; he was too tired to hear Dan's furious curses or to shove it in his future self's face that he had been right in believing in his younger counterpart.

The hybrid casually tossed the Thermos behind him without a second thought, not caring if it thumped onto the ground loudly as he continued to feel in the dark corner for his backpack. Once he had found it, Danny quickly scooted back to the couch and sat down, placing his bag on his lap and rummaged through it while continuing to listen to the screen.

"_Everything happens for a reason."_ Clockwork's words echoed in his head as Danny idly dug his hand into his backpack. He hadn't been searching for anything in particular until his hands felt a smooth glossed surface and pulled it out of his bag. A picture of his family and friends greeted his sight and his lips slowly curved into a smile as he looked at the photograph fondly.

Suddenly he understood the meaning behind Clockwork's words and couldn't help but ponder. Were his actions in the alternate timeline things that had happened for a specific reason? Perhaps the timeline would have come out differently since he had unwittingly added another person to the death count if the Nasty Burger had really exploded. Would that Danny in that timeline become as malicious and psychotic as Dan? Or would he be withdrawn and depressed?

The many different possibilities whirled in his head as he looked up from photograph, having heard the scene on the screen shift into something else. He stared at the screen as he watched Casse and Red Arrow converse with Oracle and froze when he saw the scrawny 9-year-old boy at the door of the Mansion.

The similarities between the boy and himself were far too many to be considered a coincidence. Danny touched his chin and concentrated, trying to piece the puzzle together. The conversation his alternate self had with Shadow began to play in his mind until everything clicked into place when he heard the boy call Casse 'Auntie'.

His lower jaw slackened and his mouth hung open for a moment as a wild blush streaked across his face. He then buried his head into his hands as all the implications of his deduction spun in his head and made a conclusion.

His alternate self's future was an exceptionally screwed up one; which was far worse than his own dark future.

Danny rubbed his eyes furiously before forcing his hands down to watch the screen intently; wanting to learn as much as he could about the boy. He already got the name, Nath, but was it short for something or was it his whole name? Danny frowned and tried to think about the possibilities of the boy's real name while still keeping his focus on the screen.

"**Nathaniel Bradley Angeles-Fenton, get back here you little dust mite!!"**

Danny blinked and stared as Red Arrow pointed a finger dramatically at the laughing boy and gave chase, his hair and face smeared with a gooey brown substance that Danny identified as peanut butter. He stared at the screen, watching Red Arrow chase the grinning little raven head around the Mansion. Well, at least he got the boy's full name.

The scene on the screen then began to warp violently, startling Danny with the massive swirling of colors. The mixture of colors blended into a blinding white before it dimmed down, though not by very much, and revealed a scene to him.

The white was still blinding, but Danny could feel the empty and dreary atmosphere of the corridors and instantly knew it was Amity Memorial Hospital. The white dimmed down to a dark grey and he watched as the silhouettes of people raced through the corridor and past a lone figure leaning against the wall opposite a door.

Danny watched as Lee pushed herself off the wall and step forward, her hand reaching forward to the knob of the door. Her hand faltered and hovered unsurely by the knob, her teeth biting her bottom lip as she looked down and stared at the knob. Finally her hand rested on the rounded knob of the door and clasped it, twisting it and pushed the door open.

Sitting up on the bed that was situated in the middle of the room and hooked up to a few machines was Danny himself. Well, not really _himself_ but his alternate self's… alternate self. Shadow, as Danny mentally corrected, so as to avoid confusing himself when he thought about it.

Lee quietly shut the door behind her and silently threaded across the floor and sat on the chair next to the bed. Shadow didn't acknowledge her presence, his eyes staring straight forward in a daze. His face was frighteningly pale and his body was covered in light bandages. Down by his side, his partially bandaged hand twitched at odd intervals and his lips would often part for a moment before sealing themselves shut. The silence continued for a while until Lee finally reached forward and touched Shadow's hand.

It was as if he had finally stirred from a long sleep, woken by that single touch on his hand. His dulled eyes blinked and his head bowed, staring at his lap for a moment before he lifted his head and turned to the side to see who had touched him. When his eyes met hers, he flinched and recoiled his hand away from her, his body instinctively moving away from her. She tried to reach forward to him again but stopped, retracting her hand back and rested it on her lap.

From that moment, he refused to meet her eyes while she continued to gaze at him with an unreadable expression. As he watched the screen, Danny fidgeted, feeling unnerved by the silence between the two.

"…**It's not your fault Danny."** Once the words left Lee's mouth, Shadow's shoulders stiffened considerably but still he did not turn around to look at her. **"The doctors say that they want to discharge you either later today or tomorrow morning and… since they can't get anyone from your family to come down, I thought maybe you'd come back to my house with me."**

"**I should be dead."** Shadow's whisper had been so soft that even Danny strained to hear it from the couch. He leaned forward and waited for the conversation to continue, curious to know what events happened that lead to that future. **"I shouldn't be here… I should have been burned into nothing; get blown away by the wind…"**

The reaction to his words had been instantaneous. The blond had gotten off the chair and sat at the side of his bed, not caring when he flinched as she grabbed his hand and placed it between her own two hands. Shadow finally forced himself to look at her, the edges of his eyes prickling with tears that had yet to fully form. Lee's hands gripped his hand firmly but gently, her brows furrowed into a stern expression.

**It's not your fault."** She repeated, stroking the top side of his hand as her expression softened. **"Blaming yourself for being the sole survivor of something won't change anything. To be honest, I would have wished it were my brother or my father to have survived… but the fact is that **_**you**_** survived. Not them Danny. You. Nothing can change that."**

The dam broke and Shadow dissolved into tears, clinging onto her shirt as he cried and mumbled his apologies for surviving an explosion that killed her family. As Lee cradled Shadow close to her, she allowed her own tears to fall and she wept together with him for the loss of their family and friends.

Danny shifted uncomfortably on the couch, setting his backpack to the other side of the couch and squirmed in his seat for a moment. The hospital scene melted away and flashed snippets of the wake, where Pamela Manson had reacted violently to Shadow's presence and placed the full blame on him for the death of her daughter. As a result of her vehement accusation, Shadow had broken and his body began convulsing as he clutched his head and whimpered apologies.

While Amanda Foley cursed Pamela, Lee had chosen to ignore the Mansons; immediately gathering Shadow into her arms and led him out of the funeral parlor without a word. Once that scene dissolved, it was replaced with Lee's darkened room, Shadow's face buried in her chest as he clung onto her. She was gently stroking his hair, rocking him slowly while humming a soft tune.

She was cut short when Shadow propped himself on his elbows and tilted his face up to stare at her. They stared into each other's eyes as Shadow slowly rose upwards, his lips brushing against her skin lightly. Lee swallowed audibly as Shadow's lips came closer, whispering softly into her cheek before devouring her lips into a hungry kiss.

"**Don't leave me."**

That single sentence impacted Danny hard, even though he had already concluded their actions, witnessing it before him was a completely different matter. The scene darkened into a blank screen, allowing him to digest the information of the timeline fully before he could scour out for more.

"When two broken pillars begin to support each other, their balance becomes precarious." Danny whipped his head around to see Clockwork setting another Thermos in his cabinet at the far end of his office. The Master of Time floated forward and glanced up at the screens as Danny continued to watch him curiously. "When one crumbles, the other either crumbles with it, or tries to support it even though it is equally broken; or worse off."

"So… the both of them…"

"Yes Danny." Danny shifted and turned back to look at the blank screen, waiting for Clockwork to continue. "At the time when his emotions were strung so thin, all he wanted was to be reassured that he had someone by his side. Of course, the consequences of his actions would eventually lead to the future you see now."

"You mean her getting pregnant and giving birth to his son." Clockwork chuckled at the childish tone Danny had adopted for that sentence. "I think I understand a little better on why he feels closer to her. Sharing this horrible experience together…"

"Of course Danny. Is that not why you and Sam too had begun to develop your relationship after all your trials?"

"Not just sharing experiences, but also looking at her in a different light as time passed. Well, not exactly so for his case but yea, I pretty much got that." The hybrid mused, a wistful expression crossing his face as he thought back on his lovesickness. "I guess he was just desperate for some sort of reassurance that someone was at least there with him and that he wasn't alone. That probably led him to… be more physically assertive?"

"Yes." Was the simple reply to his query. "Perhaps in another timeline, he would have just been more verbal, but there are other cases where it might not have been the girl who would be his pillar of support."

"You mean there are timelines where I would turn out gay?"

"Of course." The Master of Time nodded, floating backward to pick up the fallen and still violently shaking Thermos with Dan in it. "Different circumstances and reactions lead to an entirely different time stream. But does homosexuality bother you Danny?"

"To be honest? A little." He admitted bashfully, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "But even if it does bother me a little, it doesn't exactly matter right? That's why there's so many different timelines because there's always many different outcomes to an event."

"Very good." Clockwork levitated the shaking Thermos to another cabinet and smiled at Danny. "You will have to excuse me Danny, I must meet with my employers and pay an old friend a proper visit."

"Sure. Don't let me keep you from what you need to do Clockwork." Danny frowned and pondered for a moment. "Say, would that old friend of yours happen to be the Sorceress Zeraphina?"

"Perhaps she is." Danny rolled his eyes at Clockwork's evasive reply. The other ghost smiled, his eyes dancing with mirth. "And you still have eleven days left before you need to return to your timeline. Until then, enjoy yourself here. Danielle should be dropping by quite soon."

"Your 'soon' is going to seem like 'days'." He called to Clockwork's retreating back. Danny was rewarded with an echoing laugh from the Master of Time before he disappeared in a swirl of green. Danny shook his head and settled back on the couch, blinking as the blank screen exploded with vibrant colors. But rather than returning to the timeline he had been following since his arrival, Danny was surprised when it continued to show him Shadow's timeline instead.

The next scene made his stomach churn uncomfortably. Vlad was forcefully dragging Shadow with him to a limousine, his hand gripping the teen's forearm so tightly it made him wince in pain. Shadow looked back at the front door of the Angeles house with an expression mixed with longing, fear and sorrow; Lee stood by the frame of the door with a pale Casse clinging onto her side and their godfather standing behind them.

The venomous expression that was etched across Vlad's face as he forced Shadow into the limousine managed to rattle the very core of Danny's heart at one glance.

Soon it dissolved into another dark room, a room Danny immediately recognized as the one he had stayed in at Vlad's Wisconsin castle during his parents' college reunion. Shadow was huddled in the blankets staring blankly at a photograph that was clutched in his hands. It surprised Danny that it was not a family picture like he had thought, but held the soft gentle smile of the girl Shadow had become enamored with.

The scenes then began to flash past so rapidly that it took Danny a brief moment to realize which scene signified what.

_Flash_. Bolts of poisonous pink fired at Shadow, the teenager hardly flinching at the increasing number of wounds that were being inflicted on his body.

_Flash_. A fist swung at Shadow, catching him in the eye as Vlad glared down at the blank boy with hatred.

_Flash_. The butler ghost quietly slipping the tray of food onto the side table of the bed as one of the small maids gently touched the dark purpling bruises that were forming all over Shadow's body.

_Flash_. Dark red blood oozed down the side of Shadow's face as he backed away fearfully from Plasmius. The other hybrid loomed menacingly over him with the wicked spiked collar, dancing with sparks of pink, inching closer and closer to his neck…

And the screen promptly turned into static, eliciting an angered pout from Danny. Even though he knew what would happen next, it didn't stop him from feeling cheated of seeing it for himself. It felt as if he were watching a movie trailer where it would suddenly stop at the best parts and leave him hanging, yearning to see the whole thing.

Once the static had dissipated, he was greeted with a pacing Bruce Wayne with Lee sitting on the edge of a bed behind him, looking pale and extremely uncomfortable. Danny watched as the billionaire continued to pace before sighing and turning to face Lee with a stern look.

"**I thought you had better sense, much better sense, than to end up like this." **The blond shrank back at his biting words, fidgeting with her hands and couldn't mustered the courage to bring herself to look at him face to face.

"**I'm sorry Uncle Bruce…"**

"**Sorry isn't going to fix any of this Lee. You only turned fourteen three weeks ago. Fourteen! And you've gone and gotten yourself pregnant!" **

She cringed and shrank back further, her hand instinctively resting on her flat stomach as her godfather continued to rant about her irresponsibility. Bruce Wayne ran an agitated hand through his messy tresses and took in several deep breaths.

"**That boy, Danny wasn't it? He's the baby's father isn't he?" **His only response was a meek nod from his goddaughter who still refused to meet his eyes and the billionaire sighed again. He sat down beside her on the bed, his hands clasped together in front of him as he glanced at her pale face.

"**What will you do then?"** Startled, she finally looked up to meet his eyes. **"I won't make the decision for you. As much as I would like to tell you to get rid of the baby, I won't exercise that power over you. I know Toby would let you decide for yourself what to do and I'm honoring his memory to let you decide your future."**

She became quiet, her eyes cast down to stare at her hands while she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Gently, he clapped a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it.

"**You don't have to answer me now. But whatever you decide, we will all be here for you."** He paused before raising an eyebrow at her. **"And you'll be the one to tell Alfred, our little Tinker Bell and Dick about what's happened."**

"**No escaping that huh?"**

"**Absolutely not."**

Despite the bleak situation, Danny had to smile at the forced crack that Bruce Wayne made in an attempt to ease the tense atmosphere. The scene flashed off and replaced itself with others, just like how Shadow's torture under Vlad had been.

_Flash_. Lee was speaking to the rest of the family. Dick looking murderous while Casse gaped at her as she spoke.

_Flash_. Both sisters clung onto each other as they cried, the fallen newspaper unfurled with the words 'Masters Heir dead' splayed across the front page.

_Flash_. Casse eagerly rubbed the large stomach, chattering excitedly to the unborn child as her sister giggled. She made an 'oomph' sound as Casse squealed when she felt the child's kicking motion from inside his mother.

_Flash_. The youngest Angeles was waiting outside a door, hopping from foot to foot as Dick leaned against the wall opposite the door. The door flung open, revealing a smiling Bruce and the two quickly dashed into the room where Alfred was helping Lee into a sitting position.

Cradled in her arms was a tiny infant with soft spikes of black hair, nuzzling his mother's chest as he gave a loud yawn. Casse scuttled forward, eyes wide and bright as she cooed at and caressed the baby's soft cheek. The child yawned again before opening his eyelids to reveal a pair of sleepy red eyes.

And at that point, the screen had again turned to static. It was starting to annoy Danny greatly but he paused and thought for a moment. Perhaps he was here now to simply watch the snippets to gain a better insight of Shadow's life. Although he would have preferred to watch the entire life as an episode, it didn't seem right for him to watch every single detail.

He paused again. It almost felt like the snippets formed a single comprehending episode for him to have a better understanding of that timeline. Only showing him important events that would eventually lead to that future, just like he was watching his alternate self's timeline, only with the important life changing events that were… interesting.

Danny made a face. Great. Now it felt like he was watching a drama serial.

The scenes began to flash forward again and Danny leaned forward, not wanting to miss a single one of them as they moved past his vision.

_Flash_. The first appearance of Shadow. His movements were swift and precise but yet he made no move to make any kill. Just as the Justice League members surrounded him, he was gone.

_Flash_. The invasion of the ghost army. Millions of people fleeing their homes as the ghosts attacked them without mercy. The Justice League trying their best to fend off the ghosts while volunteers herded the massive crowd to safety. In the mass of volunteers, Danny could pick out the Angeles sisters taking a stand.

_Flash_. Wonder Woman had fallen and Shadow swooped in for the kill. Lee lunged forward and spread her arms out, closing her eyes as she waited for the pain to hit her. Her eyes peeked open when the pain didn't come. The long green claws were hovering a few inches from her nose and Shadow was simply staring at her. She stared into his eyes but before either one of them could react, a dark pink energy circled around Shadow's neck, forcing him to retreat backwards.

_Flash_. A tiny baby, no older than two, was happily crawling around the floor. His mother swooped down and brought him up to eye level with her. She then leveled him with a stern stare as he babbled gleefully and clapped his chubby hands together. Lee sighed and delighted squeals of happiness from her son as she rubbed their noses together for an Eskimo kiss before setting him down into his crib.

Just as she had turned her back, he began to wail loudly. She turned around and almost cried out in shock to see her baby boy sink through the mattress and crib. Quickly, she raced forward and scooped him up into her arms, pacifying the boy as he sniffled while she tried to comprehend what had happened.

Again, the screen turned to static and this time, Danny was grateful for it. He raised his hand to his chin and thought hard. So the boy had inherited his father's ghost powers. And that meant that his mother had more or less figured out his dual identities if she had managed to piece together the puzzle with all the pieces that were given to her.

Did that mean if he had any children in the future, they would inherit his powers as well? The mere thought of it was enough to make him feel nauseas. He'd never want his children to go through what he had and live through a life of fighting. It was almost enough to make him want to remain a bachelor for the rest of his life but again he paused.

Clockwork had already drilled it into his head that each timeline was unique and what happened in one timeline, may not occur in another. He repeated the mantra in his mind but the nagging voice at the back of his head continued to persist. He was saved when the screen flickered back to life and presented him with a single scene.

"**Mama? Why don't I have a papa?" **The innocent question from the four-year-old boy struck a nerve in Danny's heart and he leaned forward, interested to know what exactly Lee had told her son.

"**You do have a papa sweetie, but he can't come home right now."** What surprised Danny was the calm way she had replied to him. She showed no signs of anxiety when he continued to shoot his questions.

"**But Auntie C and Granpa Bruce say he's dead."**

"**Nath, come here."** The boy obeyed and climbed up into his mother's lap. Danny blinked when he noticed a suspicious silver bracelet with a blinking green light that was strapped onto the boy's wrist. Lee hugged her son and rocked him gently, easing some of the tension from him. **"That's because mama knows something about papa that they don't know about sweetie. But believe me, papa is definitely alive."**

"**Then… where is papa? Why doesn't he come home? Does he hate me?" **She smiled softly and tickled Nath's sides, eliciting giggles and squeals from her son's mouth before cuddling him again. Danny raised an eyebrow when he caught sight of a similar silver bracelet strapped onto Lee's wrist as she cuddled her son.

"**Sweetie, papa is just lost right now. Papa doesn't hate you; he doesn't know that you're here because mama never got a chance to tell him before he got lost."**

"**Then… how come papa is lost mama?"**

"**Because a very bad man confused him. He can't find his way home anymore because he's lost in the dark."**

"**But why did that bad man confuse him? Doesn't mama miss papa?"** His mother chuckled at his onslaught of questions, stroking his messy mop of black hair as she held him close.

"**That bad man wanted to make papa's life miserable and not let him come home. And yes, mama misses papa very much."**

"**But does mama love papa?"**

That's when she hesitated. The little boy watched her curiously as she remained pensive. Silence lingered in the room for a while before she spoke up to reply him.

"**Yes, mama loves papa; but only as a friend sweetie."**

"**Does that mean you don't love papa like how Uncle Dick loves Auntie Kori?" **She nodded her head and the boy scrunched his face into an adorable frown. **"Why?"**

A chuckle escaped her lips at her son's inquisitive question, his eyes wide and his lips pouting, eager to know more. She tightened her grip around him and held him closer; the boy snuggled against her chest comfortingly, his eyes never leaving his mother's face.

"**Because mama and papa aren't like Uncle Dick and Auntie Kori. We didn't spend a lot of time together like they did and mama prefers to just be friends with papa."**

"**Mama?"**

"**Yes Nath?"**

"**Will… will papa love me like you do?"** She looked down and smiled at the inquiring red eyes of her son. She bent down and kissed his forehead, stroking his hair lovingly as she gave him a reply.

"**I'm sure he will. In fact, he might even love you more than I do."**

"**Nuh uh! I don't think anyone loves me as much as mama does! Because mama's the best and I love mama the most!"**

The scene dissolved with a pair of giggles as mother and son made Eskimo kisses with each other before the older woman planted kisses on his forehead. This pause between the scenes and flashes gave Danny more time to ponder. As sweet as the mother and son conversation was, he couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards Shadow.

While Shadow had wanted to deepen their relationship, Lee had been perfectly content with staying friends. Somehow it didn't seem fair but Danny guessed it was because she hadn't felt that dire need to be assured that she had someone by her side like Shadow had.

"_Different people, different timeline, different responses/reactions to each situation." _He thought to himself wryly. Perhaps in another timeline she would have had the same want to love Shadow but it didn't seem to be the case for this timeline.

In the end she was still simply the friend, the mother figure of the group.

The next series of flashes made Danny's heart jump up into his throat as he sucked in his breath deeply, watching the snippets intently.

_Flash_. The four-year-old boy was quietly playing with his toys at one side while his mother and aunt actively participated in a peace talk. A small ghost, whom Danny instantly recognized as the younger Box Lunch, floated towards him curiously but didn't get too close. The tiny boy looked up and grinned, offering her one of his toys and played with her while the older ghosts and humans watched them with smiles.

_Flash_. Chaos and destruction. The Watchtower was falling apart. Casse was unceremoniously shoved into one of the Javelins with Nath struggling violently in her arms, screaming for his mother. As the Javelin shot down to the Earth the boy continued to wail, clawing desperately at the windows. The minutes that ticked past seemed like ages until the Watchtower finally went up in flames. The fantastic explosion rocked the Javelin violently and all its occupants were flung against each other in the aftermath of the impact.

All the while, Nath never stopped screaming.

_Flash_. Gotham City, the memorial site. Thousands wept the loss of the three heroes and four civilians in the Watchtower Tragedy. The remaining founders of the Justice League stood side by side solemnly, Wonder Woman clenching her fists tightly as her tears freely cascaded down her cheeks as Superman made his eulogy.

Once the crowd of people had paid their respects, the tiny black clad boy had slithered out of his aunt's arms and clung onto the statue leg of his mother, crying uncontrollably. Casse stepped forward and pried his hands away from the statue, hugging him closely as her own tears ran down the sides of her face. Nath buried his face into her chest and wailed loudly.

"**Mama!! Mama!! Mama, come back! Mama!!"**

_Flash_. The five-year-old boy shook open a box and stared at its contents. A single letter and a few photographs littered the base of the box. His hands reached forward and grabbed the photographs, his eyes flitting through them before he reached out for the letter and tore the envelope open.

As his eyes ran through the letter, his free hand unconsciously fingered the blinking silver bracelet on his wrist. His head shot up as his name was called and quickly dumped the photographs and letter back into the box, stowing it away carefully in his room before scampering out the door.

_Flash_. The six-year-old took off the silver bracelet and closed his eyes. His fists began to clench together and beads of perspiration dripped down the side of his face. When he opened his eyes, he didn't see his normal reflection in the mirror. Staring back at him was a white haired, yellow eyed boy with the same stature as himself. He reached forward to touch the mirror, his eyes wide open in awe as he turned back to stare at the box that held the letter and photographs.

The screen faded to black. Danny leaned back against the couch and released the breath that he had been unwittingly holding since this series of flashes began. It had been more intense than he had expected it to be. The explosion of the Watchtower had been a dangerously beautiful moment that made him feel bad at admiring the beauty of the explosion rather than to ache for the lost lives.

He paused and thought again. The focus of the flashes were now centering on the boy, Nath. What was Clockwork trying to tell him by doing this? Was it something important, something significant for him to take note of? He wasn't quite sure of the reasons but still he needed to stay vigilant.

It was nagging at the back of his head, but somehow it felt as if it wouldn't be the last he would be seeing of that timeline after this. Danny knew that Clockwork might, no, would have something up his sleeve that would concern that timeline. Most likely, it would involve himself.

Now he felt like he was some kind of proxy for Clockwork.

Danny was taken from his thoughts when the screen flickered back to life, showing him more flashes of Shadow's timeline.

_Flash_. Nightwing arguing with an older Casse at the Mansion in the middle of the night. The six-year-old Nath peeked into the lounge from the crack of the door and watched as they verbally abused each other. He fingered the silver bracelet idly before quietly shuffling away from the door and floated up the stairs without thinking.

_Flash_. Blood, blood and more blood. The screen was splattered in multi-colored blood, be it human, meta-human and ghost, as the fighting continued to rage. Oracle barked commands through the headphone speaker as she typed furiously on the keyboard of a dark cave. She didn't notice the light shimmering silhouette of the eight-year-old boy spying from the corner of the cave before the shimmering disappeared. The boy reappeared at the top of the stairs and quietly scampered away from the cave as the door slid shut.

_Flash_. Nine-year-old Nath laid eagle winged on his bed. His hand groped the side of the blankets for a moment before fishing out a photograph from beneath the cloth and stared at it. His eyes flitting through the picture quickly and his fingers touching certain parts of it lightly. He released the picture from his hands and allowed it to flutter down and rest on his chest face up. Smiling faces greeted the ceiling as the screen turned black once again.

Danny didn't know whether to feel cheated out of watching Nath's entire childhood or feel sympathetic to the boy who had an exceptionally screwed up family situation.

But the images of war were now stuck in his mind. Sure he had stopped the invasion of Pariah Dark in his timeline but it wasn't as gruesome as the war in Shadow's timeline. The massive amount of blood spilled and stained on the hands of the warriors fighting on the battlefield… his timeline looked like a walk in the park compared to such chaos.

And he couldn't help but thank his lucky stars that he hadn't gone through such a horrible event. He didn't know if his current mental capacity could survive such an onslaught of viciousness and blood craving.

He leaned back against the couch heavily, taking his time to slowly chew and swallow the information down. Everything just seemed so much harsher in this timeline in comparison to his own; there was just so much underlining darkness in each of the events that made his skin crawl.

It was as if these events that had taken place were meant to mature the teens far faster than the average Joe. Like they were supposed to grow out of the childhood more quickly and adapt to the bite of reality that wasn't sunshine and daisies.

But yet he wasn't fully convinced of it even if he had witnessed so much of the timeline by observing them. Perhaps there would be an inverse effect on the group. Perhaps there was something more to the dark themes than it seemed. Perhaps the group in this timeline wouldn't lose all of their innocence in their fight against the ghosts and hunters.

However, he still had a nasty feeling that Sam was going to get paid back double for all her self-centeredness. Boy was he glad that his timeline's Sam wasn't as demanding or scathing as she was. Her outbursts were probably considered angelic in comparison to that other timeline's Sam's tantrums.

The screen began to flicker again, this time the scene wasn't a blinding white, but a soft glowing one. Danny blinked and rested his hands on his lap, trying to figure out the timeframe of this event.

He was slightly disappointed in realizing that the screen had returned to showing him the timeline he had meddled in but at the same time, was grateful for the switch back. The snowfall was enough to tell him that the event was most likely to involve Christmas. He just wondered if the Ghost Writer was going to be involved in it with his strange obsession with rhyming his words.

Danny stole a glance at the photograph of his family and friends and smiled, grateful that he still had them all in his life. He made himself comfortable on the couch and finally returned back to viewing his alternate self's timeline.

* * *

**Authoress' Ending Notes:**

1) It took me a while to gather my thoughts for this chapter since **Enchanting Elf** requested more knowledge of Nath's background (only in snippets). But I can assure you that Original!Danny is right that this will not be the last time you will see this timeline!  
2) I'm trying to stick close to the time frame as much as possible, i.e.: October to November to December and not jump all over the place and change the seasons instantly from Spring to Autumn, Summer to Winter etc...  
3) There will be another interlude following the next event. I think you all will be able to know who appears then! =)  
4) Thank you to **Anthiena** and **Enchanting Elf** for reviewing the previous chapter (Yikes, the number of reviewers are dwindling...! Have I gotten worse?)  
5) Thank you to those who have added this fanfic into their favs and alerts list!  
6) Please do drop a review if you have the chance! I like reading them very much and constructive critique is always welcomed!

**Cheeri!  
Kenzeryuu/ Kenzy-Chan**


	13. Season's Greeting

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress's Beginning Notes: Hum. The chapter came out longer than expected though I did cut off a huge chunk of the ending. Apologies if the ending looks little awkward. Again, I'll be trying to continue updating at least once a month for the fanfic; University has begun again and I've already sunk into piles of work. I hope you enjoy this chapter even though it's 3 months too late for Christmas; I wanted to keep the time frame correct instead of jumping from one season to another at the flick of a finger and making no sense of passing time. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 11****: **

**Season's Greetings**

* * *

Danny settled back into the couch comfortably, his earlier unease in gaining the knowledge of Shadow's timeline dissipating as time continued moving forward. Even though his mind was whirling with numerous questions and various would-be answers to them about Shadow's timeline, he quickly banished them to the far end of his brain to concentrate on the new even that was being shown to him.

He could already tell that the event would involve Christmas, with the soft snow background and the cheerful blinking red and green lights. How would the inclusion of the triplets affect this event? Danny was very curious to know.

He just hoped that it didn't involve any rhyming or he would have to fight the urge to throw something at the screen to make it stop. One day of storytelling rhyming was enough to last his entire lifetime thanks. Stupid Ghost Writer.

The soft snowy scene smoothly shifted into one of the crowded Amity Mall, where the start of the event began to unfurl.

* * *

"Are you _sure_ she's supposed to be a Goth?"

"I ask myself that every year when this season comes Casse."

"Merry Christmas!!"

The triplets could only stare as Sam cheerfully greeted passers-by. Tucker was vaguely amused at their incredulous stares while Danny silently groused by his side. While it was a nice change to not have Sam scowl and spit at them, it disturbed the triplets at her one-hundred and eighty degree change of attitude when the Christmas season started.

Brad knew for one that his skin was crawling with each time Sam bounced over to passers-by and greeted them cheerfully for the holidays. It was a complete contradiction to whatever she had brought herself to look like when they first met her. And apparently, she wasn't taking any notice of their disturbed expressions and continued frolicking around the mall.

Danny however, didn't look like he cared how freaky it was to have their usually morbid scathing friend turn perky Casse-cheerful. In fact, it looked as if he was loathing the holiday. Talk about a swap in attitudes. It definitely didn't go unnoticed to the triplets but Tucker scarcely lifted a hair at Danny's grouchy behavior.

"Hey Danny, are you ok?"

"Meh?" Danny broke out of his thoughts and blinked. It was then that he noticed that Lee was starting to hover over his shoulder with a worried look on her face while Brad had his eyebrow raised at him. Casse had her hands covering mouth as she stifled her giggles at his blank look.

"You must've been having some really weird daydream to get so blanked out and make faces like this." She twisted her expression to exaggerate his earlier grouchy one and succeeded in getting Tucker to release a snort. The bespectacled teen quickly covered it up as a cough to the best of his ability but Danny knew better.

Brad rolled his eyes and sidled up to his younger sister who was still making faces. He then launched a tickle attack at her that made Casse shriek loudly and squirm as he poked at her waist and underarms. Luckily for them, her shrieks were drowned out by the loud excited chatter in the mall. Lee shook her head at her siblings' antics, her lips curved into an exasperated smile before she turned her attention back to Danny.

"Ok exaggeration aside, Pixie is right. You were really spacing out just now Danny. Are you ok?" Danny allowed a wry smile to cross his lips at Lee's mom mode. While the event of his manipulated future self had happened just three weeks ago, Shadow's sorrowful confession still haunted his mind.

Casse had made a full recovery since her hospitalization and jumped back on her feet just a week after. It still didn't stop the rest of the group (sans Sam) from hovering around her and watching her closely after she was discharged from Amity Memorial. The youngest Angeles had adored the attention but assured them that she was perfectly fine, though neither one of her siblings had believed her when she tried to persuade them.

However, they had more alarming things to worry about as well; Brad had lost his voice during the event and had yet to regain it three weeks later. It was beginning to worry everyone and the doctors were stumped clueless when they couldn't find the reason behind the loss of his voice. Test after test revealed nothing and it was beginning to agitate the blond boy when he couldn't voice himself out.

School days had been far worse than normal with Dash picking every single opportunity he could get to ridicule the now mute Angeles. Brad had begun venting his anger by breaking all of his pencils one by one during class time and getting splinters in his hand for doing so, much to Lee's chagrin. Luckily for them, school had let out for the Christmas holidays but sadly for Danny, he _hated_ this holiday.

"Nah. I'm fine Lee. I just… don't like Christmas." Brad had slung the squirming Casse over his shoulder, the younger Angeles hollering at him to put her down, and poked Tucker for his PDA. It became a regular occurrence for Brad to borrow Tucker's PDA to type in what he wanted to say. It got annoying for Brad because Tucker seemed to be the only one who could decipher his gestures, so they compromised.

Although Tucker had cheekily suggested that Brad get his own PDA instead of borrowing his. He had been rewarded with a pillow in the face for the suggestion.

'_Tell me about it. Good thing we're not back in Gotham or we'd have to make appearances at Uncle Bruce's __annual Christmas Ball. Those things are a pain in the ass. Not just for us though; Dad was never, and still isn't, keen on attending the Ball because Uncle Bruce would try to set him up with a date.'_

"Ow. Set him up on a blind date every year?" Tucker winced but didn't move to retrieve his PDA from Brad. He trusted the other boy to not destroy it, but if Casse managed to get her itchy hands on it on the other hand… Tucker didn't want to imagine the loose keys or cracked screens he'd have to replace if she did.

"Apparently he wanted to get dad to start dating again." Lee responded, poking her brother's shoulder with a look that said 'put Pixie down'. "Alfred mentioned once that Uncle Bruce thought that it would have been good for us to have a mother but dad was never interested in any of them or had the want to have a girlfriend."

'_Good thing too;__ Uncle Bruce has the *worst* taste in women.'_

"Oh come on, not all of them were that bad."

"I only liked Selina Kyle." Casse piped up as she gave up beating her brother's back and allowed him to carry her on his shoulder. By this time, Sam had returned to their little group with a large bright smile and curious eyes. "She was really nice and wasn't like all those other ladies who ignored us."

'_You only liked her because she had an army of cats.'_ Brad typed and dangled the screen at Casse's face and went to delete the message without showing the rest. However, Tucker quickly swiped his PDA from the blonds' hands and read the message out loud. Brad was rewarded with three enquiring looks until Lee rescued him by answering the unvoiced question.

"Pixie adores cats to bits but uh… Dwarf doesn't like them very much."

"… Life sure is interesting for you guys." Danny commented, hiding his grin behind his hand while imagining a scene between the triplets regarding the said animal. Brad just scowled at him. "How do you put up with it Lee?"

"I have no idea. I'm kind of surprised that I'm still sane after dealing with it all."

"So other than that Christmas Ball you've mentioned, what do you guys do for Christmas?" Sam questioned as the group continued walking down the crowded mall. Brad set Casse back down on her feet, typing on Tucker's PDA (after he had swiped it again) with a cheeky _'you're getting fat Pixie'_ and dodged the fist that immediately shot out to punch him. "I'm curious to know what big shots in Gotham do for Christmas other than those and charity events."

"Nothing." Sam gave Casse and incredulous look and the blond girl shrugged. "What? It's true. Other than the Christmas Ball, we don't do anything else. There's nothing special about Christmas."

"Are you kidding me?" The raven haired girl demanded, halting the group in their steps and stared straight at the triplets. "You guys don't do anything? What about your dad? Geez, Christmas is the time for family and friends! Of course it's special!"

"Uh… yea? We don't do anything else on Christmas. Dad still goes to work and doesn't come home."

"Ok Pixie, you know that's not true." The eldest Angeles frowned at her youngest sibling and rested a hand on her hip. "Dad _does_ come home before dark and then he asks both of you if you want to come along with us to what we do during Christmas Eve but you two always either decline or hole yourselves in your rooms."

"But what exactly do you guys do Lee?" Tucker asked curiously, watching Brad type on his PDA halfway before sidestepping to avoid Casse's advancing itchy fingers. He feared terribly for his PDA.

"If those two don't ask our dad themselves, I won't say anything." The blue clad girl responded darkly, folding her arms across her chest while Brad dodged Casse again and continued to type furiously on the PDA. "I think you should know very well how my dad goes about with this stuff Tuck."

"Point taken. Think I could ask him myself?"

"If you can catch him that is." Before Tucker could respond, his PDA came flying straight at his face. Startled, he caught it clumsily in his hands and looked up to see Brad wrestling Casse off his back. Understanding that Casse's attempts at snatching his PDA had once again been foiled by her brother, Tucker chuckled before reading Brad's message out loud.

'_Geez, mellow out Fairy. What's the big deal about it anyway? __Christmas has never really been a big deal for us, even with Uncle Bruce's Christmas Ball. It's just like any other normal day; only this year we won't have the stuck-up pain in the ass hanging around us.'_

"Dwarf!" This time, Brad's mouthed words of 'but its true' were very clear to the rest as he continued to wrestle against Casse's vice grip. Lee released an exasperated sigh and muttered a response at the three enquiring looks she was getting. "He means our god brother Richard Grayson."

"I take it that you guys don't exactly have a very good relationship with him." Danny voiced out, blinking at Lee. "I think I remember Brad saying something about keeping him away from you or something. Why is that?"

"Because that porcupine is always flirting with Fairy!" Casse had finally hopped off Brad's back and quickly dashed over to Lee, flinging herself at her sister and clung onto her waist. Lee could only 'oomph' in surprise at the weight that was flung at her. "He's sooo annoying! He never shuts up about his one hundred and one girlfriends and what was it… conquests?"

"… Dwarf meant those 'conquests' to be Dick's ex-girlfriends. They're essentially the same thing Pixie."

"Why does he call them conquests anyway?" Danny cocked his head to one side and coughed, already having the distinct feeling he knew the _exact_ reason as to why Brad had called them 'conquests'. Sam had covered her mouth and turned her face away, her shoulders shaking slightly while Tucker blushed and waved a hand over his face in an attempt to cool it off. It was amazing that Casse didn't understand the implications of the word, but then again with how much her siblings were always sheltering her from certain things, it was to be expected.

Danny couldn't help but remember Red Arrow's words to him regarding Casse's spoilt and childish attitude; it made him shudder slightly at the memory of Casse's temper tantrum when she was denied the chance to come along to see Zeraphina.

"I think we've lost him again." Danny blinked owlishly when he noticed the rest of the group staring at him. Mentally he cursed himself for being so easily distracted with his thoughts, he was going to end up in big trouble if he kept this up.

"Danny, are you sure you're ok?" All the hybrid could do was offer them a crooked smile. While he had revealed everything, including what he knew about his future self, to Jazz, he hadn't done the same to Sam, Tucker or Brad. All of their memories starting from the point when school began all the way to the end of the battle between himself and Shadow had been wiped clean. And he hadn't told any of them that he had revealed himself to his sister.

He had dug himself into a very deep rut and was now desperate to clamber out. Jazz had already given him her opinion over the matter but he hadn't acted just yet. He knew that the more he delayed the inevitable, the deeper trouble he would be in with his group of friends. Alright, maybe he was over exaggerating because Tucker and Brad always considered his situation but he was definitely sure that Sam would throw the biggest fit on earth when she found out.

"Yea, I'm fine. Sorry about that. What were we talking about again?"

"Why you don't like Christmas." Tucker supplied, eying the triplets curiously from the side. "Even though I actually _do_ know the reason behind your annual grouchy attitude during this season, I'd thought it would be best if they heard it from you."

"And why I don't seem to know that you don't like Christmas." Sam muttered, her cheerful mood having deflated at the knowledge that her crush didn't like the same holiday as she did.

"You were always too happy around this time of year to really notice. Besides, I usually avoided going out of the house. Ok well, more so my room actually."

"But how come?" Before Danny could reply to Casse's question, the group was startled at the loud arguing that suddenly came from the middle of the mall and the involved persons sounded strangely like Jack and Maddie Fenton. Danny couldn't help but drop his gaze to the ground and rub his temples with an exasperated look. This was definitely main reason as to why he always stayed at home during this season.

"Santa Claus does _NOT_ exist!"

"He does too!"

"… Danny isn't that your parents?"

"Unfortunately for me, yes that would be them." The hybrid groused, refusing to look up to meet his friends' looks since he already knew his parents would be up in each other's faces and taking their annual argument out to the public. "They do this every single year. Not only is it completely embarrassing, it gets on my nerves."

There was a tap on his shoulder and Danny found Tucker's PDA screen shining up at him with Brad's words of _'Want to ditch the mall then?'_ and nodded furiously. The screen made a disappearance, Danny assuming that Brad had shown the message to the rest, until it was brought back to his nose with a _'Come on, let's go'_.

He tried to ignore his parents' loud and embarrassing argument to the best of his ability while Brad guided him out of the mall with the rest of the group, all whom wisely kept silent until they got out of the building. Once they were out, Danny released a breath of relief and shot Brad a grateful look.

"Thanks. Sorry we had to cut your um… cheerful spree Sam."

"Well if it was making you uncomfortable by being there, I wouldn't be too cheerful either." The Christmas season was making her feel light hearted and Sam was actually feeling sorry for Brad's loss of voice, even if she had been the one who had wished for him to lose it three weeks ago. She didn't have the heart to feel malicious in this jolly season. "So, I guess that's why you don't really like Christmas huh?"

"Actually, that's just the main reason. It's been going on for years since I've known him." Tucker shot Danny an enquiring look, as if asking permission so that he could speak out for him. Danny's response was a shrug before he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket; Tucker took that as an 'ok' gesture for him to continue.

"What do you mean Tuck?"

"Well you could say it's just something that's been accumulating over the years that's made him very wary of Christmas." The group trudged down the snowy pathway, huddling close together to keep warm while listening intently to Tucker. "His parents have been doing these arguments for years, I think even before they got married. Danny's first Christmas wasn't exactly the most ideal; his parents got so heated into their argument that they neglected him in public."

'_Why do I think that there's more to this than just neglect?'_ Tucker chuckled dryly at Brad's observation and nodded.

"Yea, there well… is more to that than just simply neglecting him. Basically, a dog decided to… uh…"

"I became a stray dog's outdoor toilet." Casse scrunched up her face in disgust while Lee, Brad and Sam stared at him. "It's not something that I enjoy reminiscing about."

"Ew. I'll say." The youngest Angeles cuddled closely to her sister, wrapping her jacket around her body tightly. "That's so gross when you imagine it happening."

"And that wasn't the only bad thing to happen to him in later years." Tucker quickly intervened before Danny could snipe a remark at Casse. "The Christmas they had four years later wasn't any better. Jazz and Danny had to spend it at my place because their parents had completely forgotten about their dinner and swimming in turkey remains mixed with ectoplasm wasn't something very fun."

"You don't have to cut stuff out for them Tuck."

"But…" Danny just shrugged at his best friend. His face though filled with irritation, wasn't going to let his past Christmas experiences get the best of him from letting Tucker speak for him. "Oh alright. The stuffed turkey they were supposed to have for dinner had actually grown teeth and bit Danny in the butt."

'_Dude, that had to hurt.'_ The raven haired boy rolled his eyes and offered a crooked smile at Brad. _'No wonder you're grouchy. If you want to avoid the rest of the arguments, you're free to come over to our place.'_

"Thanks bro. I'll keep that in mind."

"I think I should get the spare bedroom ready then." Lee struggled to lean over Brad's shoulder to read what he had shown to Danny since Casse was still clinging onto her waist like a leech. "You'll probably take up the offer to sleep over when you have the opportunity to escape something that bugs you."

"You know that Fairy's going to stuff you with food right?" Casse grinned from Lee's side, peeking up from her burrowing. "We might not celebrate or even understand whatever Christmas is but Fairy sure knows how to whip up a really good dinner!"

'_Fairy *always* whips up good meals Pixie.'_ Brad rolled his eyes and pinched his younger sister's cheek. _'You only like Christmas for the presents you get from Uncle Bruce because he spoils you rotten.'_

"Hey! Not true!"

"What's not true?" Danny peered over Brad's other side to see what he had written and smiled. Grateful that the focus of the conversation had changed, Danny teasingly poked Casse's cheek and quickly retracted his finger when she tried to bite it. "Oh? So what's this about Casse getting spoiled rotten by your god dad?"

While Casse protested in the background, Brad continued to type repeatedly into the PDA before handing it to Danny to read aloud. Lee was trying to calm the other blond down but Casse had yet to stop whining.

'_Pixie's __never subtle about what she wants and Uncle Bruce *always* falls for it and always gives her what she wants. Like all her collectible toys, accessories and posters; he keeps on saying that the item, or items, are early birthday gifts but dad knows way better than that.'_

"He's never given me a kitten!" The other Angeles protested, scowling at her brother. "I've always wanted one but he doesn't give me one!"

"That's because dad says no to animals." Lee responded firmly, giving her sister a stern stare. "You know the rules Pixie, no animals are allowed in the house."

"But it's not fair!" Casse whined, tugging her sister's jacket forlornly. By this time, Brad had plucked the PDA from Danny's hands and started to type on it again. "If it's because Dwarf doesn't like animals then it's not fair!"

'_Animals are completely banned from the house. I swear if you bring an animal into the house I'll kick you out.'_

If Brad had voiced that out, Danny was definitely sure that he would be growling at Casse. Why Brad had such vehement dislike for animals was beyond him and somehow, Casse didn't seem to understand it either. Before Casse could voice another protest, Lee cut in.

"Alright you two, that's enough. We've had more than enough arguments about this topic. Pixie, no animals and that's final. Dwarf, cool it."

"Hey wait a sec." Sam frowned for a moment while Brad and Casse silently glared at each other. "Speaking of which, when are your birthdays?"

"Huh? Oh." Lee stopped her fruitless attempt at getting both her siblings to calm down. "Dwarf's and my birthdays are on the 23rd of December. Pixie's is on the 24th because she was born about five minutes after midnight."

"… Your birthdays fall on during Christmas Eve?" Three stares were sent their way while Brad and Casse ignored them and continued to glare at each other. Lee mumbled incoherently under her breath before correcting Tucker.

"Pixie's falls on Christmas Eve. Dwarf's and mine are the day before that."

"… Geez. You know, this has made me realize just how little we know about you guys." Danny shook his head despondently, somehow disgusted with himself for not knowing basic things about his friends. "Despite hanging out with each other almost every day, we didn't even know your birthdays were coming up. In two days no less!"

"Look on the bright side." Lee managed to pry Casse's arms off her waist and patted Danny's shoulder comfortingly. "We don't know when your birthdays are either."

"It doesn't feel like it's a very good bright side." Sam muttered as Tucker nodded his head in agreement to her statement. The rest of the walk to the Angeles house was spent with Lee assuring the other three that it was perfectly fine not knowing when their (the triplets) birthdays were while Brad and Casse ignored each other.

However when the group reached the cozy home, the argument and earlier conversation had been forgotten when they caught sight of someone leaning casually by the door to greet them. Lee grimaced when she recognized who it was while Casse immediately wrapped her arms around her sister's waist possessively and Brad's scowl had deepened into an ugly frown.

"Dick? What are you doing here?" A smooth rich laugh escaped the nineteen-year-old raven haired teen's lips as he casually rested his elbow at the door frame, watching the group lazily from his position at the door.

"And hello to you too lil' Lee. What's up brat, pipsqueak?" Danny forced his jaw to remain still and not turn into a frown at Richard 'Dick' Grayson's choice of nickname for Brad and Casse. While he had often told himself to get to know the other teenager personally rather than to simply listen to Brad and Casse's views of their god brother, he was already having a very bad impression of him.

Unfazed, Lee patted Brad's shoulder to prevent him from moving forward and smiled at Dick with forced politeness.

"This… is a surprise. Weren't you going to stay in Jump City with your friends for Christmas this year?" Dick smirked and shrugged, his demeanor seemingly lazy and uncaring as he pressed his back further against the door frame. An unrecognizable voice then echoed from inside the house, causing the triplets to raise their eyebrows at their god brother.

"Richard?" A stunning tanned skinned girl came totting out to the door, her fiery red hair cascading smoothly down her shoulders as her green eyes swept around to look at the group, then at Dick and back to the group again with an excited smile. "Oh, greetings! You must be Richard's god brother and sisters! It is a pleasure to meet you!"

Brad's expression had turned furious while Casse tightened her hold around Lee, her glaring eyes never leaving Dick. Danny, Tucker and Sam eyed the exchange warily, wisely keeping quiet and allowed them to resolve the conflict on their own. The unknown girl blinked and tilted her head at them in confusion but Lee had suddenly pried Casse's arms off her and stormed through the door before returning to the front door with an expression of complete fury.

"Richard Grayson, you had better explain yourself." Her voice was soft, but her tone was serious and deadly. The group had to step forward and still strain their ears to hear her. While Dick calmly regarded her, the green-eyed girl had wisely stepped aside. "Why is our house suddenly invaded with your friends?"

Brad mouthed an angry and silent 'what' while Casse exclaimed hers in the form of an outraged shriek. Now Danny couldn't help but let his lips drop into a frown. Even though he wasn't completely sure of the situation, he had a pretty good guess on what was happening and he didn't like it any better than the triplets.

"Aw, don't worry about it. There's no invasion, we're not staying over in this tiny place. But we are hanging around for Christmas." Lee crossed her arms over his chest and tapped her foot, her expression clearly not satisfied with Dick's explanation. The spiky haired boy exaggerated a sigh and shrugged. "What's so wrong with wanting to visit my god siblings huh?"

"Because we know you always have an ulterior motive!" Casse scowled, finally moving forward and latched her arms back around Lee's waist while still glaring at Dick. "All you ever do is annoy us!"

"I'm crushed." Dick feigned a mock stab at his heart. "Is that how you see your god brother as? Even when I come bearing gifts for the season?"

"More importantly, how did you get in to their house?" Sam wasn't liking him one bit. Dick's arrogant attitude was grinding her nerves but she forced herself to not lash out. For once, she sympathized with the triplets for being associated with someone so arrogant and flippant. "I don't think you should personally have the keys to their house if you live all the way in Jump City."

"Hey, I have my ways. And more importantly to me, it's not any of your business as to how I have access to my own god siblings' house." Before Sam could retaliate, an exasperated huff could be heard from behind her, causing everyone to look in that direction to see an annoyed Bruce Wayne and a rather amused Alfred Pennyworth standing at the sidewalk beside a limousine.

"Dick, are you causing trouble again?"

"Who me? Never!"

"And who said that your friends could come over? I thought I made it clear that whatever party it was you were going to have in Jump City was not to be taken along with you here to Amity Park."

"Oh come on, it's only a few people!"

"Kori?" The red head smiled and greeted him cheerfully. "Who did Dick bring here?"

"Oh! Myself, Rachel, Victor, Garfield-" Tucker and Danny choked at the name but quickly forced the laughter down. The matter was serious but the name was enough to make them chortle. It was a good thing Kori didn't notice. "- Roy, Garth, Karen, Marco and Mario [1]."

Bruce Wayne leveled a stern glare at his ward, predictably not pleased with situation. "Kori if you could, please get all of them out and back into the hotel that you're all staying in. I'll speak with you all later but right now, I need to deal with Dick."

"Oh, of course! Many apologies for the sudden intrusion of your wonderful home!" Kori smiled brightly and shook Lee's hand a little too vigorously before almost floating off to the dining room to inform the rest of Dick's friends. The nine turned out to be a group of teenagers around Dick's age of late teens, although the twins in the group were closer to Danny's group's age of mid-teens.

"I knew we shouldn't have come along." The tall broad shouldered African American male frowned at Dick. "For all I know, you might have made us come along just for kicks to see how far you can piss your god brother off."

"Lay off Vic, you guys wanted to meet them too."

"But it would have been better if you had told them that we were coming along instead of giving them a rude shock." The pale skinned girl shot back, flipping her short purple tinted hair from her face. "Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that brain of yours."

"_Si si!_" The red-headed twins crowed, slapping each other high fives before zipping over to Casse and Lee, giving them toothy grins and a cheeky kiss each on the hand before quickly dashing away when Dick and Brad's murderous glares trained in on them. "_Amigo and hermano enojado! Amigo enojado! _[2]"

"… Karen, you cannot blame me for any bodily harm I might inflict on Marco and Mario once I get my hands on them." Dick growled, glaring at the Spanish twins' retreating backs while cracking his knuckles. The African American girl sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Just don't kill them. I need them both back in one piece at least."

"Well Garth, we now have to worry about the well-being of those two brats or we're going to have to find new tenants for the rooms." The older red-headed teen joked, nudging the other raven haired boy lightly. "Or at least hire some nurses because I think Dick's going to break their arms and legs."

"Make sure to get them male nurses." The other, Garth as Danny noted, suggested, laughing along with the rest. "That would calm their raging hormones at least."

Garth turned and flashed the two Angeles girls a bright and apologetic smile. "Sorry for the intrusion, Dick does get pushy when he wants something done."

"…Sure." Danny couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Lee's faint response. It almost sounded as if she was lovesick, just like how he had used to act around Paulina and that was scary. He couldn't help but notice that she was looking more at Garth than any of the rest of Dick's friends and felt a fresh stab of protectiveness grip at him.

"We'll be off then. See you back at the hotel Dick. Have a good evening to the rest of you and Mr. Wayne." Victor bowed his head politely before gathering the rest of the group and pushed them off in the direction of their hotel. The group of older teens passed by Tobias as he walked down the street towards his home and raised an eyebrow at them.

"Dick, nine people are _not _'just a few', especially when I specifically told you not to bring _anyone_."

"Geez, the rest of them wanted to meet lil' Lee, the brat and pipsqueak, so why not?"

"Hey, do you have any idea how derogatory those nicknames are?" Sam hissed out, already having a stronger dislike for Dick than she had for the triplets combined. Dick leveled an uncaring stare at her but before he could respond, a very annoyed Tobias Angeles interrupted them.

"Bruce."

"Toby." Already sensing his best friend's annoyance, Bruce could only offer him a shrug. "I did tell him no but he didn't listen."

"And the reason behind this visit would be for?"

"Toby, its Christmas. At least lighten up for the season and I'm pretty sure you do know why we're here. To spend it as family."

"Could've fooled me." Casse muttered, still clinging onto her sister possessively. Danny idly noted just how overprotective both Brad and Casse were of Lee around their god brother. She was clinging onto her like a leech. "Uncle Bruce, couldn't you have gotten Babs to come over and not him?"

"Barbara is spending Christmas with her family so she couldn't come." The billionaire responded with an apologetic smile. Dick made a small huffing sound and folded his arms across his chest. "But she did hand Alfred a stack of presents to give to the three of you and your friends. She's tried to gauge them with what you wrote to her so she hopes that the presents are satisfactory to you."

Danny, Tucker and Sam blinked when Bruce directed his gaze to them while Alfred unloaded a small mountain of brightly wrapped boxes from the limo. Danny was surprised that the girl had taken the effort to get them something; he'd have to remember to send her a thank-you letter when the triplets next sent the Commissioner's daughter a letter.

"Alright then so… Can we go in now? I think I just froze my ass off." At Tucker's light hearted joke, the teens burst into giggles, Brad rolling his eyes at the bespectacled teen and made a series of gestures at him, some of them obscene. Unfortunately for him, his god father had understood the gestures.

"Bradley." He warned, regarding his god son sternly while the blond boy had simply waved him off and trotted towards his sisters. Bruce shook his head and sighed. "You are much too lenient on them Toby. At least punish him when he makes those rude gestures."

"And if I do recall correctly, Richard was the one who taught them those gestures. If he had not, I would not need to do such a thing as punish them." Danny and Tucker quickly stifled their laughter while Sam allowed a giggle to escape her lips. It never ceased to amaze him just how easy Tobias made it look to shoot down everything Bruce said. It made it even funnier when Alfred agreed with the brunette.

"If I do say so myself Master Bruce… but Master Tobias is quite right in saying that Young Master Dick taught Young Master Bradley those obscene gestures."

"Dick, stop poisoning them. You make me look bad at parenting."

"I thought you _did_ suck at parenting?"

"Don't push your luck Dick. I'm still going to have a _very_ long talk with you later about bringing your friends here."

* * *

While it had been fun getting to know Bruce Wayne and Dick on a personal level, Danny still couldn't find himself to like their god brother by the time he left the Angeles house. Plus his good mood had dimmed once he had gotten back home to a house where his parents were actually _still_ arguing about the existence of Santa Claus. Jazz could only offer him a light shrug, having gotten used to the arguing as a part of the season while he stomped up the stairs and went into his room.

Despite Sam's insistence that he should take a break off his nighttime patrols for the season, Danny welcomed the excuse to escape the house while he could. He found it suspicious that the ghosts weren't attacking; his paranoid mindset insisted that they were up to something big and were hoping to catch him off guard. There was no way he was going to let his guard down, holiday or not.

After stuffing his pillows under his sheets and fluffing them into a decent shape of a sleeping human, Danny transformed into his ghostly alter-ego and took the skies. He relished the freedom of the clear night and lazily followed the balmy breeze. It was times like these that he enjoyed flying; it wasn't that he didn't like flying, it was an amazing experience, but it was just that the majority of time he used on flying was to either escape getting his butt fried or trying to save his friends from the crossfire.

He didn't have much time to savior the feel of flying during his patrols either; Danny was sure that if he went out with his guard down, he'd get jumped on by the other ghosts. Besides, he also had to look out for Tucker and Sam during the patrols. He didn't want them getting hurt just because he wanted to enjoy the feeling of flying for a while.

The night was suspiciously quiet and Danny frowned at the lack of ghostly activities. Drat, it seemed as if he would have to find some other way to vent his frustration over his quarreling parents other than frying the poor ghosts' butts that he would so happen to come across during his patrol.

He sighed and floated to the top of the Amity Observatory, settling himself comfortably on the roof and stared up at the field of stars that was splayed over the sky. Even Valerie had taken a break off ghost hunting to celebrate the season. Danny would almost wish that she was still hunting him so that he could blow some steam off.

Almost.

'_Argh, this is frustrating!'_ He growled internally, messing up his hair as he rummaged through his thoughts. _'Just what the heck are they planning that would make this *this* quiet?'_

Danny tried to think of the possibilities but a majority of them seemed way too far-fetched; though he wouldn't be completely surprised if the ghosts used those kinds of ideas since they had proved him wrong on several occasions with their absurd schemes. With the night so quiet, he really didn't have anything better to do but to go home; and he really wanted to avoid his home as much as he could.

Suddenly he was hit by a thought. If he really had to head home, there was still one more alternative he could use to avoid hearing his parents' argument regardless of the fact that they could be asleep by the time he got back; The Ghost Zone. Since he wasn't exactly ready to return back home, he might as well scout the Ghost Zone to see if he could find out what the ghosts were up to.

Yes, a good enough excuse to not go back. Mentally, Danny cheered for the excuse and flew off in the direction of Fenton Works. Once he was out of sight from the Observatory, the shadows shifted and lifted from the roof of the Observatory. The shadow twisted before forming the shape of the Teen Titan Raven, who casually stared into the direction that Danny had left in before calling on the raven shadow and disappeared when the shadow swallowed her.

Within minutes, Danny had reached Fenton Works, bypassed the security systems and now found himself welcoming the vivid green of the Ghost Zone. But strangely enough, he didn't see any of the ghosts wandering around as per normal. In fact, the Ghost Zone almost looked as tranquil as Amity Park as per his recent patrol which to him, was frankly quite scary. Not even the Box Ghost was flying around trying to be creepy.

Aimlessly he flew through the Ghost Zone, perplexed at the lack of activity from the ghosts in both the Real Realm and the Zone. Inwardly he sighed at his luck; it was just like it to make this happen for him. Why was it when he was finally *looking* for a fight there wasn't any ghost attacking?

'_Someone's rioting against me.'_ The hybrid grumbled as he continued to wander about the Ghost Zone with no destination in mind. _'There has to be some sort of conspiracy happening around here, almost everything is against me during this season.'_

"You need to watch where you are going before you hit something." Startled at the sudden voice, Danny's body tensed and he flew back a few feet, poised in a defensive position. He blinked when he came face to face with a bespectacled ghost clad in ragged and worn clothes. Tucked neatly under his arm was a thick book and the ghost adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose before regarding Danny again.

"Were you expecting to be attacked?"

"Uh… yes?" At the ghost's query, Danny allowed his defensive posture to slacken a little though he hadn't completely let his guard down just yet. "That's basically the norm when any other ghost sees me and probably their first impulse is to try kicking my butt."

"Well you won't have those kind of troubles until after New Year's then." The ragged ghost responded with a smile, shifting the large book from under his arm. "It's a tradition in the Ghost Zone to cease fighting during this Christmas season until the day after New Year's."

"… You have got to be kidding me." Danny stared at the ghost incredulously, not believing what he was hearing at all. "They actually celebrate Christmas?"

"Of course we do; do you not know?" The ghost regarded him solemnly, as if Danny was unwittingly stepping into shark infested waters that were waiting to tear him apart. The hybrid could only stare at him blankly. "Come with me then, I can try to explain it to you to the best of my ability."

He continued to stare at the ghost's back for a moment before he snapped out of his reverie and quietly floated some distance behind the other. This development was starting to confuse him. Ghosts celebrated holidays just like humans did? Danny never thought that the ghosts were humane enough to do those kinds of things since majority of the time they spent was to scare humans shitless and take over the Real Realm.

And the ghost strangely reminded him of Tobias Angeles for some reason.

But it came as a pleasant surprise when the ghost led him to a relatively large looking mansion that was actually a library on the inside. Shelves of books towered over Danny as he stared wide-eyed at the collection while the other ghost allowed an amused smile to play on his lips before settling down on the chair with a peculiar desk.

"Come, take a seat." He spoke up, breaking Danny out of his stunned stupor as he gestured to another chair close by to the desk. "I am Ghost Writer, resident novelist of the Ghost Zone. Don't worry; I've heard more than enough to know that you are Danny Phantom. Which do you prefer to be referred to as?"

"Uh… Just call me Phantom I suppose." Awkwardly, Danny sat down on the chair, pleasantly surprised at the soft cushiony feeling of the seat. "Most of the ghosts usually refer me as whelp or ghost child though."

"Well, I'm not like most ghosts then." There was a twinkle of mischief in Ghost Writer's eyes as he winked teasingly at Danny, allowing the hybrid to relax a little more. "It is rather strange that you do not know of some of the Ghost Zone traditions; but granted no one has seemed to take you under their wing to inform you of them since you became corporeal."

"Uhm… Corporeal?" A sudden pounding sound echoed in his ears as Danny stared at Ghost Writer. Traditions of the Ghost Zone? When he came corporeal? What did all of that mean? He felt Ghost Writer's eyes stare at him intently and couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. "Sorry, it's just that I don't understand what or how we as ghosts come about."

"This is serious." Ghost Writer murmured, leaning back against his chair with a frown marring his face. "No wonder you don't seem to trust your own kind and prefer to reside in the Real Realm."

It dawned to Danny that not all the ghosts realized that he was a mix of ghost and human. Given Ghost Writer's worried frown and statements, it became obvious to him that not all ghosts were as malevolent as his parents had made them out to be. The Box Ghost couldn't even be considered a ghost in comparison to the likes of Skulker and Walker. Heck, even Vlad in his human form could make an even scarier and better ghost than the short stunted box loving entity.

"Here." Danny blinked when a large book was placed in front of him. He had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn't seen Ghost Writer get off his chair and browse through his books before plucking one out and setting it in front of him. "I don't think it would be wise of me to drone on about everything but perhaps it would suit you better to read it. I'll answer as many questions as I can if you have any."

Danny watched as Ghost Writer offered him a smile before sliding back into his seat by the desk, tinkering with the strange keyboard and scribbling on pieces of paper by his side. The hybrid tilted his head, still a little stunned at the amount of kindness the other ghost was giving him but forced his paranoia down and curiously flipped open the book.

Worn and battered, the book looked like it had seen better days but the writing was still clearly legible for Danny. He scanned through the long list of chapters before picking one that piqued his curiosity; the one that detailed the formation of ghosts. Gingerly so as to not tear the pages of the book, Danny flipped to the aforementioned page and set his full attention to the writing.

----------

_Humans believe that we, the ghosts, are lingering spirits or souls of those who have become deceased in their realm. However, this is not the case as we are generally much different from the human definition of 'ghost'. It is from here that it will be explained how we, the ghosts, come to life._

_Ghosts are formed by the fusion of emotions and ecto-plasmic particles. Majority of ghosts who become corporeal are generally malevolent due to the surge of negative emotions that merge with the ecto-plasmic particles when a human dies. Though it is not rare that a benevolent would surface once every few years to the Ghost Zone._

_Despite the belief that we are the disembodied spirits of the Real Realm who are clearly dead, we are *alive*. We eat, we breathe and we feel emotions just as any human does. It is wrong to believe that ghosts are eternal; our kind is not. It clearly depends on the strength of the emotions that fuse with the ecto-plasmic particles that would determine our life span. Generally, ghosts do have a longer lasting life span than humans do; but it does not mean that we are not able to 'die' earlier._

_(*Note: Longest living ghosts since the creation of the Ghost Zone to date are Pariah Dark, a time-shifting ghost, whose existence has yet to be confirmed, referred to as Clockwork and a number of unknown variables whom have been labeled 'The Observants'.)_

_We simply have these 'ghost-like' abilities, due to the ecto-plasmic particles, such as intangibility and invisibility that humans have classified us as such._

_Ecto-plasmic particles are everywhere; they are simply too minuscule for any human apparatus to pick up even with the updated technology of the year 2000. The fused particles are transported to the Ghost Zone, by ways that are still unknown to this day, where they develop and give 'birth' to the ghost. The emotions that have been fused with the ecto-plasmic particles play a crucial role in the ghost's behavioral tendencies and the form that they take._

_Even though ghosts are primarily created in this way, it does not mean existing ghosts are unable to reproduce. Ghosts have the same reproductive systems of a human and *are* capable of falling in love with other ghosts._

…

----------

Danny stared at the pages as he continued to read, completely mystified at the history of ghosts that he never knew of. His mind spun in circles as the paragraphs seemed to echo repeatedly in the recesses of his brain. The sudden influx of knowledge was starting to make his head hurt as some of his previous encounters began to make sense.

He never thought he could use the word die to ghosts, thinking that they wouldn't pass on. He had to admit that he, like any other human, believed that ghosts were spirits of the dead but it got confusing when he pursued the thought further. What would it make him then? He was half human and half ghost and he had always thought that he was half-dead. With this knowledge, he had to ponder; what exactly did happen when he was struck by the electric pulse of ectoplasm when fooling around in the Ghost Portal?

So what exactly was he?

The words seemed to grow larger in his vision as he stared at the pages. Suddenly his alternate future came to mind; the reproduction part made sense since Box Lunch had made her proud announcement of being the daughter of the Box Ghost and Lunch Lady. Falling in love; didn't that other ghost, Kitty? Seem cozy and close with that other ghost when he had first met them in the future?

Suddenly everything just seemed plausible when he pursued the thoughts further. Why hadn't he seen it before?

Now that he had a vague idea of the existence of ghosts, Danny gently flipped the book back to the chapter list and spotted the next one that piqued his interest: Traditions of the Ghosts.

----------

_There have been thousands of traditions that have been passed down since the Ghost Zone's creation. Though many have gradually faded in time, to this day there are at least five traditions that still live within the ghosts. _

_Of the five occasions, one is simply known as 'Day of Corporeal', where all the ghosts celebrate the day of their existence. One could possibly compare it to that of a human's 'birthday'. Highly similar in terms that we use the same calendar as the humans and that we count the years just as they do. However there are no items such as 'presents' or 'party' on the Day of Corporeal. The difference between the human's birthday and a ghost's day of corporeal is that a ghost would be placed on a day seclusion where he or she would reflect on their life as they had come to in the Ghost Zone. _

_It is only twenty-four hours after that will there be a 'celebration' for the ghost. Even the celebrations differ to that of a human's birthday. However, the younger generations of ghosts do not feel compelled to carry on this occasion, preferring to continue with their daily lives rather than to 'waste' it on 'trivial' reflecting. _

_The most major occasion that is celebrated in the Ghost Zone is Christmas. All generations of ghosts must cease any form of violence during this period until after New Year's Day to find their inner peace and harmony. The ghosts will mingle with each other, perhaps able to find their significant other in the season or to simply find a friend in a stranger. It is uncertain of how this celebration came to be, however, it is welcomed by the ghosts and any ghost found to be causing trouble are reprimanded by the populace._

…

----------

"Hey, Ghost Writer?"

"Yes?"

"So literally no ghost wants to, or isn't allowed to, create any havoc during Christmas up until after New Year's?"

"That's basically it." Ghost Writer looked up from his keyboard and watched in amusement as Danny's face scrunched up into a calculating look. "Do you need more time to finish reading the book?"

"I don't think I can even start to comprehend what the hell I just read." The hybrid groused, scratching the top of his head as he glared at the book. "How can I continue reading if I don't get the two basic chapters?"

Ghost Writer released a hearty laugh at Danny's pout, the hybrid scowling deeply at the book that lay in front of him. The other ghost pushed himself up from his chair and floated over to Danny, clapping a hand on his shoulder that caused the bleach haired boy to look up at him.

"It can get a little overwhelming. But I don't expect you to be able to finish reading the book, never mind about even remembering what is inside it, by today. My library doors are open for you to come and go as you please if you should so need to look anything up that is to your interest."

The amount of generosity that Ghost Writer was giving him was so staggering that Danny could only nod mutely, his eyes wide with a dumbstruck look splashed over his face. With a smile, Ghost Writer patted Danny's shoulder gently before jerking his head towards the door.

"Now, since you don't exactly live in the Ghost Zone as far as I know, I believe you should return to your dwelling. It is quite late a hour for both the Ghost Zone and Real Realm."

"…You're a little weird, you do know that right?" Ghost Writer snorted and rolled his eyes skyward.

"So I've been told thousands of times since I became corporeal."

It was only then that Danny fully relaxed in Ghost Writer's presence and openly laughed at the other ghost's exasperated expression. The ghost rolled his eyes again as Danny got up from his seat, with the book suddenly closing shut before Ghost Writer picked it up from the table.

Danny bade the novelist ghost good night before flying back to the Fenton Portal, his mind buzzing with the information he had just found. He knew that he was going to space even more now that he had obtained all this knowledge of ghosts to sort out. Why did his life have to be so complicated?

Oh well. At least now he knew that he wasn't going to be able to pick a fight until after New Year's. Damn, why did peace have to come at the wrong time?

Thankfully, the house was quiet when he passed through the portal. He glanced up to the clock and started, surprised that it was already an hour past midnight. Quickly, he phased through the ceiling of the lab (once he had shut off the portal) and spotted Jazz snoozing lightly by his bedside, apparently having lost the battle with sleep while waiting for him. He pinched the bridge of his nose, cursing himself for forgetting that his sister would still check up on him every night even if he had tried to assure her that he would be fine.

Sometimes he wondered why he could be so absentminded, making his sister worry about him and causing her unnecessary grief.

"Hey Jazz, wake up." The older teen stirred as Danny gently shook her shoulder. "Come on, you should go sleep on your own bed and not straight up here."

"Danny?" Instantly her sleepy expression faded and she began to check his body for injuries. Danny quickly grabbed her hands to stop her from continuing and smiled.

"Sorry for worrying you. I'm fine; no bruises and in fact, there weren't any fights today."

"Then why are you so late?" Jazz's brow furrowed deeply, her eyes still sweeping across her brother's body in case he was hiding some injury from her. "If there weren't any fights, shouldn't you have gotten home earlier?"

"Just… wanted to stay out of the house a little more, you know?" The red-head sighed and nodded her head in understanding, knowing fully that her brother would always find excuses to get out of the house or stay in his room during this season. "I'm fine, don't worry. I'm pretty sure your bed will be way comfier than sitting on my bed."

"Snarky." She murmured, rolling her eyes as she gently pinched his left cheek. "Well, if you insist… Just give me a call next time if you're going to come back late?"

"I'll try… but really, I just lost track of time because I found out some interesting stuff. Would tell you about it but I haven't sorted them all out yet." Jazz nodded, dropping her hands onto her lap as Danny returned to his human form. He leaned forward and shyly pecked her cheek. "But really, thanks for your concern Jazz."

"Any time little brother." She stood and bent down to kiss his hairline, ruffling his hair lightly before walking towards the door. "Good night and sleep well."

"Back at you." He grinned and watched as Jazz closed the door behind her silently before flopping onto his bed with a sigh. What a confusing night; hopefully sleep would make him feel better and revitalize him enough to sort out all the information. Danny closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, and it wasn't long before he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Danny was particularly grateful that he had woken up before his parents did and wolfed down his breakfast fast enough to avoid the morning shouts. Jazz had mentioned to him that she would be in the house for the whole day if he needed to call her. Truthfully, he thought his sister should be sainted for being able to put up with their parents' annoying annual argument. He on the other hand, could not stand it at all.

Both Sam and Tucker weren't available for the day, both his best friends were spending time with their families and he wasn't quite sure if Brad's offer from the day before was still valid because of the sudden arrival of their godfather and god brother. So Danny had opted to wander around town aimlessly and continue trying to sort out the ghost facts he had learnt from the night before.

He didn't know how much time had passed or to which places he had gone to since he started his wandering, but somehow he managed to bump into Lee with piles of grocery bags in her hands. However she wasn't alone; accompanying her was three of Dick's friends whose hands were also loaded with grocery bags.

"Danny!" Danny gently pushed his series of thoughts away and tried to return the greeting to Lee with equal cheeriness. He didn't succeed though because the blond had frowned and checked him over cautiously, but she wisely didn't say anything about it. "How are you doing today?"

"Meh, could be better." He shrugged, adjusting his coat lightly before eying Dick's friends warily. "So… what's up? That's way too many groceries for just your dad, Brad, Casse and yourself. Is there something up?"

Lee blew her bangs from her eyes in annoyance as she glared at the sky. Thankfully one of Dick's friends, Vic if Danny recalled correctly, answered him.

"Well, Dick apparently 'forgot' to tell them that he had invited all of us for dinner tonight and only told them this morning when he 'dropped' us all off." Danny could see the quotation floating around the words 'forgot' and 'dropped' that was cued with Vic's facial expression. Now he was curious to know what exactly happened earlier. "Our poor little lady here got frustrated because they don't have enough food if she's going to have to feed all of us tonight. In addition that almost all of us have very… selective tastes, we thought she could use a hand."

"… Oh wow. So ten of you guys, with Mr. Wayne, Mr. Angeles, Brad, Casse and Lee… Geez. That's fifteen." Danny scratched the back of his head in mild shock. "Man, there goes me asking if I could avoid my house tonight by staying in yours."

"Up to the lady chef of the house." The red-head piped up as Lee threw a half scowl, half pout at him. "She is the one cooking for us but seriously, I think we overbought the food for the night. We should have more than enough even if you join in."

"Then I might as well start earning my keep of food." The hybrid remarked, tugging a majority of the bags from Lee's hands. The girl threw him an exasperated look and tugged them back, resulting in a mini tug-of-war between them until Danny pulled out a victory against her. Lee grumbled about 'fake chivalry' and 'prideful boys' under her breath which earned her a wounded puppy look from Danny. The other three teenagers watched their exchange in amusement while lagging behind them a little as they walked.

"So, I don't think I managed to get all your names last night or even if I did, I can't fit them to a face." The bulky African American teen laughed, shaking his head at Danny's remark. The red-head raised an eyebrow at him, his eyes twinkling merrily while the other raven haired teen looked amused.

"Don't worry about it; we didn't exactly get to introduce ourselves properly anyway. I'm Victor Stone." Victor jerked his head to the red-head, "That's Roy Harper. He's the heir to the Queen Industries in Star City." When Danny didn't seem to care about the extra tidbit, Victor continued with the last teen. "And that's Garth Aquatan."

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Danny Fenton." Lee covered her mouth to smother her giggles when the three older teens stared at Danny who looked back at them owlishly. "Uh, yes?"

"Either he's clueless or he really doesn't care about extra tidbits." Roy murmured, though he was looking quite thankful at the lack of reaction Danny had to Victor's side comment of him being heir to Queen Industries. "Frankly, I'm pretty glad that he doesn't care."

"He doesn't! How many times do I have to tell you that Danny doesn't care about ties with big shots?"

"You call your godfather a big shot?"

Danny wasn't listening at that point, his mind having wandered off at the mention of Queen Industries. He shivered when he remembered that Oliver Queen had been one of the civilian casualties in the Watchtower Tragedy and wondered what happened to Roy in that timeline. Now that he had time to think of it, what happened to Dick? The future Casse hadn't spoken about her god brother at all and Alfred… well, he wasn't quite sure how that Alfred had felt; the older man was calm and didn't reveal much with his expression.

"Houston, we've lost contact with Fenton." He blinked and looked up, noticing that the other four were now staring at him, three amused and one worried. Danny inwardly cursed himself when Lee started fussing over him; he really needed to stop spacing out. "You ok there Danny?"

"Uh yea. Sorry about that, was just preoccupied with a lot of stuff."

"Need a listening ear?" The five continued walking down the path and Danny couldn't help but notice that Lee and Garth were walking suspiciously close to each other. Internally he scowled when Garth threw Lee a charming smile which made the girl blush lightly. With his attention focused somewhere else again, Victor smothered his laughs and gently knocked Danny's shoulder. "It's been going on since this morning. We're not taking it too seriously though; Garth's always charming to the ladies and easy to get along with unlike Dick."

"Doesn't mean I can't look out for my friend." The hybrid muttered darkly, eying the two suspiciously from the side and wondered if Brad had any idea his older sister had become love-struck for one of Dick's friends. He'd probably grab Tucker along with them and the three boys would proceed to plot Garth's demise. Yes. The thought sounded very pleasing to Danny at the moment.

"Plotting already?" Roy raised an amused eyebrow at Danny, his lips curved into a cheeky smile. The red-head stole a glance to the side, sniggering when the two flirting ones didn't realize that they were talking about them. Probably too enamored with each other. "Should I go look for another roommate now if my current one is going to make a disappearance soon?"

"I highly suggest that you do." Victor and Roy burst out laughing at Danny's dark remark, finally catching Lee and Garth's attention. Both looked at the other three strangely, wondering why Danny had a dark menacing cloud looming over him while the other two boys were laughing themselves sick.

"Do I want to know what you guys are talking about?" Lee muttered, shifting away from Garth and nudged Danny's side cautiously. Danny blinked and leaned away from Lee when he noticed that she was standing quite close to him, almost toppling over when he leaned a little too far off. "Why do you look like you want to kill something Danny?"

"…It's nothing." The blond raised a skeptic eyebrow at him and Danny quickly changed the topic despite her questioning glare. "So, are the rest back at your place then?"

"Yup. When we left, little lady of sunshine was declaring a snowball fight against our friend Gar. They probably dragged the rest into their war."

"Think Casse's found her soul mate?" Lee leveled a pointed glare at Danny who cheekily winked back in response. He wasn't serious about it because he would probably *join* the hunt in tracking Gar down too. "Oh? Or is big sis not going to let little sis date until she's oh… say past menopause stage?"

"You're terrible Danny." She raised her foot and kicked the side of his leg, causing Danny to yelp out in pain and hop around on the other leg. Lee simply had no idea just how strong her kicks had become since the kidnapping incident because Danny and Brad would just bear with the pain until she was out of sight. The both of them were her usual kicking targets because they were the ones who were able to annoy her enough to get into a kicking mood. Since she caught him off guard, Danny wasn't prepared for the sudden jolt of pain that shot up his leg.

He thought fast when Lee's glare turned into an alarmed look and quickly shifted his expression to one that hopefully looked like a convincing mock hurt look.

"You wound me Lee!" Danny whined, shifting his eyes into a full blown wounded puppy look to cover up his watering eyes. He hoped they were convinced that the tears were crocodile tears. "Why are you so mean to meee?"

She threw him an exasperated look while the other three choked on their laughter. Danny gave an inward sigh at his small triumph of faking; he just hoped he was able to bear with the pain until they got to the Angeles household.

The group lapsed into comfortable conversation, allowing Danny to learn a little more about the older teens. His mind still couldn't help but think of how they (Victor, Garth and Roy) would have been in the alternate future. Would they be as hateful as Nightwing? Weary and worn like Shayera? The possibilities were endless but thankfully he didn't space out as badly as he had done earlier.

The outside of the house was suspiciously silent though the snow and the outer walls of the house showed signs of the snowball fight.

"Ok, either they got tired of the snow or got too cold to stay out." Victor muttered as they walked up to the porch of the house. "I don't think I've mentioned this before, but really nice house."

"You should direct that compliment to my dad then." Lee giggled, digging through her pockets for the house key before unlocking the door. A disarray of shoes greeted them and jackets were hung haphazardly on the coat rack beside the door. Danny's lips curved into an amused smile while Lee glared at the mess in annoyance. "Where are –"

"Oo, I really hope Fairy will let me keep them!"

"Truly, they are quite adorable! It is sad that they have been abandoned out in this cold."

"Just remember that you'll have to take them to the vet and have them checked out before you can keep them Casse."

Casse's reply to speaker was drowned out with a series of meows that made Lee freeze and abruptly drop the grocery bags from her hands. Startled at her reaction, Danny gently placed his load on the ground and touched her shoulder but received no response from the blond.

"Hey, Lee? What's wrong?"

"She didn't… She couldn't have…!" Perplexed at her words, Danny opened his mouth to enquire but she had brushed his hand off and sprinted forward towards the dining/living room. Danny exchanged confused looks with the other three, the teens putting the bags down at the side of the main door and moved forward to the dining room.

Lee stood there at the frame of the door, staring at the tiny litter of kittens that were rolling around the floor. Casse was cuddling one in her arms and the light blond male held another, the rest were watching the kittens licking milk from a bowl with affection but Danny noticed that Brad was suspiciously absent from the room.

"You did…" All heads snapped up at Lee's strangled whisper. Casse immediately perked up and got to her feet, racing towards her sister with bright wide eyes. She held out the tiny black fuzz of fur to show her sister and smiled widely.

"Fairy! Can we please, please, please, please, please keep them? They're so cute and they were out in the cold so we brought them in!"

Lee didn't respond, still staring incredulously at her perky sister who was still pleading to be allowed ownership of the kittens. The tiny little kitten looked up at her with wide blue eyes and meowed softly at her. While the kittens were cute, Danny couldn't help but get the feeling that this was definitely not going to end well.

"What are these… cats doing in here?" Danny winced at the oldest Angeles's strangled voice. He could tell that she was trying to be calm but it wasn't working very well in her agitated state.

"We found them out in the streets." The lighter blond teen piped up from his seat on the floor, his green eyes wide and eying the two sisters almost curiously. "Since it was cold and we couldn't find their mother, we brought them in here."

"Please Fairy? They're really cute and I promise I'll take good care of them!"

"That's not the point! You didn't tell them that animals aren't allowed in the house didn't you?!" Now she was shouting and Casse took a step back in shock. The rest of the teens grew quiet as Lee stared at her sister. "We been through this so many times and it's beginning to get old Casse! Animals are *not* allowed in this house!"

"But it's not fair!" Casse shouted back, hugging the kitten close to her chest as she argued. "I already said I'd take care of them! No one else needs to take care of them if I own them! Why don't you trust me?"

"That's not the point!" By this time, Lee's face had twisted into an angry scowl and her teeth gnashed against each other as she glared at Casse. Fearfully, Danny took a step back away from Lee. "The point is that we've told you time and time again that we were not going to keep any pets! Are you *trying* to make us angry by disobeying one simple rule?!"

The other teens, sans the light blond, quickly scooted away from the siblings as the tension began to build in the air. Danny had never seen Lee this furious before and was beginning to fear her angry side. He didn't hear what Casse had responded to Lee with but her words seemed to agitate the other even more when Lee slammed a fist against the frame of the door.

The slam was loud and harsh, echoing through the walls of the house like a gong that was rung. Casse took another step back, her face mixed with confusion and fear as Lee scowled at her. The older girl spun her heel and stormed to the store room, loud bangs and cluttering noises heard at the wake of her abrupt departure.

She returned shortly with a box haphazardly lined with worn woolen clothes and dumped the box on the ground. She then knelt down and picked the kittens up by the scruffs of their neck and placed them in the box, not caring if the lighter blond boy had given her a sad look and ignored Casse's disappointed and teary face as she plucked the kittens from their hands. Lee grimaced at the sight of the bowl before reaching forward and dropping it into the box along with the kittens. She closed the box with a lid punched with holes and shoved the box into Victor's hands.

"Just take these animals to the shelter. Come back later for dinner." She muttered curtly and Victor solemnly nodded his head in understanding, taking care of holding the box of kittens. The older teen gathered the rest of his friends and quietly herded them out the door. Garth paused by the doorway and gently spoke up.

"Do you need help putting these bags away at least?" Lee shook her head, refusing to look in their direction. Just as Garth walked out the door, the lighter blond boy poked his head back in from outside with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry about bringing them in. I didn't know you'd react so badly to them and –"

"She didn't tell you, so it's not your fault. Just… don't bring anymore animals in here."

Once they were gone, Casse stomped her foot angrily on the floor, her tears still caught at the side of her eyes but didn't start falling just yet.

"Why won't you let me keep them? It's not fair that because Dwarf doesn't like animals I can't have a pet! It's not fair! It's not –"

***SLAP***

The youngest triplet was cut short when her sister's hand finally lashed out and slapped her cheek hard. Danny flinched at the echo of the slap and grimaced as Casse's cheek began to color a deep shade of red. Slowly, Casse brought a hand to her reddening cheek and turned to stare at her furious sister with a dumbstruck expression.

Lee was breathing heavily, her brows narrowed down deeply and her lips drawn in a tight thin line. Her hand didn't quiver after slapping Casse and her eyes looked beyond furious as they trained on her sister.

"Go to your room." Casse continued to stare at Lee in shock. "I'm disappointed in you and I can't stand to look at you right now. Up to your room and don't even think of coming out until dinner."

When Casse didn't move, Lee slammed her hand against the frame of the living room door and bellowed. "*NOW*!"

Finally, Casse's tears began to flow freely as she tore out of the room and raced up the stairs. A loud bang bounced off the walls of the house when she slammed her room door shut and Danny could only stand awkwardly by the grocery bags. He'd never seen Lee furious to the point that she would physically lash out at her siblings. He never pegged her to be one to hit her siblings no matter how angry she was because of her protective nature over them.

Lee's hand was starting to turn an ugly purple color and Danny realized that she had bruised her hand badly from slamming it against the doorframe twice. He started to move forward towards her but she moved first, rushing to the kitchen where a series of clanks and tinkering noises could be heard and made Danny feel both curious and nervous.

Quietly, he made his way to the kitchen and was greeted by the sight of Lee rummaging through the taller cupboards and fishing out bottles of… pills? Danny stood by the entrance of the kitchen awkwardly as she hopped off the counter and took out a number of pills of each bottle before setting them down on the counter next to the glass of water.

Without so much as a glance to Danny, she moved to the back of the kitchen and rapped on the door at the side gently.

"Brad?" Danny's eyes went wide. "It's me. Open the door."

Silence greeted them and the door didn't budge. Lee mumbled something under her breath as she got up and headed out of the kitchen, brushing past a confused Danny. She returned a moment later with a key and proceeded to unlock the door. Once she flung open the door, she dropped to her knees and disappeared out of Danny's sight.

Hesitantly, Danny moved forward, unsure of what he was going to find. His body stiffened and his eyes grew wider when he caught sight of Brad, curled in fetal position on the floor of the laundry room, shaking violently while Lee tried to gently coax him out of the position. The other didn't uncurl from the tight ball but reached out and clung onto his sister tightly, burying his face into her stomach as she tried to calm him down.

When she couldn't, she simply let him cling onto her and stroked his hair soothingly. Danny watched in awe as she continued to speak with Brad softly, gently rubbing his back as she did so. She looked up and turned her head, as if looking for something before her face grew a little agitated, apparently having forgot something in her haste.

"Danny?" He blinked when he realized that Lee was talking to him. "Could you… help me bring the pills and glass of water here?"

He nodded mutely and quickly scooted backwards toward the counter, snagging the pills and water before swiftly returning to the laundry room. Danny crouched down and cautiously handed her the pills, hoping that he hadn't dropped or forgotten to take any. His hands were shaking slightly, still a little shell-shocked to see Brad in such a broken state.

She thanked him quietly before patting her brother's cheek, speaking softly into his ear and trying to coax him to take the pills. When he refused to move from his position, Lee sighed and shifted a little, clenching her hand to prevent the pills from dropping out. She grabbed his chin with her free hand and forced it to the side, squeezing it hard enough that his mouth opened slightly. When it did, she dropped the pills in at one go and forced him to swallow the pills by shutting his mouth with her hand and tilting his head backwards.

Brad coughed and spluttered but Lee barely even flinched when he did so, simply gesturing for the water from Danny who mutely handed it over to her. Even after the water had been downed, Brad still didn't uncurl from his fetal position, gripping the sleeves of Lee's jacket tightly as she rocked him gently.

Silence enveloped them and Danny shifted uncomfortably in his crouched position, unsure if it was the right time for him to speak up. Finally the hybrid sat down on his bottom, feeling the strain on his aching leg and slowly shifted closer to the siblings.

Brad's breathing was short and panted, even though he couldn't exactly hear it, Danny could see it with how fast Brad's chest was rising and falling. The blond boy was still shaking violently as he clung onto Lee, his head buried at her stomach. Danny opened his mouth but shut it when he couldn't find the words to let out. So many questions were running through his mind and whatever he had learnt about the ghosts the night before became the furthest thing in his mind to bring up.

"Does… he react like this to all animals?" Danny realized that his voice sounded strangely strangled and choked but the shock was still settling in his system. He didn't get an answer immediately with Lee still holding Brad close to her.

"No." After a long moment of silence, she spoke up but Danny strained to hear her soft reply. "Brad has… ailurophobia. The fear of cats."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Bad enough that he starts hyperventilating and gets hypertension; worst case scenario if we don't give him his meds within an hour of the first signs of hypertension or when he starts hyperventilating is that he gets hospitalized. For at *least* a week."

Danny grimaced at the severity of the phobia. At least he knew what the pills were for, but he hadn't imagined that a phobia could do such damage to a person. Tentatively he reached forward and touched Brad's shoulder, flinching a little at the shaking but squeezed it as comfortingly as he could.

"How did the phobia come about?" Lee sighed and shifted slightly to get a more comfortable position on the floor as Danny scooted closer. Patiently he waited for her to gather her thoughts and listened intently when she began speaking.

"It came about when we were four; Uncle Bruce adopted Dick when we were three and when Dick was eight, so he was nine when it happened. Alfred took us all out for the day and since his hands were busy with Casse and me, he got Dick to look after Brad."

"We don't know how Dick lost track of him." Lee gently stroked her brother's hair. Danny noticed that Brad's shaking had lessened slightly and figured that the medicine was taking effect. "After a while Dick started panicking because he couldn't find Brad. We searched everywhere, but he was gone. It was only until later that day that Uncle Bruce got a message from Catwoman, saying that she had him and wanted money for his return."

"I don't exactly know what happened, but dad said that Batman and Catwoman had clashed that night and the Joker cut into the fight. Commissioner Gordon, he was just Officer Gordon back then, said that Catwoman had never intended to drop Brad into the vat of vicious hungry stray cats but when the Joker came in…"

"Son of a bitch." Danny swore under his breath, already imagining the scene in the eyes of his mind. A small tiny boy struggling in a net, screaming as he fell from the sky and was promptly pounced on by a sea of starving cats once he had reached the ground. A shiver ran down his spine when he imagined the cats biting and tearing at his friend's flesh, his screams of terror haunting Danny's ears. "What happened after that?"

"Commissioner Gordon said Batman managed to swoop down and grab him. I don't know the full details but according to him when Batman handed Brad over to him, he was in bad shape." She sighed and cradled Brad's head gently, looking relieved that his breathing had evened out and his shaking had gone down even more. "They had to call dad to the hospital to calm him down before they could even get him treated. He wouldn't let anyone else touch him, let alone near him."

Slowly she patted Brad' head and moved her hand to push his white sleeve up. Lee gestured to Brad's skin where upon close inspection, had light claw markings that slashed over each other and what seemed like thousands of little holes punctured in his skin. Danny made a hissing noise, imagining the pain Brad had gone through and wondered why he hadn't seen them back when the blond was being treated by Arella in the alternate future.

"The scars are all pretty faint now since it's been ten years since then. They've healed nicely but he still wears long sleeves just in case anyone manages to take a good look at his arms."

"But I don't get it." Danny ran his fingers lightly over the faint scars before lifting his head up to look at Lee. "Why doesn't Casse know?"

"To be honest… we think she's blocking it out." She sighed again and rested her chin softly on the top of Brad's head. "Dad explained it to us back then but… I don't know. Two years after that she started begging for permission to keep a cat. To protect Brad, dad made the rule that we weren't going to keep any kind of pets so that Casse wouldn't make it a point to whine why cats would be the only banned animal in the apartment when we moved in."

"Selective memory?"

"She believes that Brad just hates animals and conned dad into making the rule of no animals allowed. We gave up trying to remind her that Brad was wary of cats; he didn't like to say he was outright scared of them and doesn't share this little fact with anyone at all." Danny watched as Lee's lips curved into an exasperated pout. "I swear it's you crazy boys' sense of pride or something; you guys don't like to admit you're scared shitless of something and always think you're going to be teased for the fear. And when that fear comes and smacks you in the face that's when everything spirals down into deep trouble."

Danny's lips curved into an amused smile as he snickered quietly from behind his hand. He had to admit, she did have a point. He knew for a fact that Tucker was scared of hospitals and medical doctors and neither of them had shared the fact with Sam since Tucker begged him not to speak of his fear to anyone. Thus Tucker would avoid hospitals and even the school nurse if he could help it.

He knew it had been complete torture for Tucker to sit in the medical wing of the Watchtower when he came over to visit when the girls were recuperating from the kidnap. Danny had made it up to him by treating his best friend to a few days worth of lunches even though Tucker had told him pointedly that he didn't have to. If a push came to shove, Tucker stated that he would chose his friends' well-being over his fear of hospitals.

An odd silence settled between them; while it wasn't awkward, it wasn't completely comfortable either. The silence allowed Danny time to sort out what he had just learnt. Somehow life just didn't seem fair; why did they have such screwed up pasts that affected their future?

"I guess it must be tough for you." Lee gave him a blank look and Danny explained. "I mean, you have to choose between Brad's health and Casse's temper tantrums. I don't think it's easy given that you have to choose sides since you're really protective over both of them."

"Yea it does suck… but I guess it's our own fault for spoiling Casse." She murmured and stared off into space, Brad still unwilling to release her. "We usually give in to her because… well, she's still got that spark of child-like innocence you know? I guess we wanted to protect that innocence since Brad and I literally gave ours up because we began to understand the real world. Life's never fair…"

"Just wish Casse could see the bigger picture to save you the grief of having to choose between them." Danny sighed softly and gently squeezed Lee's shoulder comfortingly. He then reached forward and grabbed her wrist, grimacing at the dark bluish purple bruise coloring her hand. "And we have to get your hand cleaned up. This bruise looks really nasty."

"I would… if Brad would let go." She jerked her head towards her brother who was still gripping onto her tightly. But she didn't look like she was in pain. Instead, her expression turned pensive and her next words were hesitant. "Hey Danny…? Do you think we're wrong to spoil Casse like this and shelter her from… well; the hard reality of life?"

"Well, yes and no." Lee simply looked at him, waiting for him to explain while he gathered his thoughts. By this time, Brad had finally lifted his head up to peer at them warily, his eyes bloodshot. "No to an extent that I'd feel the same about wanting to protect a younger sibling who's still got that piece of innocence; something that we don't have anymore because we just grew up. But yes to the fact that spoiling them could give us even more trouble than we ever imagine because they will think they can get away with anything and everything."

"I don't think Casse is… that bad to the point that she thinks she can get away with anything and everything though."

"You've got a biased opinion because she's your sister, your 'innocent' little sister, and you're actually still sheltering her right now." Danny pointed out, noticing that Brad was now eying them both from his curled position on Lee's lap. "Hey, you feel any better Brad?"

The other looked embarrassed for a moment, his cheeks flushing a deep red at his phobia being revealed to someone even if it was just Danny. Brad slowly nodded his head before finally pushing himself away from Lee, scooting backwards and brought his knees up to his chest, huddling in the shadows of the laundry room. Just as Lee was about to shift forward to reach out for him, Danny stopped her and shook his head.

"I think he just wants some space. Why don't you go clean up your hand and check the time? If it's late, you're going to need to start cooking because you've got a whole bunch of guests coming over for dinner."

"Shoot." She cursed, her eyes shifted to look at her brother worriedly from the side. "Danny? Do you think you could –"

"I'll keep him company if you need me to." Danny responded, already knowing exactly what Lee was going to ask him. "But if you also need help in the kitchen, I'll be more than willing to help because you *are* going to feed me too."

"Very funny." Lee gently shoved his shoulder as she got up from the floor. Danny simply grinned up at her. "Any special requests then?"

"Not really, but your crispy chicken sounds mighty appetizing right now." The oldest triplet rolled her eyes but gave Danny a thankful smile before scurrying out of the laundry room. Somehow he had the feeling she was going to ignore her hand and set her full attention to making dinner for the large group. He shook his head at the thought before crawling over to Brad and sat down beside him.

He knew that talk was probably meaningless and even though Brad wasn't going to look up to acknowledge him, Danny knew that the blond was grateful for his silent presence. The rustling of plastic bags and the clangs of pots and pans were a welcomed noise to their silent atmosphere. Danny tilted his head to the side and watched Brad from the corner of his eye, a smile graced his lips when he saw Brad's lips curve into a relaxed smile from his arms when they both heard incoherent mumblings from the kitchen.

Yes, just knowing a friend or family member was close by, near enough for him to reach out to… After a moment, Brad finally dropped his hand on top of Danny's and gave it an appreciative squeeze. The hybrid returned the squeeze, silently reminding his friend that he was still here for him.

* * *

Dinner had been a fairly subdued event despite Dick's friends' efforts to be cheerful, the tension between the triplets was just painfully evident. Casse refused to stay near Lee and the older blond likewise avoided her sister. Brad spent a majority of the night hiding out in the shadows and Danny took up the tasks of trailing after him and making sure no one bothered the other too much.

Bruce and Dick had voiced concern over both Casse's swollen cheek and Lee's ugly bruised hand; but when asked, Casse would refuse to speak while Lee excused herself from the table and escaped to the kitchen. Danny would inconspicuously steer Brad away from Casse if the youngest triplet came too close. While Brad's shaking had decreased significantly from a few hours prior, his hands still showed signs of trembling and his breath would hitch whenever Casse came too close to him. Casse would blink at their backs in confusion whenever she tried to get close enough to talk to them.

Tobias didn't show any indication that he had gotten a vague feeling of what happened but he had discreetly checked up on Brad when the boy had disappeared into the shadows for what seemed like the umpteenth time of the night. It didn't come as a surprise to Danny to find a small plastic bag with different pills in separate tiny zip lock bags and instructions in it quietly slipped into his hands by the brunette man halfway through dinner. But it did surprise him when Tobias quietly told him that the boys were free to go back to Fenton Works as early they wished.

How the man had come to the conclusion that his son was indefinitely going to sleep over at his place was beyond Danny. But nevertheless, he couldn't help but think it was cool that Tobias seemed psychic to know that Brad needed space and time away from the house.

Once dinner was over, the boys escaped to Brad's room with the mission of packing a night bag before scurrying out of the Angeles household unnoticed and into the lightly snowing night.

Once they were in Fenton Works, they went through the night with countless rounds of Mario Go-Kart, Street Fighters and a whole other variety of games that drowned out Jack and Maddie's annual spat. There had been an incident when Brad suddenly dropped the remote and began shaking uncontrollably; this prompted Danny to quickly browse through the pills and instructions before picking the appropriate one and giving it to the blond to swallow.

In the early morning when the sun had yet to rise, Danny stirred from his slumber. The boys had chosen to take to the floor instead of trying to squeeze into Danny's single mattress bed. Somehow during the night, they had gotten themselves tangled in the sheets that left Danny curled up and snuggled over Brad's lower abdomen while the blond was sprawled over on his back, sleeping with a relaxed and peaceful expression. The blankets were nowhere near their bodies.

The position they were in looked quite compromising but Danny couldn't help but care less about it; he was much too comfortable to move and it was still way too early to be up. He yawned and snuggled closer to his friend before closing his eyes and dropped back to sleep.

That was how Jazz found them an hour later when she peeked into Danny's room to check up on them. With a mischievous grin, she disappeared from the doorway for a moment before returning with a camera nestled in her hands. She snapped a few quick photographs of the boys and observed the boys with a soft look in her eyes for a while before she decided to let them continue sleeping.

However, the peace was short lived when Jack and Maddie started up their argument over the existence of Santa Claus. Comfortable, sleepy and annoyed at the rude awakening, Danny wasn't able to stop himself in time from hollering loudly at them from his room to let them get a few more hours of sleep. Since he was lying comfortably on top of Brad, his holler had woken the blond from his slumber.

"Ugh, sorry for waking you." Brad simply yawned and shook his head, rubbing his tired eyes with the back of his hand before jostling his legs lightly to get Danny to move off. The hybrid rolled away and landed on his chest before crawling back towards Brad. The house had become suspiciously quiet now. "Managed to sleep well?"

A shy nod was his reply before Brad started stretching his limbs and gave another mighty yawn. The yawning was becoming infectious because Danny started to yawn once Brad had gone through his third yawn. Both boys blinked at each other before their lips curved into amused smiles.

Once the boys finished their daily morning routine, they trooped down the stairs to the dining room where the female Fentons were having breakfast. Jack was nowhere to be found. Jazz had a suspicious twinkle in her eyes that Danny couldn't quite figure out and her lips had spread into a cheeky grin when the two had stepped into the dining room.

"What's so funny Jazz?"

"Nothing." Brad and Danny blinked at each other before raising identical confused brows at the older teen who dissolved into giggles at their expressions. Jazz was saved by her mother who gestured for the boys to sit at the table while she continued to flip some pancakes.

"Good morning Danny, Brad. I didn't notice the two of you come back last night or had planned a sleepover." Danny and Brad exchanged looks with each other. When they did get to Fenton Works the night before, Maddie and Jack had been doing something down in the laboratory, something very loud but exactly what they didn't know, and the teenagers had doubted if the adults had even heard Danny's shout down to them, let alone the door opening.

"You and dad were… a little preoccupied when we got back." Brad turned his head to the side and covered his mouth, his shoulders quivering as he laughed silently. Danny gave him a kick from under the table before continuing. "And well, it was an impromptu decision we made yesterday; Brad just needed to get away from his annoying god brother."

"Oh? Your god brother came down to visit you?" Maddie looked at Brad, placing the plate of freshly made pancakes on the table in front of them. "When did he come down?"

"About two days ago with a whole bunch of his friends, his sole purpose of coming to annoy the crap out of him." Brad rolled his eyes at Danny and kicked him from under the table. In retaliation, Danny stole the pancake Brad had been reaching for. The boys engaged in a brief fork skirmish before Danny resumed speaking. "Their godfather came down too and they had the whole group over for dinner last night."

"Surprise visit?" The boys nodded at Maddie's query, both busily chomping down on breakfast. She frowned. "I don't think Tobias was very pleased with that now was he?"

Brad nodded again and peered around the table for a piece of paper and a pen. Jazz readily supplied him with the items, having foreseen that the blond might need them to communicate since he lost his voice. He scribbled on the paper for a moment before handing it over to Maddie to read.

'_Completely and utterly annoyed. I guess all he's going to hope for now is that Uncle Bruce isn't going to try hooking him up on another blind date. Dick just likes to agonize us; don't know why he decided to bring his bunch of friends over if he was going to just annoy us.'_

"Surely he can't be that bad?" Jazz looked at Brad curiously, finding it odd that the triplets' god brother was considered to be an annoyance to them. Brad gave her an incredulous look that made her begin to think otherwise. "Or maybe he really is that bad."

"He's terrible." Danny chipped in, his lips glossed with maple syrup as he reached out for another pancake. "He's probably driven Lee mad by now. Conveniently telling her that he invited all *nine* of his friends over for dinner in the morning before he dropped them off? I don't see why he couldn't have told her the night before unless it slipped his mind or if it was such a last minute decision."

"Oh dear. I think I would have said that I wouldn't be the one to feed such a huge group at the last minute if any of you did that." Maddie gave her children a stern look. "And I sure hope that neither of you will ever do such a thing."

"Mom, I only hang out with 5 people. And in any case, have we ever caused you such grief over meals?"

"Danny's got a point mom." The older teen grinned, discreetly slapping a high five with her brother under the table. "Besides, there's always the risk that one of your ectoplasm samples starts running loose in the kitchen since you use the fridge for both edible and non-edible stuff. With the added fact that you tend to use ecto-energy powered cookware to cook the food, we swore that we'd never want our guests to witness their food grow teeth and start attacking them with knives."

Brad laughed silently before scribbling on the paper with a simple _'re-animated thanksgiving turkey ring a bell?'_ that made Danny choke on his piece of pancake and burst into laughter. Jazz and Maddie joined in the laughter when they read what Brad had written, for once the Fenton household not echoing angry shouts during the season of Christmas.

The doorbell rang and Jack's shout of 'I'll get it!' echoed from the laboratory. His heavy footsteps sounded throughout the house before the creak of the door was heard as Danny and Brad finished up their breakfast.

"Brad, I think you've got someone here for you." The boys blinked at each other and exchanged confused looks with the ladies. They heard some noises from the front before Jack appeared in the kitchen and moved forward to kiss his wife's cheek softly before lumbering to the fridge. Coming up from the rear was Dick Grayson with a bunch of colored boxes tucked under his arms and an extremely pissed off look crossed over his face.

Silence settled in the room as Dick and Brad glared at each other. The Fentons wisely kept out of the way while the two god brothers continued their stare down. It was not until approximately five minutes later (Jazz and Danny had timed them) that Dick sighed and ran a hand through his messy black tresses.

"You're a real idiot, do you know that?" At this, the glare faded and Brad blinked owlishly at him. "You have no idea just how fucking worried we all were when we realized that you and your friend disappeared after dinner. Ok, maybe except your dad and lil Lee, but the rest of us got scared shitless when we couldn't find you anywhere in the house."

Brad turned his head away from Dick while the older teen sighed and moved forward, dropping the labeled boxes on the table.

"Lil Lee already told me what happened. Just fucking tell us when you decide to make yourself scarce and where the hell you'll be so that we don't run around like headless chickens thinking you've been kidnapped again." He grunted, dropping a hand on Brad's head and ruffled his mop of blond hair gently before moving towards the front door. "And happy birthday brat."

"Wait a minute!" The Fentons, sans Danny, stared at Brad whose cheeks began to flush red. "Today is Brad's birthday? That means –"

Brad waved his arms and cut Maddie off before she could finish. By this time, Dick had already walked out the door. The blond scowled at the spot his god brother had occupied previously before he scribbled on the piece of paper, his cheeks sporting a bright red hue that was growing brighter by the passing second.

Jazz peered over the blonds' shoulder to read what he was writing and frowned. He stopped and turned his head to scowl at her, batting her away from his shoulder. Just to annoy him, Jazz settled her chin on top of his head and continued to read what he was still writing. Danny fell off his chair laughing at the look of annoyance on Brad's face as Jazz blinked down at the piece of paper. The blond gave up batting her away and continued writing.

"Hey, just because you think your birthday isn't a big deal, doesn't mean we think the same." Brad scowled when Jazz interrupted his writing yet again. "I'm sure your dad has a reason to why he's not there for your birthdays. Have you ever asked him why?"

Brad threw his hands up in exasperation, dropped the pen and started chasing Jazz around the kitchen, intent on dishing out some revenge. While the chase was on, Maddie and Jack took this time to read what Brad had written. Later, they were startled by a sudden shriek that bounced off the walls but shrugged it off and continued reading the paper. By the time they were finished, Brad had managed to torture Jazz with a tickle attack and returned back to the table with a pleased grin. Jazz returned a few minutes later, her eyes watering with laughter.

Danny's eyes twinkled merrily. Brad wasn't sticking to his dark gloomy attitude and now he could almost see the real Brad before him. With a spark of good mischief, a bright smile instead of a smirk and an honest soft look in his eyes that suited him well. It was as if he had broken through Brad's 'Goth' mask and finally got to see the real gentle and mischievous brother beneath it.

"Come to think of it Brad, do you know when Tobias's birthday is?" The middle Angeles tilted his head to the side while his eyes looked upwards as he thought hard. When he shook his head as a 'no', Maddie frowned lightly. "Oh, I see. But it was very nice of your god brother to come over and drop the presents off to you. Surely he can't be that bad if he's been worried about you."

The boy huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, obviously not at all convinced.

"Hey Danny, there are two boxes marked for you." Danny blinked as Jazz shifted through the small pile and handed him two different boxes. Brad rolled his eyes and scribbled on the paper again.

'_I'll bet one is from Babs and the other is from Uncle Bruce.'_

"Oh yea, Mr. Wayne did say something about her getting Sam, Tucker and me presents for Christmas too. Thank her for me?"

"That's really sweet of her." Danny didn't acknowledge his mother. Instead, he sniggered as he watched Brad cautiously poke the box with the label 'from your awesome god brother'. "So, since it should be Lee's and Casse's birthdays today too, why don't we all go out and celebrate?"

Danny winced as Brad's shoulders stiffened at the mention of Casse. An awkward silence invaded the atmosphere before Brad hurried scribbled something on the paper before waving his hand to excuse himself from the table. Jack frowned at Brad's behavior and picked up the paper once the blond disappeared from the kitchen.

"Oh. He says that Casse's birthday is tomorrow because she was born five minutes after midnight."

"Is that all?" Jazz gave her brother a questioning look. Danny looked just about ready to flee the room if he had the chance, but even his parents started to look at him strangely. "Danny? I don't think he's just staying over to avoid his god brother. What happened?"

"It's not my place to tell you." He murmured, knowing that Brad wouldn't want his phobia wrung and hung out to dry for public eyes to see. "Look, he just needs some time away from his house. I don't think it'll last too long but he really just needs his space right now."

"Alright then." Danny was surprised when his mother simply left it as that. His shock must have been apparent in his face because Maddie explained her reasons. "I don't have any reason not to believe you Danny and if it is something personal between Brad and his family, I understand that you don't want to break his trust by talking about his problems, even to us."

"Thanks mom." He released a sigh and rested his chin in his hands. Danny was grateful that his family understood his reasons. _'Family huh… Not taking the time to ask or remember why her family didn't allow any pets. Wish Casse would take the time to think about that…'_

Danny paused and frowned. Wait… Why didn't he ever ask his parents why they were always arguing during Christmas? He had always assumed it was something petty because… really, arguing over the existence of _Santa Claus_? At their age?

"Hey mom? Dad?" Jack and Maddie looked over to him. "Why do you guys always have to argue about Santa's existence every year?"

"Oh, you mean that?" Jack and Maddie exchanged glances with each other before Maddie dissolved into giggles. Jazz joined her brother in raising their eyebrows while staring at their parents in confusion. Jack laughed and shook his head before replying. "That's just something we're competing about. You see, yes your mother doesn't believe that Santa exists and I do, so we usually spend Christmas trying to prove to each other why we believe it as such."

"I don't think you remember, but Jack got himself stuck in the chimney when you were two Danny." Maddie leaned over and kissed the side of her blushing husband's head. "He was proving that large sized men like Santa and himself could fit through the chimney."

Danny snorted and covered his mouth to smother his laughter at the image of his dad stuck in a chimney, his legs pedaling in the air as he dangled from inside the fireplace, trying to squeeze himself down. Jazz giggled along with him before she asked the main question.

"So… what about the loud arguing?"

They were surprised when Maddie's cheeks flushed a deep red while their father's eyes gained a strangely wolfish twinkle in them. Before Maddie could escape, Jack's arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. With an equally wolfish smile, Jack responded to the question.

"Apparently, I invoke your mother's… 'aggressive' side." Both teens choked and spluttered while Maddie's cheeks went redder. Jack snorted and laughed. "Don't be so daft, that's not what I meant. What I meant was that I pull out your mother's competitive streak in arguing and she tends to get loud when she's enjoying the argument. I just make it a point to be equally loud so that she doesn't get all the embarrassment, especially when we're at it in public."

"Aw. Dad that's so sweet of you!" Maddie buried her reddened face in her hands in embarrassment while Jack kissed her cheek. "So that's why you two always seem to argue during Christmas."

"The thing is, we also tend to get too focused on the argument that we forget about our surroundings." Jack winked at Maddie when she finally lowered her hands, the red hue of her cheeks lessening. "What do you think Mads? Should we set a time frame of only a day or two for future arguments so that we don't forget about spending time with the kids?"

"Don't you think we're sixteen years too late?"

"I don't think it is." Danny chirped, finally understanding the reasons behind the annual 'arguments'. "Why not make up for the past few years instead by stopping the argument now and we can start plotting on ways of how to celebrate Lee and Brad's birthdays?"

Just as his parents were about to reply, a wad of paper flew through the air and smacked his cheek. Danny looked up to see Brad by the door, shaking his head before he pointed to the piece of paper, gesturing for Danny to unfurl the wad.

'_Can we skip the festivities?__ Lee and I don't really like or have the want to celebrate our birthdays unlike Casse and I really don't feel like going back home today.'_

"Ok." He didn't need to ask any further nor did he feel the need to go against Brad's wishes. "Want to go back upstairs and smash up the remotes on Street Fighter again?"

Once they heard Brad's footsteps fade upstairs, Maddie regarded Danny with a concerned look.

"It must be really serious if he doesn't want to go back home. I don't think its Tobias he's avoiding or his god brother for that matter." Danny could only nod his head to confirm the thought she didn't completely voice out. "I see… I hope they manage to settle it soon, but he's more than welcome to stay here if he needs to."

"Thanks mom." Danny got up and gave his mother a quick peck on the cheeks, his dad a sideways hug and Jazz a full blown one. "Ok, time for me to get my ass handed to me on Street Fighter again."

"Daniel Fenton, watch your language!" The teen grinned cheekily at his mother and quickly scurried out of the kitchen before she could reprimand him again. He paused before returning to the kitchen, quickly gathering the wrapped boxes in his arms before fleeing the room and up the stairs.

The boys spent the majority of the day so engrossed in a gaming marathon that Jazz had to leave their lunches next to them and constantly reminded them that the game wasn't going to run away from them if they just paused it for a while to eat.

Lee dropped by at midday to check up on her brother. She was relieved that Brad was looking much better than the day before and hugged him, wishing him a happy birthday while he mouthed the same to her. The oldest triplet only spent an hour with them before she left, understanding that her brother still needed some time away from their house. But she promised to come back to spend the next day with them.

It was late evening when Tobias came by to check up on Brad. He gave his son a quick check through, nodding his head in satisfaction before he asked him if he wanted to join himself and Lee the next evening for what they always did during Christmas Eve. Brad hesitated for a moment before he slowly nodded his head. It came as a surprise when Tobias extended the invitation to the Fentons but the offer was readily accepted by all four.

Casse however, made no visit that day and Danny noticed that Brad release a sigh of relief when Maddie chided the boys to get some sleep, knowing that the other wasn't quite ready to face his younger sister just yet. But Danny had to wonder if Casse even knew that Brad was at his place, or was she too occupied with her pile of presents to care?

It felt disconcerting but Danny guessed that a person's bad points would sooner or later come to light to their friends. The question was; just how strong was their friendship to withstand them if the bad points could ultimately severe their bonds?

* * *

Jazz was greeted by an *extremely* adorable sight when she went to check on the boys the next morning. Danny had once again managed to weasel his way to Brad's side and had his arms wrapped around the other's waist with his legs thrown over Brad's long ones. Brad didn't seem to have noticed that he had become Danny's human sized bolster and was still sleeping peacefully, though his right arm had curled around Danny's shoulders with his hand resting gently on the other's head.

With an inner squeal, she quickly fled to her room and brought out her camera again, snapping more quick shots of them and muffled her giggles behind her hand. Oh god, those two didn't know just how cute they were when they were sleeping.

Anyone who didn't know the boys any better would have thought that they were a couple. Jazz could already imagine their mortified looks if they were ever told that.

Pleased with the new shots, Jazz quickly left the room to let the boys get more sleep. Throughout the day, she wouldn't be able to control her giggles whenever she spotted either one of them, which earned her confused looks from the boys and amused eyebrows from her parents. No matter how many times Danny tried to get out the reason behind her giggles, Jazz would only shake her head at him, her eyes twinkling merrily as she tried to control her laughs.

Annoyed, Danny threw up his hands in surrender, muttering that it had to be some strange girl thing that was amusing his sister.

True to her promise, Lee came by in the late afternoon with a backpack to spend the day with them. Once they were settled comfortably on the floor in Danny's room, the hybrid couldn't help but ask her the whereabouts of the youngest triplet, who was still suspiciously absent.

"Ugh… I think she went to drag Sam and Tucker out today." Lee murmured, rubbing her temples with a tired look. "She's still not talking to me if that's anything you wanted to know about too."

Danny exchanged a look with Brad, who looked guilty for creating the rift between his sisters before he raised another question. "Do you think she'll be coming along with us tonight?"

"Honestly? No." The crimson eyed teen leaned back against the bed, closing her eyes for a while. "I heard her flat out refuse last night when dad came home and asked her. Hey wait a minute." Her eyes snapped open, her body jerking forward awkwardly from her leaning position as she stared at the boys. "You're… going to come along tonight?"

"Yup." Danny gently nudged Brad, whose face flushed in embarrassment. "Brad accepted the invite and your dad extended the invitation to my family."

"Oh… wow." Brad's face flushed a deeper red when Lee smiled brightly at him. "That's great! It might not look like it but it means a lot to dad that you're coming. I'm really glad you decided to come along this year. What we do won't seem like much, but it's really significant to dad."

"Can you give us some kind of hint of what the both of you actually do?" Danny threw himself forward to lie on the front of his body on the floor as he sent a pair of wide puppy eyes at Lee. "Pretty please?"

The girl burst into laughter and threw a pillow at Danny, catching him full in the face. The hybrid 'oomph-ed' when the pillow hit him and glared at Lee as the pillow slid off his face. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Brad had turned his face away, his shoulders shaking lightly as he laughed silently.

Without warning, Danny shot up and grabbed the fallen pillow, lunging forward to hit Lee with the soft item. She squealed and scuttled away, grabbing another pillow in the process to defend herself from Danny's onslaught. Brad hurriedly scampered away so that he wouldn't get caught in the crossfire when they came close, Danny still wildly flinging the pillow at Lee while the girl raised the pillow in her hands as a shield.

He managed to get a few well aimed hits at her but Danny met Lee's eyes and jerked his head towards Brad, his lips curved into a cheeky grin. Before Brad could react, he was pounced on by Danny and was subsequently smothered by the pillow. The boys landed on the floor loudly, with Danny straddling Brad's waist while Brad flailed his limbs wildly in an attempt to throw Danny off him.

The loud thump of something hitting the floor hard, followed by Lee's uncontrollable laughs had attracted the attention of the other three Fentons downstairs. Curious to know what the younger teens were up to, Jazz put her book down and went upstairs. She almost wanted to squeal and giggle at the boys when she peeked through the crack of Danny's door to see what they were doing.

'_This is so bad… but I'm going to have *so* much blackmail material on them.'_ She thought gleefully, silently toeing to her room, hoping that the boys would still be in that position when she got back with the camera. Much to her delight, they were still in that compromising position when she came back with the camera. Danny was still straddling the blonds' waist, dodging Brad's slapping hands while smacking the other repeatedly with the pillow. To the side, Jazz could see Lee clutching her stomach as she laughed, sound no longer coming from her mouth as she was too immersed in the mirth to release the laughs.

The sound of something clicking rapidly caught the boys' attention and Danny could only blink in confusion when he turned his head to see Jazz, her lips curved into a very pleased and cheeky grin, with the camera in her hands. The boys blinked at her and then they blinked at each other before Danny finally realized that he was straddling his friend's waist. Danny leapt away from Brad so quickly it was as if his pants had caught on fire. Their faces burned a bright red while Lee leaned against the wall heavily, still silently laughing at them from the side.

"Jaaaazzz!!" The red head laughed at his strangled whine and quickly dodged her incoming brother, keeping the camera out of his reach. "That's not funny! Come on!"

"Oh but it's so cute! Hey Lee, do you want a copy?" Bright eyed and still unable to choke out a sound, the blond girl nodded her head vigorously, having the exact same thought as Jazz had. Brad's cheeks flushed a dark red as he buried his face into his hands, completely mortified at the events. "See? Even Lee agrees with me!"

"Noooo, it can't beeeeeee!" Danny whined again, scooting over to Lee and gave her his most pathetic look; teary eyes, pouty lips and clasped hands included. "Why are you so meaaaaaaaaaaan?"

Lee toppled over from her leaning position and lay on the floor, laughing so hard that tears flowed down her cheeks like rivers. Though embarrassed, Brad looked like he had choked when Danny whined at Lee and had his hand resting on the table to support himself to stay standing, his body shaking with laughter. Jazz took the opportunity to snap a single shot of Danny whining at Lee before she made her escape, hiding her camera away from her brother.

She couldn't wait to develop the pictures. She had oh so many plans for them… including the thought of blowing the picture up into large poster size and tacking it on Danny's ceiling for the next April Fools day.

The day passed by fairly quickly and before Danny knew it, evening had approached and his family got ready to head out of Fenton Works. He still hadn't been able to wheedle much information out from Lee but she did hint that it had to do something with Amity River, and he didn't manage to find Jazz's despicable camera so that he could burn the negatives of the photos she had taken.

Danny had secretly sent Tucker a message earlier for him and Sam to lead Casse to the Amity River in the evening once he had gotten that information out of Lee. He thought of getting the families to spend the night together, even though Casse wasn't willing to stay close to Lee and Brad was still wary of the youngest triplet. Though confused, Tucker and Sam agreed to the request and Danny hoped that night would turn out well.

Hey, since the ghosts weren't attacking, he decided that he might as well enjoy the peace while he could.

Their chatter and laughter filled the air as they walked down the path to the Amity River. When they got there, they found Tobias waiting for them and with him were Bruce, Alfred and Dick. While his parents were introduced to Bruce, Danny blinked as Lee rummaged through her backpack and fished out a plastic bag full of fist sized candles that were carved in the shape of a lotus bloom. She handed one candle to each person and then scoured through her bag again before taking out a lighter and two A4 sized frames with photos in them.

"So." Maddie gave Tobias and Bruce a curious look. Dick was staring at the candles with a raised eyebrow while the other teens made sure not to move abruptly as Lee carefully lighted their candles. "Could you explain to us the significance behind lighting the candles? This seems awfully similar to Hanukkah."

"While this isn't Hanukkah, it should have ended already for this year if I'm not wrong, it's more of a tradition we've had to remember our loved ones, mostly his, who were lost during this season." Bruce gave Tobias a sideways glance before continuing. "And to silently celebrate my idiot of a best friend's birthday which happens to be today."

Brad almost dropped his candle in shock once the words settled in to his brain. All eyes, sans Bruce, Lee and Alfred's, trained on Tobias with incredulous looks while the brunette man scowled at Bruce who simply shrugged.

"Knew you didn't tell them when it was."

"Bruce…"

"Oh my g… Happy Birthday Tobias!" Danny snickered as his mother gushed and smothered Tobias with a tight hug while Jack cheekily lumbered behind his wife and friend, catching them both in a bear hug that swept them off their feet. "36! Not quite old just yet, but not exactly too young anymore now aren't you?"

"That seems to be the case." The teenagers stifled their laughter at the slightly muffled and disgruntled tone Tobias had used to respond to Maddie with his face still buried in her shoulders. Once she released him from her hug, he adjusted his glasses and bobbed his head in a small nod. "Thank you."

"Hey Bruce, where's pipsqueak anyway?" Dick easily swiped the lighter from Lee and lit the candle in his hands. "Shouldn't it be double silent celebration since it's her birthday too?"

"Cassandra has declined coming tonight. I believe she is currently out with Tucker and Samantha."

"…Damn. I still can't stand the way you talk Tobias." Alfred threw Dick a stern look but the teenager ignored it. "Why are you always so formal?"

"That's for us to know and for you to not know." Bruce responded firmly, leveling a glare at Dick. "And what did I tell you about addressing him by his name like that?"

"Hey Lee." The girl 'hmm-ed' and glanced over to Danny while his eyes focused on Tobias. "Mr. Wayne said you guys do this in memory of loved ones who were lost in this season…?"

"Oh. Yea we do." The teenagers looked at her curiously as she took out one of the frames. A beautiful blond woman smiled back at them from the frame, her deep blue eyes shining like stars. From beside him, Danny could feel Brad stiffen as Lee quietly continued. "We do this every year in mom's memory. Not just her, but grandma too."

"Your grandmother?" Lee pulled out the other frame and the smile of the tanned skinned brunette greeted them warmly, her dark red eyes soft and gentle as she stared from the frame.

"Mom died giving birth to Casse, so… today's her 14th anniversary. Dad says grandma died when she gave birth to him, so it's her 36th anniversary."

"That is so screwed up." Dick muttered, resting his arm on Brad's head as he looked at the two photographs. Brad didn't seem to care and was staring intently at the picture of his mother, his eyes glazed over. "Having his birthday on the same day he had to witness his wife die and it's also the same day his mother died? Fuck. Someone's having too much fun mocking him by sending him into these situations and giving him pain."

"If you look at it that way, the pain will certainly hurt much more than it should." The teens looked up to see that the adults had lighted their candles. Tobias adjusted his glasses and turned his gaze over to Lee and Brad was a fond look in his eyes. "While I might have lost my mother, there has been no pain as I did not have an attachment to her since I did not know her. Even as Billie left my life, she introduced three miracles to me in return."

"Do you have any idea just how poetically sappy that sounded Toby?"

"Hmm. Perhaps only to you. It seems the wild beast hasn't been completely tamed quite yet… perhaps a call to Diana would change that?"

The dreary atmosphere dissolved as laughter filled the air. A pinpricking feeling nicked his neck and Danny turned around to see Sam, Tucker and Casse standing awkwardly by the pavement, looking at them curiously. Brad was preoccupied with the picture of his mother in his hands, gently touching the glass with the tips of his fingers as he traced her smile.

Lee looked up and followed Danny's line of vision, tensing a little before relaxing her shoulders. Sam and Tucker looked like they were having a debate with Casse, who was furiously shaking her head at them. Just as Danny was going walk towards them, Lee beat him to the punch and went ahead of him.

Casse tried to escape, but Sam and Tucker had blocked her route. Even when she turned her head away to avoid looking at her sister, Lee still regarded them calmly, waving her hand towards the larger group as if inviting them to join in their little tradition. Danny could see both Sam and Tucker nodding, accepting the invitation while Casse looked ready to outright reject it. However, as the youngest triplet opened her mouth, Dick's voice rang in the air.

"There she is. Hey pipsqueak! At least wish your dad happy birthday and pay respects to your mom before you blow lil Lee off. Don't be such a pain!"

Casse's face twisted into an ugly scowl but Lee had already grabbed her hands and dragged her towards the group with Sam and Tucker trailing behind them. Danny saw Brad look up from staring at the photograph in his hands and flinch, instinctively moving to hide behind Danny even though he was a little taller than the hybrid.

The youngest triplet was enveloped in a tight hug, courtesy Maddie as the woman wished her a happy birthday. Lee quietly handed candles to Sam and Tucker, lighting the wicks as she explained the reasons behind the 'celebration'. Danny's best friends stared in wonderment at the two pictures, both agreeing that both Lee and Casse did resemble their mother, though more so on Lee's part than Casse's despite the eye color, and that Tobias inherited almost all of his mother's features.

Danny was surprised when Lee and Tobias walked over to the water's edge and laid the candles on the water's surface, allowing the tide to gently sweep the floating candles further into the river. Bruce, Alfred and Dick followed suit until everyone had released their candles into the river.

The tiny lights twinkled as they skimmed the water's surface, as if caught in a slow swaying dance with the waves of the river. It was a breathtaking sight.

From the corner of his eye, Danny spotted his mother curled against his father's side with his arm wrapped around her shoulders, both watching the candles with soft expressions. Bruce, Dick and Alfred simply stared into the river, though Bruce had a wistful expression clouding his eyes, as if remembering something or someone. Tobias had his hand closed, resting his fist on his chest as if he was holding something dear to him. Danny suspected the item to be something his wife had given him before she had died, but the truth he knew he might never know.

His friends and sister looked both at ease and at peace beside him as the gentle swish of the waves drowned the silence from the atmosphere. Brad and Lee held onto the photographs of their mother and grandmother respectively as they continued to watch the flickering lights of the candles that drifted in the distance. Casse quietly stood some distance away from them before slowly sidling over to them, hesitantly reaching out to touch the frame of the photograph in Lee's hands.

Danny smiled when Lee offered the picture of their grandmother to her with a soft smile. He knew that Lee could never stay angry at either one of her siblings even if one was the cause behind the other's problems and in her heart had already forgiven her sister. But whether she would forget about it was different story.

After a while, the group started making their way back to the Angeles house, both Tucker and Sam having called their parents and informing them of their plan to join them. The air around them was filled with whispers and laughs, the teens having fun poking fun at each other while the adults watched them in amusement as they conversed quietly.

However, the adults suddenly halted in their steps (more so on Bruce's and Tobias's part) which made the teens stop just behind them, peering from the sides of the adults to figure out what was wrong.

Standing at the front of the house was a tall lanky blond man, his posture slouched and his body swaying to and fro slightly as if he was drunk. Danny suspected that the man was indeed drunk with the telltale bottle clutched in the man's hands. He watched as the man glared at the house before throwing the half drunk bottle at the door, smashing the bottle to pieces as he kicked it with a rage Danny didn't know the reason behind.

"Damn you bastard child, where the fuck are you!" Immediately, Lee and Dick had both reached out to try shutting Casse's ears (though she had managed to dodge them both), wincing at the next string of expletives that came out from the man's mouth. "Get out here so that I can hand your ass to you, you worthless piece of shit!"

"You have no business here Theron." The man stopped hurling abuse at the door and turned, glaring at Bruce with a menacing glint in his eyes. "You're in violation of the restraining order we have on you. You're not allowed anywhere within a five mile radius of Toby and the kids or their property. Get out."

"What's it to you orphan boy?" Bruce bristled at the name. Danny could see his hands clenching and unclenching from behind him, as if he was trying to force himself not to let loose and give the man, Theron, a good sucker punch in the face. "He's the bastard kid of the house and I do what the hell I want to that little piece of shit who's not worth any fuck in the world."

"And need I remind you that it was your family that disowned him sixteen years ago?" Maddie had scooted from Jack's side and squeezed Tobias's arm, her eyes searching for some kind of reaction from the brunette. "As far as I'm concerned, they have nothing to do with you and you have nothing to do with them. The same goes for Tara and your parents."

"That piece of shit owes us for fucking housing him!" Bruce had stepped forward to avoid letting Theron closer to the group, letting the older man rant and rave like a lunatic. "He's the fucking disgrace of our family name because of his whore of a mother! Mother did good in keeping that little brat under wraps until your babysitter went looking for a playmate for you just because your parents died. Poor baby."

***Crack***

Bruce pulled his fist back and let it fly, his knuckles slamming against Theron's nose with a loud sickening crack that made the teens, sans Dick, wince at the sound. The other man stumbled backwards, letting loose a series of curses as he clutched his broken bloodied nose. Without bothering to wipe the blood from his knuckles, Bruce took out his cell phone and dialed a number, speaking into it shortly before he snapped it shut.

"You piece of shit! I'm going to kick your –"

"You are going to do nothing Theron Jacques Angeles." Danny's jaw dropped open when a column of light flashed down behind Theron and dimmed to reveal Superman. "You're in violation of your restraining order and you're going to be sent back to Gotham City."

"Fuck you little piece of shit! The Justice League? Huh, can't handle me by yourself can you punk?" The blond man spat, struggling against the vice grip Superman had on his wrists.

"You've been under our surveillance since your murder attempt of Tobias Angeles eight years ago." All eyes turned to stare at Tobias while Maddie's grip on his arm tightened. "Affiliating yourself with the likes of the Joker and the Harley Quinn was a mistake on your part because you were easily tracked down once he revealed you as his employer." Superman paused and wrinkled his nose. "And you're drunk."

Ignoring the man's curses and struggling, Superman gave Bruce a nod before pressing a finger at his ear. "Take us up J'onn."

A tensed silence fell on the group once the two were beamed away. Dick made his way over to Bruce, punching his arm before hissing something to him that Danny wasn't able to hear. Alfred too walked forward, giving pointed disapproving looks at Bruce's bloodied knuckles.

"...Daddy?" Casse wormed her way to Tobias's side, looking smaller and far younger that she was. Her voice sounded so tiny as she reached forward and gripped his sleeve, eyes wide and full of confusion. "Who… who was he?"

Tobias pinched the bridge of his nose tightly and closed his eyes. An audible sigh escaped his lips before he released the bridge of his nose and let his hand fall back to his side.

"That… was my second stepbrother, Theron Angeles."

"Do you think you can tell us about it?" It might have been the trick of the light, but Danny swore he saw Tobias send a crooked smile to his father.

"Since you asked…"

* * *

**Authoress's Ending Notes:**

**[1] **The twins never had their names mentioned (nor could I even find them) so I picked out two Spanish names for them  
**[2]** Amigo = Friend, Hermano = brother, Enojado = Angry. Sorry, I don't understand how Spanish goes, so forgive me if I've made mistakes in the grammar and words.

1) Hum. Again, apologies for the rushed ending. The chapter was dragging out far too long for my tastes and I know not a lot of people have the stamina and patience to read these arsed long chapters in one go. Whoever reads these chapters without dying, I applaud thee.  
2) In reference to my previous chapter notes: I was wondering the lack of reviews because I have absolutely no idea what draws you, the reader, to the story. What is it about it that sparks your interest? Is there anything I should tone down or improve on? The lack of feedback was starting to worry me because I am very critical over my writing and sometimes even though I might be pleased with it, there will always be this kind of nagging feeling that tells me that something's wrong. So yes; feedback is loved and appreciated!  
3) Thank you to **Calovan**, **Anthiena**, **crimsonshrouds**, **Kradeiz** and **Enchanting Elf** for reviewing the previous chapter(s)!  
4) **crimsonshrouds**: I always thought that Sam as a character in the cartoon was a little contradictory and is very similar to Paulina (I know, it's scary but it's true). It's my own personal intepretation of her as a character but she has the tendency to contradict some of the things she does and says. I don't expect anyone to agree with me because everyone has their own intepretation of the characters. Don't worry, she'll start character evolution once the next big event comes :D  
5) The next chapter is another interlude. I know it would be considered too soon for another interlude since the previous chapter was already an interlude, but I'd like to go through explaning some things through the Original!Danny's point of view as he learns more about the characters in the Phantom & Angel Timeline.  
6) Spoiler Alert! After the next interlude comes the next *BIG* event! Who's going to become Danny's partner? Can you guys take a guess? What about pairings? What can you see? 8D  
7) Thank you for taking the time to read this ridiculously long chapter. *bows* forgive my long-winded-ness but I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please drop me a review if you have the chance!

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	14. Int': For the Man who could not smile

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress's Beginning Notes: Hum, apologies that I follow up with another interlude but I thought that it would be nice to explain a few things through original!Danny's eyes and hey, someone else comes back into the picture here. It went on a little longer than I expected (Damn), but hopefully it isn't too boring. Already outlined the next chapter ;) so do stay tuned :D This interlude will look a little clustered because it goes on pretty quickly; I didn't want to make it drag on for too long when it should be something brief (Well as brief as I can get really ._. ) But again, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy the chapter :) Word limit to chapter names suck though. -.-

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Interlude: **

**For the Man who could not smile**

* * *

"Nooooo!!" An annoyed wail echoed through the office as a cushion went flying in the air, smacking the large blank screen softly. "You can't cut off now! I want to know why he had such a bastard for a stepbrother!"

Danny was definitely not pleased when the screen blanked out just as Tobias was herding the group into the house with the intent on explaining his past. He swore Clockwork was doing this on purpose. Things were just starting to get interesting and it had to cut off!

"Stupid screen." He muttered, throwing another cushion at the vile object and glared daggers at the screen, as if willing it to turn back on again to show him how the explanation went. Danny continued glaring at the black screen, his scowling lips curving into an annoyed pout as he crossed his arms over his chest when the screen still did not turn back on.

"Cousin? What are you doing pouting at Clockwork's bazillion screens of timelines for?" Jerked out of his reverie, Danny twisted the top half of his body to see his younger female clone peering at him curiously from behind the couch.

"Dani!" The younger hybrid squealed as Danny pulled her over the top of the couch and enveloped her in a bear hug. Despite the fact that Dani's physical body was fourteen years old, she was still a tiny girl and this fact made it very easy for Danny to nab and hug her. "Hey Cuz, haven't seen you in a while. How are you doing settling down in the Ghost Zone?"

"Doing great! Wulf and I went to bother Walker some time ago, he shouldn't be giving you any trouble for…say the next few weeks or so." Danny raised an eyebrow at her mischievous smirk and had to wonder what exactly the two did to occupy Walker for a few weeks. "What about you? What are you doing here sitting on your bum in Clockwork's instead of shooting Box Ghost's butt back in the Real Realm?"

"Two words: Forced vacation." Danielle Phantom dissolved into giggles at her cousin's annoyed scowl. "A lot of thing have been getting on my nerves recently and Tucker made it an order for me to not be anywhere in Amity Park for two weeks."

"Oo, so he's finally throwing his weight around huh?" Danny rolled his eyes and pinched Dani's cheeks. The smaller hybrid squeaked and batted his hand away, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "So you came here to watch some timelines?"

"Isn't it obvious that it would be the only thing to do around here?" Dani blushed and nodded her head while Danny ruffled her mop of white hair with an affectionate smile. "So you come 'round to pester Clockwork often?"

"Hey! Who said anything about pestering?" Danny laughed at Dani's indignant pout. "When I come round, he usually has to go off anyway because his 'employers' would be calling him up for one thing or another. But Clockwork lets me stay if I want to; timeline watching is actually pretty fun."

"And thought invoking too." The older teen mused, letting his cousin settle on his lap and rested his chin on the top of her head. "I never realized that other timelines would be so harsh. Compared to what I've gone through here… our timeline looks like a walk in the park."

"Tell me about it." He peered down to meet Dani's understanding gaze. "I saw a few of the timelines before and they're so horrible… There was one where you had three more friends and the youngest sibling wished for her older siblings to die." Danny hugged the smaller ghost closely as her body shivered uncontrollably. "Their deaths were so horrible and bloody… That girl went insane with guilt after that witch told her that she had granted her 'wish' for her siblings' death."

"I don't think that's something you should be watching then." Danny chided gently, squeezing Dani's shoulder comfortingly. He paused and frowned, turning his gaze back to her. "What witch?"

"Huh? Oh the one with the gold mask and obsession with recreating Camelot or something." Dani's face scrunched up as she thought for a name. "I think her name was Morgana?"

"Oh, *that* witch." Danny laughed and shook his head. "And her name is Morgaine le Fey, not Morgana."

"Pish! Close enough." Danny snorted and tickled his younger counterpart, eliciting squeals of laughter from the smaller teen. After she had managed to bat away his tickling fingers, Dani tilted her head to look back up at Danny. "So really, why the pout at the screen when I got here?"

"Because the screen is evil." Dani giggled as Danny lifted his chin to glare at the screen. "It was just going to get to the good part with lots of information and it had to shut off."

"Ah, it does it all the time." She chirped, snuggling into her cousin's arms. "Once it gets past the really big event thing, it stops. But you might not know if it's trying to search for an even better way to explain something to you."

Once the words left her lips, the screen began to flicker back to life. Danny sent the screen an incredulous stare before chucking another cushion at it in annoyance, causing Dani to giggle loudly at his incensed expression. "The thing is conspiring against me!"

"Don't be such a baby." Dani teased, receiving a pinch on the cheek for her troubles. She squeaked and scooted off Danny's lap, settling down on the couch just beside him. "So which timeline have you been watching and which part are you up to?"

"Geez Dani, you make it sound as if the timelines are TV serials that you watch on a daily basis." Dani stuck her tongue out at Danny as he chuckled and shook his head in amusement. "A timeline where I had triplet friends join in with us, the Justice League and now it's up to the first Christmas spent with those new triplet friends."

"Wow. Hey it's weird; like the other timelines I watched before had those triplets in them too. Actually when I come to think of it, all of the timelines I've watched so far had them. Some where they weren't your friends, some where they were villains –" Danny made a face at the thought of any of the triplets becoming villainous, though he had to admit that it was something plausible since everyone had that potential to be evil. That included himself. "– and even one where all of you were just gender bent you know?"

"Really?" Dani's words finally sunk in and Danny pondered for a moment. All the timelines Dani had watched had the triplets? It was strange, but Danny came to the conclusion that it was just Dani's luck that the timelines she had happen to come across had the triplets, though there was this small nagging doubt tugging at the back of his head. "Huh. Weird. But I guess that's only a few timelines; there are almost an infinite number of timelines that branch from ours."

The hybrids' conversation was cut short when the screen exploded in a bright array of colors. Dani quickly snuggled against Danny's side, her knees drawn to her chest as she glued her eyes to the screen. Danny draped an arm over his cousin and did likewise as the screen warped the colors into a scene.

Danny grimaced when the glaring white walls of a hospital splashed across the screen again. The wail of an infant rang in the air as the corridor dissolved and morphed into a room. Nurses rushed the tiny brunette baby out of the room while the doctors struggled to stabilize the pale faced brunette woman's on the bed. Her tired red eyes gazed at the door as her baby was swept away, her voice a ghost of a whisper before she faded from the world.

**"Tobias…"**

Immediately, the scene shattered and was replaced with another; a blond man staring at the tiny infant snuggled in the sheets of the bed. Beside him, the blond woman glared vehemently at the child, her nails digging into her palm as the man called the doctor and spoke to him. The interior of the hospital vanished and was replaced with the bright and snowy outdoors where the man and woman got into a limousine, the sign 'Gotham Memorial' displayed on the walls of the hospital. The woman clutched the infant in a way that suggested that she wanted nothing more but to throw him away.

The next scene seemed to be set in a lavish mansion where the woman shoved the infant into the arms of one of the maids, loudly declaring her refusal to mother the bastard child her husband had conceived with another woman. Three blond children peered from the top of the stairs, their bright blue eyes staring curiously at the tiny figure nestled in the maid's arms before the maid whisked the child away from her lady's sight.

The next scene that followed had a jump in time; the tiny infant was now a small scrawny brunette boy with unkempt hair dressed in dirty ragged clothes. He blinked his large red eyes at the blond woman who flew into an unexplainable rage. She slapped and clawed his flesh with one hand while the other seized a tuft of brown hair and yanked it harshly as she screamed curses at him. The butler and maids quickly flew into action, extracting the bruised and bleeding boy from their lady's hands and quickly whisked him out of sight again.

Danny could feel Dani cling onto his hazmat suit as one of the maids tended to the boy's wounds. The child looked far tinier than he really was as the maid pressed a damp cloth to his cheek where a dark ugly bruise was forming; his eyes blinking blankly back at her. Danny's arms instinctively drew Dani closer to him, his hand giving her shoulder reassuring squeezes as the scenes continued.

The boy was a little older in the next scene, about seven or so, quietly setting the tea set in the room where the blond woman was reading a book before scurrying out in haste. He was met with a larger bodied child, just a few years older than himself, as he reached the stairs. The other boy smiled cruelly before shoving the smaller boy around, both hybrids startled at how cruel a child as young as he could be.

"**Hey bastard kid."** The nasal voice was almost recognizable to Danny, but he couldn't put a finger on it. **"Come on, let's have some fun yea?"**

"**I still have–" **The boy's quiet sentence was cut short when the bigger boy pushed him again, sending him crashing against the banister with a loud thump. The other boy's cruel laughter filled the air until another older voice penetrated through it.

"**Leave Tobias alone Theron."** The blond boy looked up to meet the stern gaze of his older brother. Oh, so that's why his voice sounded so familiar; it was the younger version of the same bastard of a step-brother he had seen earlier on. **"Don't you have something else to do like your homework for instance?"**

"**Party pooper."** The younger boy scowled. He turned to leave but not before he landed a good hard kick on Tobias's side, knocking the smaller brunette against the banister again and ran off before his brother could catch him. The young teen glared at the direction his brother had taken off into before crouching down to help Tobias up to his feet.

"**Thank you sir."**

"**Tobias, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me sir?"** The older boy sent the child Tobias an exasperated look but the other just returned his look with blank eyes. **"Come on; let's go take a look at those bruises. I don't want Tara pushing you down the stairs again after what happened the last time."**

"**I am alright sir."** Tobias bowed his head at the older boy before limping down the stairs. The blond watched as the smaller boy reached the bottom of the stairs and just as he had predicted, went straight into the broom closet where he knew Tobias wouldn't bother with his injuries. He ran a hand through his mess of blond spikes before sighing, trooping down the stairs and caught the attention of one of the wandering maids.

"**Yolanda, could you look after Tobias?"** The maid tilted her head questioningly at the young master. **"Theron started pushing him again and I'm pretty sure Tobias has gotten some bruises because he got shoved against the banister. He's back in his closet again."**

"**Of course Young Master Thomas."** The maid bowed politely before quickly scurrying to one of the cupboards, fishing out a first aid kit before she stopped in front of the broom closet, knocking on the door gently before it peeked open slightly. The teen, Thomas, glanced sadly in the direction of the closet as the maid crawled in with the box.

"That's so cruel…" The scene faded to black as Dani clutched onto Danny's hazmat suit tightly. "It's like they're not treating him like he's human at all!"

"Like an abused domesticated animal." Danny murmured in agreement, rubbing Dani's upper forearm soothingly. "Sometimes I forget that there are humans who are far worse than any other super villain. The other side of evil that we aren't able to fight against and defeat… and they're so much closer to home that we ever realize."

"Why do people have to do this?" Danny looked down to see Dani's own green eyes peering back up at him curiously. "Why do they have to treat their fellow humans so cruelly?"

"It's like asking a super villain why he's evil." He turned his head to look back up at the blank screen. "Their reasons will be something that we won't understand, but it will make complete sense to them. Perhaps it's also about the hierarchy of power in our society, or maybe it's the discrimination some of us have of those who are different from us. I wouldn't really know, but these are things that aren't easily explained."

Dani continued to cling onto him as the black of the screen began to swirl in colors before it shifted into another scene. Another time jump; Tobias looked about the age of nine as he quietly took the tea set up to his stepmother. At the door, a striking middle-aged woman glanced in his direction, watching the tiny boy trot up the stairs and disappear once he reached the top. The blond man noticed her gaze and turned to look up, but Tobias was gone.

"**Is there something in the house that caught your interest Professor Mitchells?"**

"**You have a young brunette boy in the house Mr. Angeles?" **He blinked at her before nodding his head slowly, his eyes showing confusion at the interest. **"Fascinating. Well, Alfred Pennyworth is looking for a playmate and study partner for his charge Bruce Wayne. That young child certainly fits the bill; he looks like he is the same age as the young Mr. Wayne. Though I am curious to know why he seems rather unkempt and dirty."**

"**I'll look into it Professor Mitchells."** A smile forced its way on Mr. Angeles's lips as he shook the professor's hand. **"I'll get back to you on it."**

The scene vanished quickly and before the next scene could appear on the screen, loud screams and shouts of protests could be heard. Finally, the scene slid into view where Mrs. Angeles shrieked and pounded her fists at her husband, still refusing to accept Tobias as her son. Mr. Angeles sighed and left the room, meeting the curious Thomas halfway down the corridor.

"**Thomas, could you do something for me?"**

**"Yes father?"** The teenager responded coolly, though his eyes glared sternly at his father who blatantly ignored the look of defiance from his son.

"**Get one of the maids to clean out the spare room Tara and Theron use as storage and bring Tobias there tomorrow morning. Clean him up and make sure he dresses appropriately."**

"**Why the sudden kindness?" **Thomas watched his father warily, unsure of the reasons behind the sudden change of attitude Mr. Angeles had in regards to Tobias. From since he could remember, Thomas knew his father had never regarded Tobias at all and turned a blind eye when his wife and two younger children continued to physically abuse the small boy. **"I don't believe that you've suddenly gained a heart and decided to treat Tobias nicely. What is your real reason behind this request?"**

Mr. Angeles frowned heavily at his son and met Thomas's eyes sternly. Father and son continued to stare at each other before Mr. Angeles stepped aside and continued walking down the corridor.

"**Just do it Thomas; and I don't expect you to talk back to me like that again."**

A few choice curses flew out of Thomas's mouth quietly before he trotted to the stairs and caught one of the maid's attention. He made the request and she nodded, dashing off to do the task immediately. Thomas paused for a moment, running his hand through his hair before glancing at the direction of the broom closet. His expression was pensive as the screen zoomed in to his face until the scene shifted and flashed a series of scenes in rapid concession.

_Flash._ Thomas rubbing Tobias's hair dry as he tried to explain to his half-brother that he didn't need to serve their mother her daily tea or sleep in the broom closet anymore.

_Flash._ The professor looking at Tobias in surprise as he wrote awkwardly on the test paper. After the test paper is marked, the professor meets with Mr. Angeles, pointing to the marked paper excitedly.

_Flash._ Tobias dressed in regular clothes and a pair of glasses, his messy hair tamed slightly though it hadn't been cut. Red met blue as he came face to face with a young Bruce Wayne.

_Flash._ Bruce watches his new companion curiously. He frowns as he catches sight of the bandage hidden underneath Tobias's long sleeved shirt as the boys work silently.

_Flash._ 10-year-old Tobias collapses halfway through class. Bruce curses at the number of injuries found on the other's body and demands answers from Tobias when he wakes.

"**I fell down the stairs."**

"**Bullshit! That's complete bullshit Tobias because you don't get those kinds of bruises with hand marks if you fall down the stairs! For a frigging Mensa-leveled genius, you completely suck at lying!"**

Bruce's voice faded along with the scene, the screen gently blinking with static that allowed the hybrids to continue their conversation.

"…At least there are people who care for him." Danny made a small noise of agreement and Dani continued. "And at least someone in his family who isn't completely heartless. I wonder how come their mom wouldn't accept him. Is it because she isn't completely related to him by blood?"

"Actually by right, she is related to him by blood since he is her husband's son." Danny paused and made a thoughtful noise. Dani waited patiently to continue. "But I guess she feels cheated that her husband went and had a child with another woman. So she resents the child for it even though it isn't his fault for existing in the first place."

"It's so cruel…" Dani's voice muffled against his hazmat suit as she buried her face into his side. Danny gently stroked her head and allowed whatever they had seen process into his mind. "I guess I'm a little glad that Vlad didn't treat me or any of the rest of the clones like that at all."

"Of course he didn't; he just did more experiments on you and tried to de-molecularize you down into ectoplasmic goo." The older hybrid groused, eliciting a small giggle from his younger counterpart. "But true, I guess I'd have to be grateful that he didn't physically abuse you to that point where you'd be bruised up and beaten. Plus that would have defeated the purpose of using you against me."

"You're so pessimistic." Dani gently shoved Danny's side and pouted at his amused smile. "And silly. Not everything is about you, you do know that right?"

"I just like to make myself sound important." He teased, reaching forward to poke Dani's cheeks before launching a tickle attack on her. She squealed loudly and tried phasing away, but Danny had caught her midway and continued to prod and poke her ticklish spots. "Ok, I'm just joking. To be honest, I don't like the spotlight at all but it just seems that everything kind of piles up on me for some reason."

"Oh be quiet, you piece of ham." He pinched her cheek lightly in revenge before the two settled back comfortably on the couch and waited for the screen to flicker back to life. It didn't take too long for the next series of flashes to appear.

_Flash._ Another time jump; both boys are in their early-teens, walking up the steps of Gotham City College. Bruce and Tobias are greeted by Professor Mitchells before they are lead into the school.

_Flash._ Bruce walks down the corridor talking quietly with a blond girl his age. They pause as they hear the melody of a piano playing and search for the source. They watch Tobias silently from the doorway as he continues to play. Once he is finished, Tobias is introduced to Billie Darvine, an art genius and Bruce's classmate.

_Flash. _A time jump forward of two years; Billie drags both Bruce and Tobias into a second hand clothes store and dresses them up in casual punk/skater clothes. She giggles and snaps photographs of the boys after they are dressed.

_Flash._ A snowy day; Billie stares at Bruce incredulously and points a finger at him.

"**You've known him for seven years! How can you *not* know when his birthday is?!"**

"**It just never crossed my mind."** Bruce tried to pacify Billie but to no avail. The other teen punches his shoulder lightly and glares. **"I'm serious Billie! Getting Toby to talk alone is like trying to pull his teeth out; getting to know him is even tougher than it looks." **

"**I still can't believe you haven't grown any balls and actually *ask*." **Bruce sticks his tongue out at Billie's choice of words, but the blond ignored him. **"Or is it some male best friend psychic thing that we women aren't supposed to comprehend? You of all people should know that you have to *ask* Toby directly about something to get the answer straight from his mouth."**

"**Ok fine. Why don't you go and ask since you're so confident about it?"**

"**That's what I intend to do; there he is now." **Billie waved her hand in the direction where Tobias was effortlessly slipping through the crowd and towards the two. **"Toby! Over here!"**

Tobias bobbed his head in greeting with a soft **"Good morning Bruce, Billie."**. Billie wasted no time in shooting out her question, much to Bruce's amusement.

"**Toby, when's your birthday?"** The young brunette tilted his head to the side and looked at her determined face curiously before replying.

"**Twenty-fourth of December."**

"**What?!"** Billie shrieked and started pounding her fists at Bruce, glaring at him vehemently. Bruce fended off her punches and Tobias simply watched his two friends from the side. **"It took me only one minute to find out when his birthday was and you didn't even have the balls to ask him for seven years; and his birthday is tomorrow! God you are such a dumbass Bruce."**

"**Ok fine, I'm at fault!"** Bruce yelped as Billie continued to throw her surprisingly strong fists at him. **"Ow! Quit it Billie!"**

"**Pig-headed man."** She sniffed, stopping her attack on him before totting over to Tobias and pulling him closer to where Bruce was nursing his bruises. **"So what do you guys do for Christmas? Please don't tell me you guys actually don't do anything for Christmas…"**

"**Toby's never been over to my place for Christmas."** Bruce pointed out as the three walked down the snowy pathway. **"Plus I don't do much anyway; just open the stack of presents some distant relatives send over and drink cocoa by the fire."**

Tobias blinked as two pairs of blue eyes train on him. Billie nudged his side gently. **"What about you Toby?"**

"**Study."**

Awkward silence followed his response. **"… That is so you Toby." **Bruce sighed and shook his head, regarding his best friend solemnly.** "But frankly I'm not surprised. I bet those snakes never even let you out of your room with their pesky annual Christmas Ball that's always held at your mansion."**

Silence envelop the three as they continue walking down the snowy path. Billie catches sight of the Gotham River before stopping the two boys.

"**Ok then, since you two don't seem to have anything else better to do on Christmas and most likely Christmas Eve too, why not meet me here tomorrow evening? We can spend Christmas in our own special way and as a bonus, we get to celebrate Toby's birthday!" **

"**Is it because we're the only jerks around who are willing to hang out with you?"** Bruce teased and quickly dodged the fist that came shooting out at him. He grinned and danced out of Billie's reach, taking refuge behind Tobias. **"What about your folks?"**

"**Momma and Pa can't come because they're short on money again. I'm on a full paid scholarship remember?"**

"**Oh right." **Bruce grimaced and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. **"Sorry, I forgot."**

"**Make it up to me by dragging your silly ass here by six tomorrow evening and I'll think about forgiving you."**

"… **You are one evil little girl Billie."**

_Flash._ The Gotham River; evening. Billie grins and gives the confused boys lotus shaped candles, lighting the wicks and setting them out to float on the river. She explains the significance of the candles as the three sit by the river bank and watch the candles flicker in the distance.

Billie curls contently against Tobias's side while Bruce eyes his friends in amusement. Behind them by the road, Thomas smiles and silently walks off.

_Flash._ Another time jump forward of three years. Tobias shyly proposes to Billie who shrieks and flings herself at him with **"Yes, yes, yes!"**. Bruce cheers in the background while shouting **"It's about damn time you two."**.

Billie throws a rude gesture in Bruce's direction that only served to make him laugh harder.

_Flash._ Angeles Mansion, midday. Thomas winces as he witnesses his mother throw a fit at Tobias's quiet announcement of engagement. The screaming fades and the scene quickly switches to Tobias leaving the Mansion with a few bags. Thomas stops him and speaks with him briefly before letting him go.

_Flash._ Bruce nudges Tobias's slightly fidgeting side as Billie walks down the aisle in her wedding gown. The ceremony is short and simple with only a few guests. Without waiting for the pastor to pronounce them husband and wife, Billie throws herself at Tobias and kisses him much to everyone's amusement.

"**Billie, it looks as if you just can't wait to pin Toby in a certain room and have your way with him."**

"**Who said anything about having my way in a *room*?"** Tobias coughs and turns his head away, his cheeks flaring a bright red color as Bruce's expression morphs into one of horror. Billie grins impishly while her father snorts and her mother shakes her head in amusement.

"**Billie sweetheart, that's far too much information that neither your father and I would like to know."**

"**Well it's true Momma."**

"**Oh god Toby. You've willingly chained yourself to the she-devil for life."**

"**And this 'she-devil' is more than willing to dish out some punishment to a certain best man who hasn't learnt how to keep his trap shut."**

Danny and Dani dissolved into laughter as the scene faded, Billie giving chase to Bruce in her wedding dress while waving her bouquet of flowers menacingly at him. Static returned to the screen as their laughter subsided, giving them some time to talk about what they had just seen.

"She's so awesome." Dani hiccupped, wiping the tears of laughter that leaked out from her eyes. "If I did have a mom, I wish she were her!"

"I guess sweet and gentle appearances can be deceiving." He snorted, recalling how he had initially perceived Billie Angeles to be a soft-spoken and sweet lady when he had first seen the photograph in the previous event. Danny nudged Dani's side with an amused smile. "And you *do* have a mother, who happens to be *my* mother too since you are essentially my clone."

"… Do you think she'll accept me though?" He blinked as Dani's wide and hesitant eyes met his. "I mean: Vlad created me out of your DNA and given that she doesn't exactly like him anymore…"

"She's never loved him in that way but that aside, there's no reason why she wouldn't accept you." He responded firmly, bringing Dani closer to him in a half hug. "So what if her most hated person created you? Even if you are my clone, you are your own person." Danny paused and raised an eyebrow at her. "Unless you've developed some of my tendencies and personality. Now *that* would be when we'd have to panic."

Dani giggled and shoved Danny's side with a pout. "Of course I haven't. If I did, I'd be O' Clueless number two, a title I definitely don't want!"

"Hey!" She laughed as Danny threw her a mock wounded look. "Why do you guys always like to make fun of my tendency to be clueless?"

"Because your reaction to the teasing is fun to watch." Dani responded with a wide grin, giggling as Danny curved his lips into an indignant pout. "But really? Are you sure your family would accept me?"

"Dani, Jazz already accepts you as a little sister and give our parents some credit will you? They aren't heartless. As far as I'm concerned, you're already a part of the Fenton family." Dani's smile was strangely watery as she threw her arms around Danny's midsection and buried her face into his side. He returned the hug softly before noticing the flickering screen. "Oh hey look, more scenes."

The colors on the screen blended with each other, swirling about before slipping into place. Another short time jump with a small cozy apartment as the setting for the next scene. Billie gazes silently at Tobias as he reads a letter from opposite the table.

"**How's Tommy doing Toby?"**

"**He says that he is well and doing alright." **Tobias sets an opened letter back down on the table and reaches out to grab the stack of mail to shift through them.** "His training is taking longer than he expected but he is willing to continue despite this set-back. He hopes that you are doing fine and gives his compliments on your recent painting that has been set on display in the Gotham Museum." **

"**Mm…"** Billie gets up from the table and walks behind Tobias's chair. She wraps her arms around his shoulders and rests her cheek on his messy brown hair. She hesitates for a moment before speaking up again. **"Hey Toby, I know you don't feel like you're ready to take on a family considering how young we are and that I don't exactly have a stable job as an artist… but I really, really want to have kids."**

Tobias stops shifting through the mail and slowly rests his hands back on the table. Billie glances at him worriedly and bites her lip, unsure of his reaction. **"…Toby?"**

"**Are you sure about this Billie?"** His voice was so soft that even both hybrids along with Billie had to lean forward to hear him. Confused but determined, Billie nods her head at Tobias's question, tilting her head to the side as she watches her husband carefully. **"I… am uncertain. I do not think I would make a good father to our children."**

"**Of course you will!"** Billie releases her hands from his shoulders and moves forward, cupping Tobias's cheeks as she faces him. **"You'll be a wonderful father to them Toby; I know it. You won't be alone, I'll be here with you and we'll bring up our kids together."**

His red eyes still held doubt as he stared into his wife's pleading bright blue. Tobias's expression becomes pensive as he mulls over his thoughts, his chin dropping down to his chest to avoid Billie's gaze. Billie sits on his lap and gently strokes his cheeks, waiting for him to speak.

"**If that is what you want…"** Billie releases a happy squeal and throws her arms over Tobias's neck, pushing both their weights against the back of the chair and making it topple over. A loud crash echoes in the apartment as the two land on the floor with Billie still clinging onto Tobias happily, not caring for the new acquired bruises that she had sustained from the fall.

"**Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you –" **Billie begins smothering Tobias with kisses before the man can even recover from the fall. The screen focuses on Tobias's bemused expression before it softens into a gentle look, though his lips are still set in a thin line, as Billie pulls him in for a longer kiss.

The next series of flashes made the two watching hybrids hold their breaths, leaning forward to be closer to the screen so that they wouldn't miss any details.

_Flash. _Billie and Tobias stare at the doctor as he points out not one, not two, but *three* babies in Billie's womb during her ultra-sound. Billie starts beating Tobias for impregnating her with triplets and moans about not getting just one child to start their family with. Tobias just stares at the ultra-sound screen blankly, not caring if his wife was beating him up.

_Flash._ Billie badgers the men for baby names, her belly swollen to the size of several watermelons, and finally decide on naming the triplets in alphabetical order. Bruce watches her in amusement while Tobias raises an eyebrow as she takes out a piece of paper and delegates which one of them names each triplet, forcing them to pick a boy and girl name so that it would be fair.

Billie chose Amilee and Adam for the first born.

Bruce picked the names Bianca and Bradley for the next.

Tobias ponders for a while before choosing Cassandra and Cayden for the last child before Billie grins cheerfully at the list and makes another two so that the men could keep it with them.

_Flash._ Tobias watches his wife curiously as she gleefully completes the pieces of jewelry she had been working on.

"**Billie, why have you made three chokers?"**

"**They're for the kids silly."** She giggles, pecking his cheek as he leans down to her shoulder to peer at the three chokers, two embedded with gems while one had a dog tag. **"I figured that it would be nice if they had some accessories when they grew up. Since Dr. Kelsing said that we were going to have two girls and a boy… so that's why I made the girls the gem embedded ones and our baby boy gets the dog tag."**

"**Are you… spoiling them already?"** Tobias raises an eyebrow at the pouting Billie. His eyes caught sight of the opal drop gem encased in silver swirls in the form of a pendant, recognizing it at Billie's own piece of jewelry, sitting snugly beside the choker with the dog tag. **"And it appears that you are more than ready to begin spoiling our son more than our daughters, giving him one of your own jewelry in companion to the choker."**

"**I am not!" **Billie denies and continues pouting at Tobias who simply looks at her with amusement dancing in his eyes. **"What's wrong with just wanting to give them accessories to wear?"**

"**Nothing."** Tobias kisses her cheek gently and looks at the four pieces of jewelry. **"I just believe you are thinking too far ahead because they will not be able to wear these accessories until a few years later."**

_Flash._ Billie clings onto Tobias's arm, slowly wobbling down the busy December street on the night before Christmas Eve. Suddenly, bangs and crashes echo across the street as the Joker swings above the crowd, crackling madly. The busy street erupts into chaos as the people shoved against each other to escape the Joker.

Batman swoops in and engages with the Joker. While the two fight, Billie is separated from Tobias in the large crowd. The Joker laughs maniacally as he leaps up and releases a spray of poison needles in the crowd. Before Batman can react, the Joker quickly disappears as the police arrive on the scene.

Tobias finally locates Billie sprawled on the ground and notices the sharp needles sticking out from her clothes as he cradles her in his arms.

_Flash. _Gotham Memorial, emergency room. The hospital is in chaos as frantic family and friends demand to know the status of the victims. Billie is rushed into the emergency room where she undergoes an emergency caesarean to save the triplets.

Amilee is born twenty minutes before the stroke of midnight on the 23rd of December and Bradley follows ten minutes after her. Five minutes into the 24th of December, Cassandra is born and doctors rush to stabilize Billie's condition.

Billie gazes at the door while her babies are quickly rushed into the nurseries, tears glistening from her eyes as she meets Tobias's worried ones. She squeezes his hand gently, murmuring softly before closing her eyes. The nurses quickly herd Tobias out the door as the heart monitor flat lines and the doctors try resuscitating Billie.

Ten minutes after midnight on the 24th of December; Billie Angeles is pronounced dead, leaving behind three two-months-premature infants and a distraught husband.

_Flash._ Bruce rushes into Gotham Memorial and meets Tobias. No words are exchanged, only a hollow and blank expression greets Bruce as he approaches his best friend. His expression slackens and he sinks into the chair beside the brunette, hanging his head as he mourned for Billie. Bruce quietly follows Tobias to the nursery, peering through the glass to watch the three tiny infants, struggling to survive their premature birth in the incubators. His fists clench tightly as his teeth grit against each other harshly, his eyes sweeping through the three name tags repeatedly.

A doctor approaches Tobias and speaks with him quietly before handing him some papers. Bruce tears his eyes away from the infants, reading the medical documents from Tobias's shoulder and freezes as he reads deeper into the text.

"**Toby… this is –"**

"**Yes."** Tobias's voice was quiet as his expression slackened to one that looked of defeat. **"They have been infected with the poison. It is dormant now but… it will only be a matter of time before it activates and kills them."**

The screen once again faded, this time to a completely blank and black state without the static. During the later point of the flashes when Billie had died, Dani had broken down into tears and clung onto Danny tightly. Danny watched in awe, letting the information settle in his mind before he processed through them one at a time.

So much emotion; from the cheerful and bright outlook of a future with a family, it was gunned down the moment the Joker had released the needles. A feeling welded in the side of his heart, but it wasn't pity. Danny sympathized with Tobias Angeles; though he could not begin to even fathom the pain the man could have felt when he lost his wife and found out that his three children could drop dead at any moment.

And he had been so reluctant in the beginning, only finally caving in when Billie pleaded and promised that she would raise their children together. Somehow it didn't seem fair that not only did he become a widower, he became a father when he doubted himself to be a good father to them. Why did life have to be so damn cruel to a guy?

"…Danny?" At Dani's whimper, Danny scooped her up into a tight hug, allowing the younger girl to sob quietly into his chest. "Why do… why do these things have to happen?"

Clockwork's words began to echo in his mind and unconsciously, Danny found himself repeating the words. "Because everything happens for a reason; whether we like it or not, those could be the events that shape them into who they are as we see them in the timeline we are watching now. There is no such thing as coincidence –"

"There is only _Hitsuzen_?" Danny looked down to see Dani rub her eyes with the back of her hand and peer up at him with watery eyes. "Clockwork's mentioned it before but I don't understand what it means…"

"Don't worry, neither do I." He consoled, gently rubbing the tear marks off her face as Dani snuggled back into his lap. "Are you sure you want to continue watching this extra bit? You don't have to you know."

"No I want to." She sniffed again but focused her eyes straight at the black screen that began to crackle with static. "I want to see how he managed – how he managed to continue surviving like that and still bring them up."

"You've gotten a whole lot stronger Dani." Dani tilted her head upwards to look at Danny in confusion. He only responded with a smile and a pat on her head before wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on the top of her head. The static grew louder before it evened out, presenting the next series of flashes to them.

_Flash._ A wail echoes in the darkened apartment and the lights flicker on with a gentle glow a moment later. Tobias strides out of his room calmly as the first wail is followed by another and tends to the fussing little girl first, her blue eyes watering as she reaches out for him. He takes both his son and daughter into his arms, awkwardly rocking them lightly as he stumbles to the kitchen to warm the bottles of milk.

A pair of wide curious red eyes peers through the bars of the crib, watching her father as he tended to her two siblings. The tiny infant rolls onto her stomach and continues watching her father in fascination as he sets her brother back into the crib and begins feeding her sister. Her brother sniffles and squirms about, unable to get comfortable with his face scrunched up and lips ready to open to release another wail. Slowly, she crawls towards him and rests a chubby hand on his cheek, burbling baby speech to him to keep him occupied while their father fed their sister.

_Flash._ Tobias is working in his office while keeping an eye on his three five-month-old children, his female colleagues keeping them occupied by lavishing them with attention. There is a tug on his pant leg and he looks down to see Bradley blinking up at him while sitting his bottom on the floor. He reaches down and brings Bradley up onto his lap, where the boy's wide and curious eyes scanned his table and began reaching out for the items scattered on it.

_Flash._ Another snowy December day; evening. The clock slowly ticks towards the 25th of December while Tobias continues working, glancing over to the crib often to check on the three sleeping children. Suddenly the front door is flung from its hinges, the loud banging noise waking the three sleeping children, causing them to wail simultaneously at the disruption of their sleep.

Theron Angeles stumbles through the door, his hand grasping a bottle of wine as he stares at Tobias, who is trying to calm his three crying kids, with a maniacal grin. The blond begins shouting at him, shoving papers into Tobias's face. His insane grin did not falter even for the slightest moment as he then smashed the half drunk bottle at Tobias and proceeded to bodily throw the smaller man out of the apartment.

Theron advances menacingly towards the three crying children, intent on 'shutting them up' until Tobias races back in and knocks him away from the crib. Before Theron can throw the remnants of the shattered bottle at him, Tobias quickly gathers the triplets into his arms and flees the apartment as Theron continues his drunkard rampage.

The clock strikes midnight as Theron grins and slurs a shout of **"Merry Christmas bastard kid, and happy fucking birthday!"**.

_Flash._ Tobias wraps the coat around the three shivering babies tightly as he continues to walk through the cold snowing night. Sleepy red eyes watch him curiously as he shivers, bringing the triplets closer to his chest while he walks. A hand suddenly claps his shoulder, causing Tobias to spin around and come face to face with a confused Bruce.

_Flash. _The Wayne Mansion. Bradley and Cassandra are sleeping contently in the crib, wrapped snugly under a pile of blankets, while Amilee sleepily watches the two men curiously from the crib. Tobias has his head buried in his hands, his elbows propped up on the table while Bruce glares at the hand held phone that lies on the table.

The little girl clings onto the bars of the crib and tries to crawl out, but is lifted out of the crib by Alfred who gives her a stern look. She blinks back at him and rubs her sleepy eyes, but still reaches out in the direction of her father. Alfred sets her down on the floor where she quickly crawls across the carpeted floor and tugs at Tobias's pant leg.

**"Dada."** She calls plaintively, raising her arms up to him but retracts one arm to rub her sleepy eyes again. Tobias's expression softens and reaches down, plucking her up from the floor and setting his eldest child on his lap. Amilee happily burrows her cheek against his chest and released a loud yawn before falling asleep, curled contently in his arms.

"**Toby?"**

"**I will not give up Bruce."** Gently, Tobias strokes Amilee's tuft of blond hair. He looks up and faces Bruce with determination. **"I will continue my research for the antidote and still bring up my children. I will not let Theron's interference hinder my goal."**

"**Then at least let me help you."** Both men locked gazes for a moment before Bruce continued. **"I'm not treating you like a charity case Toby; you're my best friend here. You need a place to stay and I insist that you live here. Alfred can take care of the kids so that you can concentrate on work." **Bruce paused and pondered for a moment before adding, **"And you are *not* a burden here."**

"**Bruce, I –"**

"**Toby, that son of a bitch bribed Star Labs to fire you, seized almost all of your assets, and went as far as to emptying your bank accounts after bribing the banks to give him the account information. And mind you, it's been almost five years since your family disowned you for marrying Billie too." **Tobias makes a disgruntled noise but doesn't interrupt as Bruce continues. **"I don't care what you'd probably say, but Billie's money isn't nearly enough to pull you back up to your feet. You can't find any cheap assed apartments that are safe enough to house babies or a job with good enough pay that lets you bring them along with you to the workplace Toby."**

Tobias's eyes narrows as both men continue to stare at each other. Sleepy red eyes blink open again to watch them while another two pairs of blue eyes blink behind the bars of the crib.

"**Stay here Toby."** Bruce insisted, dragging up a chair to sit on while never breaking his gaze with Tobias. **"You can pay me back by working in Wayne Enterprise. Lucius has been scouting for some new biomedical scientists to hire and you fit the bill perfectly. I'm not going to give you special mention because I know you don't like it when I do that. Come on Toby, let me help you this time."**

As Tobias mulls over his thoughts, Alfred quietly plucks the other two babies from the crib and sets them on the floor, watching them with fondness as they crawl across the carpeted floor towards the two men. A tiny hand comes waving at Tobias's face, causing him to look down to see Amilee grinning up at him, squirming in his arms before reaching up to touch his face with her chubby hand.

"**Daaa."** Both Tobias and Bruce's gaze drop to the floor as two babies crawl up to them with wide blue eyes. Amilee giggles and babbles, squirming in Tobias's arms again, an action that makes him set her back down on the floor to be with her two siblings. She immediately crawls over to them and envelops Cassandra into a sloppy hug, the younger girl giggling happily while burrowing into her sister's embrace. Bradley whines before flopping on top of his sisters, squishing them beneath his weight as he tried to wriggle his way into the hug.

Tobias watches his children squeal and play with each other on the floor while Bruce watches him carefully from the side. Finally, the brunette sighs and throws a defeated look at Bruce.

"**Alright."** Despite the triumph of finally persuading his best friend to take up his offer, Bruce's face twists into an expression of pain as Tobias continues to stare at the three babies forlornly. **"I will accept your offer."**

"It doesn't seem like a very good win huh." Danny absently nodded his head at Dani's exclamation as the screen faded back to black. "Why did that bastard want to make his life so miserable anyway?"

"Maybe to make himself feel superior." Dani glanced up at him questioningly, prompting him to explain further. "It's a complex when someone just wants to make himself look like he's a level above the others. I guess in this case, because he's always been able to push Tobias around he continued to assert his power over him."

"By taking almost everything he had away from him?" She frowned and diverted her attention back to the screen. "Hey, what does disowned mean anyway?"

"It basically means cutting off any kind of connection you have with that other person." Danny rubbed Dani's arms soothingly as he felt her muscles tense up. "So in this case, his family cut off ties with him because of his marriage so by right, they have nothing to do with him and vice versa."

"Then how come that bastard could still take everything he owned?" Danny's gaze dropped to his lap where he found Dani's hands clenching tightly. He rested his hands on her fists, squeezing them lightly before he explained.

"Money let him get his way. In our reality, money makes the world go round and since he's from a wealthy family, he could get away with it."

"But… that's not fair!" She whirled her upper body around to face her cousin with an expression mixed with shock and fury. "He already has so much money, why does he want to take somebody else's money and stuff when he can get them with his own?"

"Greed Dani." Danny gently rested his chin on the top of Dani's head again with a quiet sigh. "And probably envy too; those are two of the seven deadly sins. Greed because what he has isn't enough and he wants more of it; envy because he's probably jealous that his half-brother is far more intelligent than he is and wants to cut it down to size to make himself superior."

"But that's stupid!"

"No, that's reality." He corrected, rubbing her arms gently as she squirmed in his lap. "You can have an ideal world where there none of the seven deadly sins exist; a world with peace and harmony that's all in your mind. In truth, that's just a fantasy because in our reality, there's corruption and chaos. There can never really be an ideal world out there, everyone's ideal world would be different. But in the end, none of them will ever come to pass."

"I don't like it." She stopped squirming and stared heatedly down at her fists. "If that's the case, why are we fighting for? If the world so screwed up, why are we fighting for it?"

"Because there are things that are worth protecting." Danny responded immediately, hugging Dani closer to him. "I'm not fighting to preserve some kind of world peace; I'm fighting because I want to protect my family and friends. They're the ones who've been supporting me all this time without hesitation and I owe it to them for keeping me here."

"I have this power; a power that allows me to protect people that I hold dear to me and in the process, I protect a town." He peered down to look into Dani's eyes as he continued. "Initially, the town hated me because I was a ghost, and they thought that all ghosts were bad. It takes time to adjust because we have a power they lack and because of that, they fear us. You don't have an obligation to the town Dani; but I feel that I do because I feel responsible for letting the ghosts in. I've told you about the portal accident and because I managed to get that portal working, the town started getting attacked by the ghosts."

"I still find it stupid." The smaller hybrid sighed and leaned back against Danny's chest. "But I do have an obligation, and that's to you and Valerie for saving me."

"You know, you could always just stick to being my third cousin once removed instead of Danielle Phantom."

"Ick." She stuck her tongue out at the mention of her claim when they had first met while Danny released an amused chuckle. "Don't remind me. But hey, what was I suppose to say? 'Hey there, I'm your failed clone who's come to hand your ass over to your arch-nemesis. What's up?'"

Danny burst into laughter at Dani's exaggerated expression, the other grinning impishly before joining in. "I think I would have stared at you like you were mad and called the asylum to pick you up." Danny hiccupped, smothering the rest of his laughs behind his hand.

"See?" He snorted and poked Dani's cheek, causing the other to stick her tongue out at him. "I wonder if that's all the screen's going to show us…"

"If that's the case, damn." Both hybrids turned to look at the still blank screen. "I'm kind of curious to know how Theron attempted to murder Tobias."

"You mean that bastard actually tried to *murder* him?"

"Yup."

Before Dani could open her mouth to speak, the screen started flickering again. Both hybrids stared at the screen expectantly and weren't disappointed when the setting became clearer and the scene began to unfurl before them.

"**What's a big shot like you doing in this dinky little hole hmm?"** The Joker quickly slides around Theron, his wide clown grin never fading while the blond simply smirked back at him.

"**I've got a job for you punk." **Theron takes out a wad of money from his jacket and waves it at the Joker. **"Five hundred thousand if you can kill somebody for me. Use the most painful method you have to kill him. Make him suffer."**

"**I like you already!" **The clown jumps up and down with glee, sliding over to Theron and reached out for the money. Theron quickly pulls the money out of the Joker's reach; the villain smirks impishly. **"Money aside, I love a good victim. So, who's my target so that I can have some fun?"**

Theron grins wickedly, taking out a photograph and tossing it at the Joker's face. **"Tobias Angeles."**

The dark alley disappeared and was replaced with the bright white walls of a laboratory greeted them. Standing in the middle of the room hunched over a microscope was a slightly older Tobias. Quietly, he observed whatever he was looking at through the microscope, occasionally scribbling notes on a clipboard sitting beside the apparatus.

Two shadows loom from the ceiling before a tiny 'tink' sound echoes in the room, startling Tobias as he catches sight of a canister with a large smiley face rolling about the tiled floor. Just as he is about to react, the canister explodes, releasing sleeping gas into the windowless room. It took only a few moments for the gas to take effect, Tobias's body finally falling heavily against the floor as the Joker and the Harley Quinn loomed over him menacingly with masks over their faces.

The scene immediately switched to a dark room where Tobias is chained to the wall, his arms raised above his head while his feet dangled motionlessly in the air. Flashes of the torture streaked past their eyes; gun shots, electric static, violent beatings and cries of pain echoed in Clockwork's office as the Joker tormented and tortured the brunette, all the while laughing insanely as he did so.

Then the screen shifted as a stick of fire came to view, illuminating the Joker's maniac smirk in the dark. The Gotham villain throws the stick at Tobias, setting the man on fire just as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman burst into the room and engaged in a scuffle with him and the Harley Quinn.

Batman allows Superman and Wonder Woman deal with the Joker and Harley Quinn and quickly breaks away from the fight. The Dark Knight hastily extinguishes the fire and breaks the chains apart with his bat-a-rang, allowing Tobias to slide from their grasp and slump against him. He growls and grits his teeth as he catches sight of the numerous injuries that covers Tobias's body, slinging the brunette's arm over his shoulder and quickly drags him out of the room as Superman and Wonder Woman subdue the clown duo.

Dani and Danny stare at the screen with fascination as Batman interrogates the Joker after the previous screen warps to the brightly lit interrogation room. The black clad hero slams his hands on the table, glaring straight at the wide smiling Joker who goes off to bounce around the room in glee.

"**Oh people are so wicked these days!" **The Joker pounces back on the chair, settling down on it in the seating position of a frog. He grins crazily at Batman whose eyes narrow dangerously at him. **"They want to destroy each other. Who am I to stop them from having their way and what they so want? What humanity eh? A brother who wants his half bastard brother dead and –"**

Before the Joker could finish, Batman leaves the room with a swish of his cape. The Dark Knight ignores Superman and Wonder Woman's queries and continues walking down the hallway with his lips curved into a small snarl. The other two costumed heroes glance at each other worriedly before quickly following him.

As the next scene fades in, Batman strides into the office building and immediately rams Theron against the wall. Startled at his sudden aggressiveness, Wonder Woman steps forward to pull him back but is stopped by Superman. Theron scowls at Batman while the hero snarls at him in response before twisting Theron's arms behind his back and cuffing him. The blond howls and tries to break free, but Batman simply throws him at Superman, muttering darkly under his breath before leaving the silent office building.

"**What did Batman just say?" **Superman turned and gave the curious Wonder Woman an amused shrug.

"**He just said 'get that bastard out of my sight and into the jail cell where he belongs'."**

"Go Batman!" Danny snorted as Dani cheered loudly and pumped her fists in the air. "Damn, wish he actually landed a good punch on the guy's face though."

"Maybe, but that would have probably made things worse Dani." She threw him a look that pouted 'party pooper' but didn't respond back to him verbally. "Now that we saw the injuries, I'm actually kind of glad we didn't see the whole torture thing. Not something I'd ever want to catch you watching Dani."

"Too late." Her voice sounded a tad bit too smug for his liking and Danny raised a questioning brow at her. "I've seen some other timelines with worse tortures Danny. Like, that's a 'duh' in my books."

"Gee thanks Dani. Way to make me feel innocent." He tickled her lightly, causing Dani to squirm and fly out of his lap in a fit of giggles. "I don't think I want to know what exactly it was you've seen."

"I didn't think you would." Again the smug tone. Danny was beginning to think that Dani was watching *too* many timelines in her spare time. He really should start dragging her out of the ghost zone and make her adapt more to the Real Realm. "Not to leave you hanging, but I think I'd better go; I promised to play with Wulf today and Clockwork won't let me bring him in his office."

"Just think of all the damage the both of you could do to Clockwork's office." He chided, already getting a few vague ideas of what sort of chaos Dani and Wulf could do in Clockwork's small office. "You guys might even accidentally release Dan from the Thermos and that's something I'd want to avoid."

"Gee, you think?" She laughed and zipped forward, catching him in a tight hug. "I'll catch you later cousin. I want to watch the timeline with you so, tell me what happens!"

"Haha, it makes me think you've become a timeline addict." He swiftly dodged the hand that came out to smack him and grinned at her. "Alright, well according to Clockwork, it's only been like 3 or 4 days since I left Amity so I have more than a week left to rot in here."

"Mmm hm. Good! I get to spend more time with you then."

"There's always the thing as 'come to the Real Realm to visit' Dani."

"Party pooper." With another hug and a wave, Dani quickly flitted out of the office, whistling cheerfully as she left. Danny shook his head and turned back to the screen which had gone blissfully blank again.

He hadn't realized just how little Dani really understood about the Real Realm but then again, he'd forgotten that she barely had any knowledge of these things. Speaking of knowledge, Danny leaned back against the couch with all the new information swirling in his mind. Humans didn't seem to be at all different from malevolent ghosts; Theron definitely proved that.

'_An enemy who is a whole lot closer than we think… and it's not any off-worlders or ghosts and the what nots… humans themselves are a threat to each other.'_ On that point, Danny began to muse about all the previous wars humans had against each other. The World Wars, Civil wars… and humans went as far as to do discrimination against their own kind who just looked different from them, like the whites versus the blacks. Who *was* the real enemy then?

Danny knew that he didn't have a straight answer for that question. If he had been asked that question on the month he started using his powers, he would have immediately answered the ghosts. But now that he was older and had more experience, he had to question: were ghosts *really* the main threat to mankind? Well probably to Amity Park they would be but that wasn't the point.

Humans were their own enemies. Like women and men fighting against each other for a person that they loved (he used Vlad and his dad as examples, it was simpler that way), fighting for the glory of their country, fighting for their beliefs... Mankind's threat was their own selves. Ghosts were no different; Pariah Dark was proof of this.

The screen began to flicker again, breaking Danny out of his reverie and made him focus his attention on it. Eagerly, Danny stretched his legs out and grabbed his bag, fishing out a few snacks while keeping his eyes on the screen. He was very interested in how the timeline was going to continue now that he was so absorbed into it, but he also had shared some curiosity about the other timelines that Dani had mentioned to him earlier.

Huh, a timeline where everyone was gender bent? Now *that* was something that he'd like to see.

He settled back on the couch comfortably, popping open the bag of chips on his lap as colors began to filter back on the screen. Quietly munching on the chips, he leaned back against the couch and watched as the next event began to unfold.

* * *

**Authoress's Ending Notes:**

1) Even though no one might have been interested, I thought I'd dive into the friendship between Bruce and Tobias, and Tobias's past for that matter. If this interlude has bored you, I apologize.  
2) Thank you to **Soului**, **Calovan**, **Anthiena**, **crimsonshrouds**, **Oats-FFCC27** and **Enchanting Elf** for reviewing the previous chapter(s) ^_^  
3) YES, the Teen Titans *will* be playing an important role(s) in the future chapters. It's been hinted in Season's Greetings ;)  
4) Ghost Writer too plays an important role as Danny's information broker. XD I always thought of Ghost Writer to be one who was very proper and informative; someone Danny could go to for information if he needed it without getting his butt fried in the process. God of Art and Sex though? Interesting concept for Ghost Writer.  
5) I'm working on an original piece of work (My first novel actually !.!) and well yes. Probably will get a whole lot slower in getting these chapters up ^^; Many apologies.  
6) Due to some unfortunate events, I will be editing my previous chapters for the purpose of changing 'Cassy' to 'Casse' (Reverting to my original nickname I had thought of for the character Cassandra) and I will be redesigning this character's appearance a little.  
7) Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this interlude. Do drop a review if you have the time :)

**Cheeri~  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	15. Crumble to Dust

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress's Beginning Notes: Wow, I'm surprised I managed to finish this chapter. Between my Uni workload, novel and life problems, I think I managed to do the chapter quite nicely. Be warned: Much angst awaits you in this chapter. It is here that everything gets twisted again. Please enjoy :)

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 12: **

**Crumble to Dust**

* * *

She watched them from the distance, standing on the rooftop of the Amity Observatory with her purple tinted cloak swaying gently in the wind. Short flashes of green penetrated her vision as the bleach haired teen released the bright colored energy from his hands in rapid concession at his opponent. Below him, a blond teenager dodged falling debris and dove for cover as the large robot they were fighting against fired a barrage of missiles at them.

The street below her exploded in a beautiful blend of orange, red and black. The force of the explosion was so great that the winds of impact reached up to her position, blowing her cloak backwards and knocked the hood off her head. Ignoring the dust that danced around her, she continued to watch the two boys carefully as they continued the dangerous dance with their larger enemy.

A sudden beeping noise from her belt alerted her of a call. Without so much as a bat of her eyes, her hands swiftly unhooked the yellow object from her belt and clicked a button that decorated the top.

"Do you mind telling me why you decided to stay in Amity Park and when you're going to come back to Jump City Raven?" Her pale lips quirked into a smirk as Robin's irate tone came echoing from the device. She didn't respond immediately, her eyes still concentrating on the battle that was drawing to a close. A small tapping noise emitted from the circular communicator, indicating Robin's impatience in waiting for her response. "Well?"

"I found something interesting." Raven wasn't about to tell Robin exactly what had caught her interest, it was almost fun to annoy the Titan leader with her evasiveness. From the tiny screen of the Titan communicator, Robin made a disgruntled noise and frowned at her. "And my answer to your question hasn't changed since yesterday; I'll return to Jump City by the end of the month."

"Why can't you at least tell me what caught your interest?" The boy wonder groused. Before he could continue, Starfire's perky voice suddenly sounded from the communicator, the screen splitting between the two Titans on Raven's communicator.

"Glorious! Friend Raven, are you enjoying yourself in the Park of Amity?" Raven allowed a ghost of a smile to grace her lips at Starfire's grammar. A snort, easily recognizable as Cyborg's, echoed softly in the background accompanied with Beast Boy's quiet giggles. Raven wasn't terribly surprised that the rest of her teammates had been listening in to Robin's call to her. "Perhaps it is the boy ghost of the Park of Amity who we have heard much about from the Justice League who has your interest?"

From the communicator, Robin made a faint strangling noise at Starfire's observation. Starfire was far more intelligent that she seemed; her naivety just covered it up. "What?!"

Beast Boy's giggles grew a little louder before it was abruptly cut short. Raven had a feeling that her green teammate had turned his communicator off so that he wouldn't offend Robin by laughing out loud at him. Cyborg's chuckles grew louder and the empath could imagine their cybernetic teammate shaking his head at the communicator.

"Raven, we didn't even see him when we were in Amity Park during Christmas and there weren't even any of those 'ghost attacks'. Why the hell would the spirit of a dead boy interest you anyway?"

"You forget Robin; I have the power of empathy." Raven's eyes drifted away from the communicator and watched the two boys finishing their battle with the large robot. The outraged shouts of 'I'll have your pelt at the foot of my bed, I swear it!' dying away as the ghost was sucked into a cylindrical device and silenced with a cap. The boys exchanged high-fives with each other before the glowing teen quickly ducked away when a loud 'vroom' noise sounded in the air.

Ignoring Robin's impatient mutterings, Raven kept her eyes on the street as a red clad female raced through the air on a jet sled, her guns poised and ready to fight. The blond teen raised an eyebrow at her while her head swept across the street looking for her opponent. A raven haired teen poked his head from the alleyway, blinking owlishly at her and waved. After a moment, the female stomped a foot on her jet sled in anger before flying off into the distance without so much as a glance backwards.

A smirk played on Raven's lips as the boys stared at the direction where the red clad female had left and exchanged cheeky grins with each other. As the two boys quickly trotted down the street, Raven chose the time to indulge some information to Robin.

"Oh, and did you know that a certain male blond teen you know is friends with that ghost boy Phantom and is actually very apt in fighting ghosts Robin?"

"He's WHAT?!"

The rest of Robin's outraged cry was cut short when Raven turned off her communicator and stashed it back onto her belt. Once she pulled her hood over her head, she took to the skies, keeping an eye on the two teenage boys who were down on the streets. As they reached the building with the large 'Fenton Works' sign, the raven haired boy grabbed the blond from under his arms and flew them into the quiet house through the second floor window.

With a satisfied smile, Raven turned and returned back to the house she was staying in for the rest of her stay in Amity Park. Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom. It was so obvious that it would easily slip past anyone who didn't give it a second thought or even took the time to spot the similarities between the two.

The three weeks of observation were definitely fruitful and she understood the Justice League's mixed feelings in regards to Phantom. He was a part of a species that were mainly malevolent since the ghosts often attacked Amity Park with the intent of world domination, or in the case of the lone hunter ghost, to simply hunt Phantom.

While he received praise in assisting them in the defeat of the Injustice League, he was also feared by some of the JL members because of his power. Raven could sense the power he had yet to fully develop; if properly trained, he would make an exceptionally valuable ally in the fight against evil.

But still, she could see that he had no such intent on becoming affiliated with the likes of the big league heroes. All he wanted was to protect the people close to his heart and live a life that was as normal as it could be even with his powers. Raven's lips curved into a sad smile; no matter how much he would resist, he would sooner or later be dragged into the never-ending war of good and evil.

Raven reached the house and did a quick mind scan of the house. The girls were sleeping peacefully in bed while their father was still working in his study. With a smile, Raven dove into the shadows.

Amity Park was far more interesting than Robin thought. Too bad he wasn't able to see the full picture just yet.

* * *

"Hey Danny, could I talk to you for a minute?" Danny turned his head and met Lee's determined face. Curious to know what she wanted, he nodded mutely to agree. He clapped a hand on Brad's shoulder to catch the other boy's attention, gesturing to Lee to indicate that he was going to follow her and would meet up with him later. Brad tilted his head in confusion for a moment before it clicked, nodding his head in acknowledgement before returning to rummaging through his locker.

Three weeks since that revealing Christmas day and everything had slowly but surely returned to normal; the ghosts were back attacking Amity Park once New Year's day was done, the new school semester had started with a huge pile of homework as a welcome and his parents were back to testing dangerous ecto-weapons in their house. Even Sam was back to her morbid and sour mood once Christmas was over and he did miss the more cheerful Sam who didn't spend all of her time glaring at the triplets.

Although, it still wasn't exactly completely normal like before, even by Danny's standards. Brad still hadn't gotten his voice back, which continued to make Danny feel uneasy and worried about the reasons behind the loss of it, and there was still a small rift between him, Lee and Casse. More so between Lee and Casse though it wasn't as bad as it was three weeks ago, but Brad still avoided any kind of confrontation with his younger sister and would usually slink behind Lee or Danny, sometimes even Jazz if she was around, because of the cat incident. If it was a particularly bad day he would disappear into the shadows, which would make them worry about him throughout the day.

It had gotten to the point that Brad would constantly stay over at his place and go out with him on nightly patrols just to avoid confronting Casse. The fear of his younger sister bringing home another cat was painfully evident to Danny because he could see Brad cringe slightly whenever Casse stood too close. One would think that three weeks would have been more than enough time for anyone to shake off whatever had happened and return back to daily life, but apparently it seemed that Brad's fear of cats was much bigger than Danny had initially perceived it to be.

Of course, Danny then turned to Lee for questions regarding the aftermath of Brad's panic attacks. Danny didn't know why, but he became annoyed when he found out from the oldest triplet that a year after the 'kidnap' incident, Dick had thought of ridding her brother of the fear and brought back a stray and *hungry* cat to the Wayne mansion. Needless to say, it ended in disaster with Brad carted off to the hospital suffering from extreme hypertension and a massive panic attack.

While she had noticed that there was definitely something going on, Casse still seemed blissfully oblivious to the fact that her brother was actually afraid of her and would blink in confusion when he would 'disappear' from beside her by inconspicuously slinking away. Sam and Tucker could already feel and see the rift that was growing between the triplets but remained in the dark on the reasons behind it.

With the amount of time he was spending with the triplets, Danny knew that he was already sitting on the borderline of seeming as if he was ignoring Sam and Tucker. So when Lee took over looming over Brad, Danny sidled back to them with hopes of explaining the situation to them briefly without going into too much detail. Tucker had thankfully accepted the explanation, wishing him luck in helping Brad with whatever it was that was bothering him and told Danny not to be such a wart in thinking that he was that possessive of his best friend.

However it seemed that Sam was beyond reasoning by that point, choosing to snap harshly at any one of the triplets to vent her anger at 'losing' Danny to them. Jazz had already thought through Sam's behavior and warned Danny that he should make it clear to her whether or not he liked her just as a friend or something more. He had been thoroughly startled by Jazz's observation that Sam was crushing on him, and crushing on him badly.

But it got him thinking. Sure he did like Sam, probably even loved or was still in love her; but the Sam he loved wasn't this possessive and biting Goth who would snipe at and disregard their friends. But he still kept his hopes up that the Sam he loved was still there and would come back soon. He'd just have to wait patiently for her.

"What's up Lee? Is there something wrong?" Even as he continued to look out for Brad, Danny couldn't help but feel sympathetic to Lee who had initially been on the brink of a break down when the school semester started. One of Dick's friends had decided to remain in Amity Park until the end of January and the older teen had managed to weasel reasons to them on letting Rachel Roth stay at the Angeles house to avoid needing to pay for a hotel.

With a houseguest, patchy relationship with her sister, constant worrying over her brother's mental health and the pile of homework that had come from school, Lee had almost broken down from the stress if Jazz hadn't stepped in to help her.

"Are we bothering you?" Startled and confused by her question, Danny could only blink owlishly at Lee which prompted her to explain what she meant. "I mean, you haven't been hanging out with Tucker and Sam lately because you've been looking out for Brad. It's not that I don't appreciate your help or anything, but it seems like we're being a nuisance and this kind of block off that's preventing you from doing your own thing."

"Lee, you're thinking too much." Danny winced as his attempt to lighten the mood failed when he was rewarded with a scowl by the blond. Dang, she was serious. "Look, it's no big deal. I want to look out for Brad because I want to and it's obvious that he does need someone around with him for most times."

"But you're not obligated to do this." She argued, adjusting the books that were cradled in her arms before she continued. "You don't have to cut off spending time with Tucker and Sam just because we can't deal with our stupid family problems."

"No, I am obligated to do this because all three of you are my friends too." He responded firmly, shouldering his backpack lightly. "Look, if I don't look out for him, he might get into trouble and that will stress you out even more. You almost broke down when school started because everything kept on piling up and this isn't some 'stupid' family problem; it's something serious. Take it easy Lee, I've already talked to Tucker and Sam about it and they understand."

'_Well at least Tucker does.'_ Danny added silently while Lee mulled over his words. As they continued their slow walk to Lee's locker, they didn't notice Sam glaring heatedly at their backs. Her hands clutched her books tightly as she gnashed her teeth silently, her eyes never leaving them even though the throng of students obstructed her view.

"If you're sure about it… I just don't want you to leave them behind." Lee sighed and shifted her duffle bag on her shoulder, her gaze dropping down to the tiled floor. "I know you haven't told them about what happened because it's a pretty sensitive topic for Brad and all…"

"Hey, don't worry about it. These things just take time to blow over; even if it has been three weeks." She sent him a look that read 'is that supposed to make me feel better?' and he simply shrugged in response, his lips curved into a cheeky smile. "So, did you manage to finish Lancer's assignment?"

"You have to be more specific then that Danny." She shoved his shoulder lightly with her own, prompting Danny to nudge her side with his elbow in retaliation. "Which one of them? He gave us four different assignments to do!"

As they tossed playful banter at each other, Sam's grip on her books tightened to the point that the covers were beginning to strain so as not to rip. Her eyes flickered jealously at them, her teeth biting her lower lip harshly. From behind her, she could barely hear Tucker talking to Casse, Brad and Jazz but she couldn't be bothered with them. Her entire attention was focused solely at Danny and Lee who were openly laughing with each other in front of her.

'_I wish… I wish that Lee would just disappear!'_ The violet accents of the silver bracelet that nestled snugly on her wrist flickered and glowed darkly for a few moments before it returned to its normal shade. Sam continued to glare at them until a hand reached out and rested on her shoulder, tearing her attention away from the other two.

As Danny's laughter subsided, he turned to grin at Lee and opened his mouth to speak but stopped, his eyes widening in shock. She was still standing there immersed in her giggles, but her giggles had become soft and echo-like, and her figure was literally fading away right before his eyes. It seemed as if time was slowing down on him; her head looked up, her lips curved into a smile as he tried to reach forward to grab her disappearing form. Her words became softer and less coherent to his ears and just when his hand was about to touch her shoulder, she was gone.

The loud clatter of fallen books and a soft 'tink' from the gem embedded choker that dropped onto the floor wasn't enough to snap Danny out of his stunned reverie; he continued to stand there, his eyes wide and his feet rooted to the spot with his hand still hovering just inches away from where Lee had once stood.

A scream and several strangled cries echoed through the corridors of the school, catching the group's attention as the crowd of students suddenly sprang away from an area of the hallway just in front of them. Glancing at each other for a moment, the group quickly surged forward and through the bodies of students to the area.

"Danny? Danny! Danny what's wrong?" Panic immediately rose in Jazz's chest at the sight of her brother's stunned figure standing rigidly at the lockers. Her breath caught at her throat when her eyes flew to the place Danny's shell-shocked eyes were staring at. A bunch of scattered books, a neat black and blue duffle bag and a black choker with its ruby gem twinkling brightly lay sprawled on the floor just in front of Danny, and immediately Jazz could recognize the owner of the items. But where was she?

"Fairy? Fairy?! Danny, where's Fairy?" Brad and Casse had immediately leapt to Danny's side, Casse shaking his shoulders frantically while Brad hovered behind him worriedly. Tucker would have been grateful to see that Brad wasn't avoiding Casse at this moment but given the current circumstances, he knew that Brad's worry over their missing sister was something that surpassed his need to keep the distance between himself and Casse.

Sam stood rigidly from the front of the crowd as Tucker and Jazz quickly rushed forward to inspect the scene with Casse and Brad still trying to snap Danny out of his stunned stupor. The Goth's mind had stopped working and all her sight would allow her to see was the pile of items splayed over the tiled floor.

'_Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. –'_ The word continued to echo in the recesses of her mind as she continued to stare at the gem embedded choker. Everything else just seemed to have faded from her vision, not even Danny's stunned form met her eyes. _'Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. –'_

***Bang***

Sam was roughly jerked out of her stupor at the loud and sudden noise, looking up to see Danny pinning his back heavily against the metal lockers with his eyes still staring at the pile of items wide open in shock. Finally she moved forward with the intention to soothe him; but as she got closer, Sam realized that Danny was shaking violently and flinching away from anyone who tried to touch him.

"Danny shh, it's ok. Come on little brother, let me help you." Jazz tried coaxing Danny away from the lockers, Casse sticking close to her side and trying to persist in asking where her sister was. Brad and Tucker were in the midst of communicating with someone through Tucker's PDA as Sam quietly toed closer to the group.

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets! What on earth is going on here?!" The crowd of students quickly sprang back to allow Lancer passage to the corded off area of the hallway. None of them were willing to step a foot into the area where one of their own had suddenly vanished. The teacher stopped when he caught sight of the pile of items on the floor before turning his attention to the girls who were still trying to coax Danny away from the lockers. "Ms. Fenton! If you could please tell me exactly what happened so that I can –"

"I don't know, ask me later!" She snapped irritably, not caring who she was talking to and returned to slowly moving closer to Danny to reach out to him. His shaking had increased ten-fold and the corners of his eyes were beginning to dampen. "Danny you need to calm down."

Jazz spared a quick glance at the other two boys while her brother continued to press his back against the lockers. Brad was fidgeting nervously while Tucker was quickly tapping on the screen of his PDA, his brows narrowed in deep concentration. She didn't know what it was they were doing but had the gut feeling that they had called someone.

Lancer jerked back slightly at Jazz's harsh reply but composed himself quickly. He turned to the rest of the teenagers crowding the hallway and glared.

"If you have nothing else better to do than to stare like idiots, then I suggest that you return to your classrooms. Now!" He shot a harsh glare at the students, the look that got a majority of them scampering away from the scene in a hurry while the braver ones only begun moving out in a more sedate manner, as if wanting to continue watching them like a bunch of vultures. What a mess. And he didn't even know what was going on!

Drizzles of white began to flicker from the back of the dispersing crowd before it flashed brightly for a split second. Squeals and excited shouts echoed from the students as they stepped back to allow Dr. Fate, Etrigan, J'onn and Batman through. Jazz threw a surprised look at Tucker, who caught the look and mouthed 'called Mr. Angeles' to her in explanation. She was surprised that the Justice League had actually answered Tobias's call; did the League really hold him with that much regard or was it because their magical users felt something happen?

Batman quickly slipped through the diminishing crowd of students and began inspecting the scene with Dr. Fate and Etrigan following after him. The Gotham Knight bombarded Tucker and Brad with questions, Tucker calmly giving him a brief outline of what he thought had happened while Brad gestured a little to chip in some input. J'onn strode over to the girls and rested a hand on Jazz's shoulder.

"Allow me." Jazz hesitated before finally stepping aside, gently taking Casse and Sam with her as J'onn stood in front of Danny. She bit her lip as Danny flinched violently as J'onn pressed his finger tips against his head and scanned through his mind.

"I smell magic." All heads, sans J'onn and Danny, jerked towards Etrigan at his growl. They stared at the demon who had Lee's choker in his claws. "Someone with either strong magical powers or an equally powerful artifact did this."

Tucker noticed Sam's flinch from the corner of his eye but didn't think much of it before shooting his question at Etrigan. "But why? There are so many other people in the whole world, why Lee?"

"Do you think I would know?" Tucker winced at Etrigan's harsh reply. The demon sniffed the choker again before inspecting the rest of the fallen items. "This magic smells familiar…"

"Would the girl have any enemies who would want her gone?" Brad shook his head vigorously at Dr. Fate's query but Tucker noticed Sam flinch again from behind Jazz. Her behavior was beginning to worry him but all he could do was shake his head at Dr. Fate to affirm Brad's response. "Very curious. The amount of magic used to do this deed is alarmingly high; even I felt the magic from such a far distance away and contacted the League because of it. It is also quite strange that Dr. Angeles had contacted us over this sudden disappearance at the same time."

"That… uh, kind of would be my fault." Tucker rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he presented his PDA. "Brad and I gave him a call when it happened and –"

"Danny!" A crash alerted them and the men whipped around to see Danny backed up against the lockers and crouched on the floor, whimpering while Jazz wrapped her arms over his shoulders and tried to soothe him. She shot an angry glare at J'onn, who was looking curiously at Danny. "What did you do to him?!"

"I simply scanned his recent memory. It seems that the shock has finally settled into his mind that the girl simply vanished in front of his eyes." Brad and Tucker had quickly stepped over to them, but not too close to crowd over Danny as Jazz tried to calm her brother down. Batman frowned and walked over like a large shadow looming over the teenagers. Despite the dark threatening look and his reputation for being a downright bastard, Batman was surprisingly gentle when he spoke.

"Can you tell us how she disappeared?"

"I don't know!" Danny's words began to stream out of his mouth at an alarmingly fast rate. His body shook violently as the panic caused his voice to increase in volume with each word and pitched his tone into octaves that were higher than his normal. "We were just talking! We were only talking then she was starting to fade off and then I tried to touch her, and she was gone! I don't know what else… I don't know how it happened!"

"Shh, Danny calm down." Jazz gently rubbed his shoulders soothingly but Danny had yet to cease his babbles and shaking. With a frown, Batman turned and started talking to J'onn, Etrigan and Dr. Fate, trying to figure out the situation. Lancer had finally gotten all the students to their class and hovered behind the teens, looking worriedly at Danny. "Come on little brother, work with me. Take slow deep breaths and calm down."

"They think I had something to do with it… I'm sure they think I have something to do with it because I was right there…! I swear I didn't do anything! I didn't, I didn't, I didn't –" Frustrated that no one seemed to be able to get Danny to calm down, Brad had gestured for everyone else to shift aside with a scowl. Wary of what the blond teen was up to, Jazz only released her grip around Danny when Tucker coaxed her away. She almost leapt forward when Brad suddenly seized the collar of Danny's jacket, pulled him up to his feet and actually _bitch slapped_ him a few times. Hard.

The sound of the slaps caught the heroes' attention and Batman raised an amused eyebrow as Brad flicked Danny's nose with his index finger as a final attack. The slapping seemed to have worked to the point that Danny had stopped babbling and was rapidly blinking at Brad, as if he was trying to comprehend what had happened. With a silent huff, Brad released the collar of Danny's jacket and allowed the other to slide down against the lockers and abruptly sit his bum on the floor.

For a while, there was silence.

"Did you just *_bitch slap*_ him?" Casse openly gaped at her brother who made a gesture of dusting off his hands, as if his task was done. Brad rolled his eyes skyward and signaled a few gestures while keeping a close eye on Danny at the same time. Seeing that no one else besides the heroes and himself understood what Brad was implying, Tucker quickly translated the gestures for the rest of them.

"He said at least Danny's quiet now and awake to say the least."

"You call that awake? " The blond teen threw his hands up in the air in exasperation before dropping them back to his sides and huffed at her, as if saying 'I don't see anyone else with a better idea of snapping him out of it'. Jazz scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't appreciate you slapping my brother Brad and you could have made it worse!"

While Jazz berated Brad for his actions, Tucker couldn't help but feel slightly relieved that Brad's shy spell had broken and he had somewhat returned to his normal demeanor. The relief was short lived though; there were more pressing matters at hand. He directed his attention to Danny, watching him carefully as he shook himself, as if trying to wake up from a long dream.

"Danny?" Casse squeaked out softly, kneeling down a little distance from him and peered at him worriedly. His head slowly turned to the side and met her eyes, blinking blankly at her. Casse bit her lip down hard to prevent herself from asking the same question. _'He's already said he only saw her vanish just like that. He doesn't know how or why it happened… stop thinking about it Casse! Concentrate!'_ "Danny? Are you ok?"

Danny continued to blink at her for a while, but his eyes were starting to clear up a little. Just as Casse was about to open her mouth to speak again, Etrigan suddenly appeared at her side and started sniffing at her. Startled by the sudden intrusion of personal space, Casse shrieked and scampered away from the demon in fright. She quickly jumped over Danny's feet, fled to her brother and hid behind him, peeking back out cautiously to glare at Etrigan from behind Brad.

She could feel Brad's body stiffen as she clung onto the back of his shirt and wondered why he was tensing up for. Etrigan's low gruff voice sliced through the air and cut Casse off her thoughts that made her focus her attention on the demon.

"They all reek of the same magic." Etrigan took a whiff of the air around Danny's hair before lumbering over to the blond siblings. Casse shrank back as Brad leaned backwards when Etrigan reached them and sniffed the front of Brad's nose. "The stench of that magic is particularly strong on you…"

"Are you implying that he's responsible for this disappearance?" Batman's eyes narrowed and shifted his gaze to Brad, whose expression had turned from one of confusion to one of complete and utter fury. The blond boy began mouthing angry words, a majority of them were obscene ones that Batman quickly recognized that were further backed up with gestures of the same meaning.

Etrigan frowned and leaned forward to sniff at Brad again. The teen's lips curved into a scowl as he leaned backwards away from the demon who took a deep whiff at his throat. Etrigan's eyes narrowed and his throat released a low growl.

"No. It's because he's been affected by the same magic that took that girl away. He's mute right now isn't he?" Brad huffed silently, signaling a very obscene gesture at Etrigan for talking about him as if he wasn't there. Batman simply nodded while Etrigan ignored the rude gesture, holding up the red gemmed choker in his claws. "The scent of the magic is strong at his throat, which means whoever took that girl did the same with his voice."

Casse stared at Etrigan and noticed that for a moment, Sam's expression from behind the demon had turned panicked before it vanished the next and the Goth settled in for staring at Etrigan with the rest of them. Casse was left wondering why Sam had become so panicked when Etrigan had said that the magic that had taken Lee was the same that took Brad's voice.

"In any case, we'll need to bring these brats along with us. They all reek of the same magic." The demon's eyes swept across the hallway and glared at the teenagers closely. "I can't pinpoint the exact location of the source, because it's either one of these brats who's behind all this or they've been in close contact with the real source of the magic for an extended period of time."

"If I may ask," Lancer swallowed when all attention was focused on him but schooled his face into a scowl instead. He was still completely in the dark of what the event was that had occurred and wasn't quite pleased with it. "What exactly *has* happened? I've tried asking earlier but apparently everyone seemed to be too caught up in what had happened to keep me up to speed."

They stared at him and Lancer bristled impatiently, not liking the stares.

"Oh!" Jazz finally realized exactly who she had snapped back at earlier and blushed in embarrassment. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Mr. Lancer! I wasn't –"

Jazz babbled her apologies to the now slightly amused teacher and gave him a brief rundown of the event. As this went on, Danny's eyes finally cleared and he turned his head about to survey his surroundings, it was as if he had lost feeling of where he was and needed to find his equilibrium again. There was an idle thought of wondering of why his cheeks felt like they had been stung by bees floating at the back of his head while his eyes continued to sweep the hallway. After they had drifted about to his friends, sister and teacher, Danny's eyes focused on the choker that was clutched in Etrigan's hands when he turned his attention to the pack of four heroes.

He felt his throat constrict and unconsciously clenched his hands together tightly, digging his nails into his palms as he stared at the item. The scene played in his mind like a video on repeat; her echoing laughter, her fading figure before she simply dissolved from his sight. Danny's mind hadn't even registered his nails digging deep into his palms, puncturing the skin through and seeping blood from the holes. Heck, he didn't even register the fact that the Justice League was right in front of him.

A harsh smack on the back of his head caused him to yelp and abruptly release his clenched hands. Danny's head jerked up and confused baby blue met angry cobalt. Brad squatted down to his eye level and grabbed his wrist, scowling at the self inflicted wounds Danny had brought upon himself. It was only then that the pain had registered in the hybrid's mind, making him wince as Brad massaged through his palm.

Danny received a recognizable and very rude gesture from Brad as the blond continued massaging his hands, but Danny wasn't quite sure of the reason behind Brad giving him that gesture. A show of his displeasure over Danny simply letting Lee fade away? Or was it because the blond male was disgruntled at Danny's self inflicted wounds, though he had done it unconsciously? Or possibly because it was of both those reasons?

"Danny?" Jazz's head popped up in Danny's vision from behind Brad, watching the blond teen warily before looking at her brother. "Are you ok?"

He would have responded but Brad had beaten him to the punch. Figuratively speaking that is. Danny winced when Brad lifted his hands up and turned to look at the red head while pointing at Danny's palms. The hybrid cringed when Jazz's expression morphed into one of horror. "Danny! What did you do?!"

"I'm… ok Jazz." Somehow he had managed to find his voice, though strangely meek and tiny, in the chaos of his sister smothering him with worry. Danny wasn't quite sure if she had heard him the first time round in her fussing. "Jazz! I'm fine. I'm ok – well I am now that is."

"Are you sure?" Jazz couldn't resist – she was still worried about him because of his reaction to Lee's mysterious disappearance. Grudgingly she had to mentally thank Brad for bitch slapping her brother; it did certainly work at snapping him out of his hysterics. Why did boys have to be so rough with each other? She checked Danny over again once more. "We need to get a first aid kit to clean up your hands…"

"We'll do that in the Watchtower." Danny blinked and looked up. His jaw slackened when he finally registered the four members of the Justice League standing in the hallway of his school. He swore he heard Tucker make a stage whisper of 'Oh, *now* he realizes that we're in the company of the big league heroes' to the rest of the people present in the hallway and then was pretty sure that he had heard Casse's shaky giggles follow the comment.

Danny was also pretty sure that if Brad had his voice, he'd be snorting and chipping in to accompany Tucker's stage whisper. The thought of it made him cringe and release a small shaky laugh at the same time; he missed his friend's voice.

"Hurry up, we don't have all day." Etrigan growled impatiently as the hybrid slowly got to his feet with the help of his sister. Danny felt unnerved when he looked up and met J'onn's gaze, the Martian watching all of his movements with rapt attention. He'd have to ask Jazz about what happened – he had a suspicious gap in his memories from the time after Lee had vanished and to them now when he had begun to regain his state of mind.

"Superman, we will need to do three separate transportations to the Watchtower. The group is far too large for a single transport and Raven is not with us." The teens blinked at Dr. Fate as he spoke into his ear piece. He simply gazed at them while continuing to speak into the transmitter, the conversation from the other end unheard to the teenagers. "Yes, Raven of the Teen Titans will be joining us. She too has felt the strong pull of magic and has contacted me in regards to this matter. I fear we must make haste."

"If you wish to be transported with your brother, I suggest that you stand closer to him." Jazz raised a confused eyebrow at J'onn's suggestion but nevertheless complied and wrapped Danny snugly in her arms. The rest of the teens seemed to have an understanding of what he was talking about and Jazz felt self-conscious that this would be the first time she would be transported with them to the Watchtower. Well, from what she could remember that is.

She still didn't understand why everyone was *still* skimming over the event Lee and herself couldn't remember about and refusing to tell them all of the details. While the conversations would smoothly divert to another topic and Lee had given up trying to find out, Jazz had once managed to corner Danny about it but what she got out of it just made her even more confused. He had just looked at her forlornly before wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her into a tight hug and murmured incoherently against her shirt. Had it been something *that* bad?

Jazz stopped her train of thought when her vision was filled with a bright white light that caused her to shut her eyes momentarily to shield away from the glare of the light and instinctively brought Danny closer to her. The bright light vanished almost as quickly as it came, and Jazz found herself standing on the large teleportation deck of the Justice League Watchtower.

And standing right in front of them was Raven of the Teen Titans.

The Fenton siblings had almost stumbled backwards in shock at the close proximity that Raven was standing there in front of them and staring at them with her neutral gaze. Well, Danny felt that she was staring more at him than at his sister which made him feel like an object that was being scrutinized in an auction.

The buzzing of noise in the main Central Command was doing nothing to comfort him as Raven continued to look at them intently. The other teens were watching the exchange (or rather lack thereof) in bemusement until Raven made the first move, walking forward and grabbing Danny's wrists to take a look at his self inflicted wounds.

Danny involuntarily flinched, knowing that his wounds were already closing up due to his accelerated healing capabilities as a hybrid, and tried to pull his hand away from her. Raven wasn't having any of it though; hovering her hand above his palm and allowed her magic to flow through the wounds, healing them completely before letting go of his hands and quietly floated to the side.

He blinked at her back in confusion and wondered just exactly what the heroine was thinking about. She was watching him far too intently and it was starting to make him feel nervous, just like with J'onn. Danny didn't have another moment to ponder the thought as the teens were chased off the teleportation deck to allow space for the next batch of people to arrive.

Dr. Fate had approached them and gestured for them to follow him, quietly informing them that the League was informing their parents of the situation and would join them in a while. They (Danny and company) would be interviewed individually so that the League could gather enough information and hopefully begin working on locating Lee.

As they walked down the winding corridor of the Watchtower, Danny noticed Sam distancing herself from Brad and was keeping close to him for some reason. He wasn't able to draw up any reasons as to why she was suddenly trying to avoid Brad but Danny swore that he had seen flickers of fear dance in her eyes when their eyes met. But he wasn't quite sure of it though; Sam had averted her gaze away but still stuck close to him. Her strange behavior hadn't been overlooked by the rest and Brad seemed affronted that Sam was blatantly avoiding him.

If Danny read Brad's gestures right, he was pretty sure Brad was cursing Sam and probably demanding a reason for her sudden fear of him.

"Maybe it's because of the awesome bitch slapping that you did on Danny earlier." Tucker teased lightly, hoping to ease the tense atmosphere among them. It worked. Casse quickly shoved her fist into her mouth to stifle her laughs while Jazz rolled her eyes in exasperation. Danny turned to stare at Brad incredulously, his hands immediately flying up to grasp his cheeks.

"Wait a minute – You *_bitch slapped_* me?!"

* * *

One hour, two hours, three hours… eight. Eight hours had passed since their arrival to the Watchtower and Danny was feeling antsy. Everyone, including their parents, had gone through the interview. But out of all the teens only Casse had allowed J'onn to do a mind scan on her, fearing that she might have forgotten something important that would relate to the case.

Danny thought it was ironic. Alright, so probably the distance the sisters had kept for the past three weeks could have triggered that want because she could have blocked out a few things that happened, but Casse still didn't seem to want to uncover her earlier blocked memories of why their family didn't allow any pets. It gave him the ugly thought that Casse would save Lee rather than Brad if given the situation that both were in danger but Danny quickly banished it, cursing himself inwardly for even allowing the thought to spring up.

He hadn't been completely surprised that the first thing Tobias did was to check up on Brad and Casse, checking them over once through and speaking to them for a moment before proceeding to ream out information from, of all the heroes, Batman. It was strange but now that Danny had a moment to think about it, it seemed that whenever any one of the Angeles' got into trouble, Batman would always be present in the front line either searching for them or getting them out of trouble. Include the fact that Tobias actually had the privilege of having Batman's personal number to be able to call him so quickly, made Danny even more curious.

He couldn't help but wonder why Batman was so protective of them and Danny had a feeling that it wasn't just because they had been citizens of Gotham City or because of the triplets' records for getting into trouble. The two men had a freakish kind of understanding with each other that only involved eye contact and it looked as if they knew each other on a personal level. Danny had to wonder if Tobias knew Batman's real identity but squashed the notion of it. Batman was a hard ass and apparently didn't have much of any relationship with anyone, including his fellow League members; it was absurd to think that Tobias was an exception to this.

Just what on earth had he been thinking of?

Both Amanda Foley and Maddie had smothered the teens with worry once they had gotten up to the Watchtower. While the women kept a close eye on their kids, Maurice Foley and Jack had joined Tobias in getting the assessment of the situation from Batman. But when the Mansons had arrived, that's when almost all hell broke loose.

Pamela Manson had thrown a fit when she was informed that she wasn't allowed to take her daughter home and outright accused the Fentons for being the reason behind all the strange happenings. Sam hadn't been in the mood to lash back at her mother's attitude, but it also seemed that she hadn't even acknowledge that her parents were there in the Watchtower with her. All she did was stick closely by Danny's side and avoided everyone else.

The Mansons (Ida Manson had made no appearance; apparently she was too elderly to be transported to the Watchtower via the teleportation deck and stayed at home) had created such a ruckus in the room that they were held in and even managed to pick a fight with both Amanda and Maddie. Yet Superman had remained calm and managed to quell the fighting with relative ease, but it was Batman who laid down the law. If the Mansons were going to continue their unsightly behavior, they would be sent into another room with guards who wouldn't be as patient as Superman.

Superman's patience was indeed legendary and personally, Casse thought that Superman should have been sainted; whoever could put up with the Mansons and still smile about it should be sainted.

The interviews had been finished for a long while now; everyone was waiting for some sort of news from the heroes. Apparently the magic users of the League, including Raven of the Teen Titans, were pooling their magic together in an effort to find Lee. Time, they said, was of essence. They feared that the longer Lee remained missing, the situation would take a turn for the worse but they could not force their magic to work any faster. All that did was make Casse feel even more nervous.

Her eyes swept across the room and to each of the people situated around it. Casse noted that the parents, minus the Mansons, were talking quietly with each other at one table. Both Jeremy and Pamela were both sitting primly at the table at the other end of the room with their noses in the air and sipping tea. Casse shook her head at the sight of them; she wasn't going to understand Sam's parents. They were just plain strange. Jack and Maddie were definitely more normal then they were.

Her eyes wandered away from the adults and went to her brother and friends. Once the interviews had been over, Brad had inconspicuously hid in the shadows and away from her again. Casse still didn't understand why her brother was being so slippery and avoiding her. Sure she had brought cats to their home despite being constantly reminded that animals weren't allowed in the house, but was he really that angry that he couldn't stand in close proximity to her? Brad had been spending an awful lot of time with Danny since Christmas and their father hadn't said much about the event, only sternly reminding her that the rule of no pets was still standing in the house on the night Brad had slipped off to spend the next few days at Danny's. And for goodness sake, it had been three weeks since then! Was he going to ever let it go?

She hated the fact that she couldn't keep pets, cats in particular since they were her favorite animals, but it didn't mean she was going to stop trying to persuade the rest of her family to let her get one.

Casse's eyes shifted from the shadows where her brother was currently hiding out (only his face and half of his body was shrouded in the shadows) and to their friends sitting close by to him. Sam was sitting the furthest away from the shadows, away from Brad, but was still sticking as close as she could to Danny like a leech. The Goth's attitude since the beginning of the day had been terribly confusing to Casse. For the past few months since the kidnapping incident, all Sam had been was a hissy feline; clawing, biting and generally just being a complete bitch towards her and her siblings for no apparent reason and now she was shrinking back in fear of her brother?

Way too confusing. It was as if Sam was bipolar or had multiple split personalities. Casse wouldn't be surprised if it was the former though the latter sounded equally plausible; Sam's attitude during the Christmas season had definitely served as a proving point to this thought.

Tucker was quietly fiddling with his PDA, looking up often to pitch into the conversation that Jazz and Danny seemed to be having from where she was sitting in the corner. She didn't know why, but Casse was starting to feel out of place with their group of friends. Danny and Brad were getting closer to each other, Tucker could easily sandwiched himself along with them and Sam was still the stubborn domineering female who stuck to Danny like glue. Jazz and Lee were the two looming maternal sisters of the group, looking out for all of them quietly but still able to communicate with them on equal level.

But where did that put her? She wasn't getting any closer to Danny since he was spending majority of his time with her brother, and at times with her sister. She was though, able to spend time connecting with Tucker and Jazz, but she still wasn't at the stage where she was completely and utterly comfortable with them like Danny and Brad were; to the point of being called best friends. And Sam? Oh, she didn't even need to think about it. There were several oceans, seas, rivers and continents that separated them, which meant Casse was in no way close to the Goth at all.

For the second time since they moved to Amity Park, Casse felt left out. But this time she knew that she was to blame for keeping that gap between herself and Lee for the last three months. Lee had probably thought that she had wanted her space and willingly gave it to her, in the process making it look as if they were drifting apart. The corners of Casse's lips drooped down and buried her face into her arms as she drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them close to her body. God, she should have known that her sister would have felt guilty for lashing out at her, even if Casse did purposely break the 'no pet' rule that finally snapped Lee's patience with her.

She felt the palm of a semi-large hand brush her messy bangs away and pressing gently against her forehead that made her looked up from her arms. Casse peered into her father's eyes and blinked at her reflection from his glasses. She hadn't realized that she was starting to cry, tears were forming at the edges of her eyes. For a moment she just looked at him, feeling the soothing pressure of his palm against her forehead before finally lurching forward into his arms and broke down.

Casse sobbed hysterically in her father's chest, her hands clenching the fabric of his shirt tightly while he brought her closer to him, stroking the top of her head gently. She was confused and disturbed, and basically welcomed whatever comfort her father gave her. It was then she wondered why she had resented him so much, as if she was finally realizing just what her sister had been trying to tell her and Brad of for the past four years.

Tobias was a silent comforting and grounding presence that Casse had forgotten of throughout the years that she had resented him for. Why had she taken him for granted? Now that the thoughts had begun to spin a web in her mind, why had she taken her sister for granted and reacted so childishly to being punished in breaking a rule, an important one too? Was it because she thought that Lee would never even think of hitting her or that because she thought she could get her way?

Casse's mind whirled with all the thoughts and it made her head hurt. Everything was just so confusing and all she wanted was to curl up against the protective embrace and cling onto it as much as she could. She didn't care if it looked childish and if she looked weak; all Casse wanted was to feel protected because she felt so vulnerable without her two siblings by her side.

This was the first time she had ever felt completely detached from Lee and Brad, and Casse didn't like that feeling at all.

From where the group of teenagers was, Danny winced when he realized that they had unwittingly isolated Casse from their group. He wanted to curse himself for being so caught up in Lee's disappearance that he had forgotten about the youngest triplet. Even though Brad was with them and was mute, the other blond hadn't chipped in to any of the conversation that Danny had been having with Tucker and Jazz. Sam was just quietly sticking to his side for reasons he didn't know of. He had just been too caught up in his own thoughts that he had virtually forgotten about everything else.

Danny watched as Tobias easily picked Casse up from the floor and brought her along with him to the table where the parents were sitting. Tobias sat her on his lap and allowed Casse to continue clinging onto him while he continued to talk softly with his parents and the Foleys.

Everything seemed to be falling apart and as the minutes turned into hours, the amount of tension in the room multiplied like rabbits in heat. A terrible analogy, but it seemed to fit very well in this context to Danny.

Danny suddenly felt suffocated in the room and abruptly got to his feet, ignoring his friends' and sister's queries and moved towards the door where Superman was standing guard.

"Is there something wrong Daniel?" He had been surprised when Superman had taken the trouble of remembering all of their names. Of course the Man of Steel didn't use their nicknames, he was much too formal like Tobias to use them, especially when they were all strangers and didn't know each other on a personal level.

"I… I just want to get out for a bit. Do you think I could just take a walk for a while?" Danny rubbed the back of his neck to smoothen out the standing hair. He wasn't able to explain his feelings; it was as if words couldn't describe them at all. The tension in the room wasn't helping him one bit even if Tucker had been doing his best to help ease the tension between the group of teenagers. He tried not to cower in when Superman gave him a raised eyebrow. "I just feel kind of suffocated in here."

"I don't see why not. After all that's happened so far, I think you deserve some time to yourself." The hybrid released a sigh of relief at Superman's understanding. He really couldn't deal with Sam's sudden clinginess and the widening gap in the group's friendship when he was still trying to come to terms with Lee's disappearance. It happened right in front of him! Of course his mind was going to be occupied with that event – It wasn't something that could be easily forgotten. "I'll just get someone to accompany you if you don't mind; you don't completely know your way around the Watchtower and there are certain restricted areas you don't know of."

"Ok." Having a hero loom over him was a small price to pay if he was just allowed some time away from the room. Damn it, he could already feel Sam's parents' distasteful glares honing in on his back! He wanted out and he wanted out *now*.

Much to his dismay however, J'onn was the Leaguer Superman had called up and would be keeping an eye on him while he was having the walk. Danny didn't feel completely comfortable with the Martian, albeit more wary with him because of the amount of focus J'onn had on him earlier on in the day. Great, just what he needed. The alien who had a strange fascination in him was going to trail him around the Watchtower. Awesome.

Despite this minor setback, Danny began to feel much better once he had scrambled out of the tense room and breathed the calm atmosphere of the Watchtower. The gentle buzzing of sound was a welcomed noise to his ears; he felt more grounded into reality then when he was in the silent room. He allowed his body to relax and took a leisurely stroll through the corridors of the Watchtower, with J'onn right behind him.

He could feel the Martian's gaze training on his back and it felt far too intense for just a simple task of looking out for him. Danny needed to understand just what on earth the Martian had found out about him that made him so fascinating to him. He was going to climb walls if this continued any further. He stopped in his steps and turned to face the green skinned alien.

"Hey J'onn? You know, it feels kind of creepy that you're looking at me like that. Is there something about me that's making you so interested?" Danny felt unnerved when J'onn continued to stare at him intently. For a while, there was silence between them before J'onn made a move and clapped a hand on the hybrid's shoulder.

"Come, I believe the conversation that we will be having should be done in a more private area."

His brow rose so high that it disappeared beneath his messy bangs of black. As J'onn steered him into one of the private rooms, Danny had a distinct feeling that he wasn't going to like what they were going to talk about. A brief pang of panic lurched through his system as the thought that J'onn had managed to unwittingly uncover his identity while scanning his mind earlier returned to haunt him. He didn't want to think of the various consequences if the thought were to be true, Danny just kept on praying that it wasn't.

The panic pounded full force against his chest as the door slid shut and Danny found himself staring into J'onn eyes, his worse fears confirmed with that single stare. He swallowed, faintly noting just how quiet the room was before he spoke up.

"So… you know."

"Yes."

Simple, to the point, and Danny already wanted to dig a hole, crawl in and hide in there for eternity. Oh god, he was so screwed. What was he going to do? How were his parents going to react? He wasn't ready to tell them about this yet; they were still in their 'all ghosts should be exterminated' high despite that one good meet he had with them at the Family Day in school! He was going to die, he was going to be hated by his parents, get torn apart by his father and have the remains of his body examined by his mother (_'Gross.'_ Danny thought afterwards. That was definitely a thought he didn't want to imagine). _'Shit, shit, shit, shit, sh-'_

"You must calm yourself. Though I have uncovered your identity, it does not mean I will reveal it to your family or to anyone else." At that instant, Danny's train of thoughts halted and derailed. He blinked and stared at the Martian for a moment before wrinkling his nose in thought. After he had managed to grab one thought that was flying rampant in his mind, Danny's lips curved into a scowl as he glared at J'onn.

"Will you stop reading my mind?"

"My apologies. However your thoughts were far too loud to be ignored." Danny felt his cheeks flare a bright red and buried his face into his hands. Life was having a riot against him. This was ridiculous! Now what was he going to do with one of the Justice League members knowing his identity or if any of their other mind reading Leaguers managed to scan through his mind? There were too many possibilities and all of the horrible scenarios of him being hunted down, unaccepted by his parents and being imprisoned whirled in his mind.

"If you continue to think negatively then one such scenario would come to pass."

"Argh! I'm serious, will you quit reading my mind?!"

"If you wish to have a peace of mind, you will need to train yourself to shield your thoughts away."

Danny's mouth snapped shut once he managed to fully absorb what J'onn had said. Thank goodness he managed to figure it out before he had spoken; he had been about to mindlessly snap harshly back at the calm Martian. Had… had that been an offer to help him? He wasn't quite sure; Danny knew that he didn't quite have a positive impact on Amity Park's populace and didn't even know if news of his existence had leaked to anywhere outside of Amity Park. Besides that time when Jazz and Lee were kidnapped but his train of thoughts was beginning to derail at that point.

"Yes, I am offering you my guidance in shielding your thoughts in your mind so that your identity will not be revealed to any other telepath."

"… I'm doing it again aren't I? The… loud thoughts thing."

"Yes."

He wanted to bang his head against the nearest solid surface and continue doing so until he either felt the stress lift from his body or when he would begin to slip into unconsciousness. Life was made of pure fail; well, his life was made of pure fail to be more precise. How on earth was he going to survive all of this? Danny groaned and made for a nearby chair instead of the nearest wall, plopping down loudly on the seat and tried to calm his panicked mind.

It took a moment but he managed to stop the whirlwind of panic and picked up the thoughts that were left behind from the disaster. He paused at one of the thoughts and pondered over it before lifting his face up from his hands and looked over at J'onn in puzzlement.

"You're… not going to judge me?" At J'onn's raised eyebrow, Danny tried to scourge the right words to explain what he meant. "I mean like uhm…"

"Why should I judge you?" He must have been thinking too loudly again because J'onn seemed to have realized what he meant. Danny was pretty sure he was really going to need the Martian's help in shielding his thoughts.

"Well, everyone does? I mean people in general, including aliens I guess, think of ghosts as spirits of dead people and that we're all malevolent. I guess I don't believe that you're accepting me just like that."

"I see. Perhaps it is because I am a stranger to you and do not know you on a personal level just like your friends and sister." Danny blushed hotly when he realized that J'onn must have uncovered that his most of his friends and his sister knew about his dual identities. Well this definitely sucked. "I see no need to judge you. Your wariness is understandable in that you fear rejection from your parents because of their profession and that ghosts in general do have a reputation for being malevolent."

"But you are not malevolent." He blinked and stared at J'onn who calmly stepped over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You are simply a young child, struggling to find acceptance and a balance between humans and the ghosts. In that want to find balance, you have become who you are now – a protector of not only your family and friends, but of your home Amity Park."

Danny mulled over J'onn's words for a moment, feeling the pressure that had been crushing his chest fade a little before it disappeared completely. He raised his hands close to his face and stared at his palms, imagining them covered in his white gloves and flexed his fingers experimentally. Acceptance… he had easily gained it with Sam, Tucker, Brad and Jazz but yet he was still hesitant in sharing it with Casse, Lee and his parents. Maybe because he thought that they would become targets of the ghosts if his identity did somehow manage to leak out. Or maybe he was making excuses; Casse and Lee were also regular targets because they hung out with him just like Sam, Tucker, Brad and Jazz.

He came to think that Vlad had it easy then; the older hybrid virtually had no one to worry about knowing his identities besides his ghost assistants in his castle.

"You should not compare yourself to the majority of the ghosts who are indeed malevolent. I have without doubt that there are some benevolent ghosts whom exist as well." Ghost Writer had indeed been a benevolent ghost; Clockwork too could fall under that category. But two out of how many ghosts? Danny was beginning to feel doubtful of J'onn's words but then fiddled with the thought for a moment before realizing that what the Martian said was true. Not all ghosts were malevolent and he as his ghostly alter-ego as well as Ghost Writer and Clockwork were proof of that, no matter how small their number was.

"Thank you." His voice was like a whisper in giving his thanks, his mind overwhelmed with gratefulness at J'onn's understanding. Maybe not everyone would be so quick to judge him just because he was a ghost, maybe they would judge him for his character and for whom he was. Danny's spirits began to lift a little; life didn't seem to be quite as negative as it had been just moments ago.

J'onn's lips curved into a smile and released his hand from Danny's shoulder as his comm. earpiece began to buzz. He held up a hand and pressed a finger to the device in his ear with Danny watching him curiously from his seated position.

"Yes Superman?"

"J'onn, it's just been slightly over an hour since Daniel left. Is he alright?" Danny didn't know whether or not J'onn had increased the volume of the earpiece to allow him the benefit of hearing the conversation or that the Martian was just deaf and needed the earpiece at that loud volume. He realized that it was the former when J'onn turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow and blushed. Dang, he had done it again with the loud thoughts. But wow. Had it really been over an hour since he left the room?

"Yes, Daniel is alright. He is simply in need of time to clear his mind from the occurring events."

"I guessed as much. His family and friends were asking about him because he seemed to be taking too long a walk for their liking. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't want to come back to the room just yet."

Danny sent J'onn a pleading look. He wasn't ready to go back yet. Well, not until he at least learnt some basic thought shielding techniques from the Martian. He didn't want to put that off, it was far too important to throw aside. He sighed and dropped his head back into his hands in an attempt to calm down.

Before J'onn could reply to Superman, Batman's harsh voice suddenly barked through the earpiece, startling them.

"Dr. Fate says that they've managed to locate the girl." Danny's head snapped up and exchanged a look with J'onn, his eyes wild with hope. "J'onn, bring the boy back to the room so that we can brief all of them in one shot and get to work."

* * *

"The park. The park?! The park in Amity Park is where she is? What sort of incompetent morons are you? The girl is here and you hadn't been able to locate her for hours?!" Pamela shrieked when the group had materialized in the park downtown of Amity. Danny quickly shoved his fingers into his ears to block out the high pitched screech and hoped that his eardrums hadn't suffered any damage. Brad, Casse and Tucker had followed his example but Sam had just clung onto his sleeve without bothering to close her ears. "This is a waste of our time!"

"Silence woman!" Etrigan rounded up on Pamela and roared in her face, his patience having worn thin with her. The woman stood firmly on the spot with a look of sheer disgust splashed across her face and glared back at the demon. "This is where the opening of the portal is to where the girl is. She's in another dimension you nitwit woman. If you don't understand magic then be quiet!"

Just as Pamela was going to open her mouth to deliver a scathing reply, Raven calmly intervened, pushing Etrigan aside before staring at Pamela coolly.

"Not everything is very simply madam. Tracking someone in a different dimension is a difficult task, especially when the portals to those dimensions are only at specific areas and require a few pre-requisites before the portal can be opened." Raven's dark eyes suddenly gleamed wickedly as her lips curved into a cunning smile. "However, I assure you that it is a fairly easy task for me to simply silence you right now with my magic. Whether or not I use a pleasant passive spell or a dangerous offensive spell on you is another matter. Are you willing to take that risk of further testing our patience with your childish tantrums?"

Pamela's expression turned furious but fear flickered in her eyes as Raven's hands glimmered with her dark magic. Raven's cunning smile grew wider when Pamela finally backed down and fled to her husband's side, glaring balefully at the empath from the distance. The Titan made a pleased noise from the back of her throat before floating back to where the other spell casters were.

"Thank god for Raven." Tucker whispered fervently, earning a few quiet giggles from Jazz and Casse while Danny chuckled softly. Brad raised a fist and bumped his knuckles with Tucker's in agreement to his statement. "I hate to say it Sam, but your mom really needs to pull her head out of her posterior and stop thinking that the world revolves around her."

When Sam made no reply, Tucker reached over Danny and quietly poked her shoulder. When he had caught her attention, she looked at him and flinched away, her hand fisting Danny's sleeve tightly.

"What's gotten into you? Is there something wrong?" Tucker tried to reach out for Sam again but she dodged his hand and turned her head away from them. Sam was beginning to worry everyone and Danny didn't know just what on earth was going through her mind as she continued to avoid everyone else but yet still cling onto him like a shy young child to their mother.

He didn't want to admit it, but Sam's sudden clinginess was beginning to annoy him. It was as if they were dating and she was being possessive over him, in an odd sort of way.

The group of League members who were down with them at the park wasn't as surprising as Danny thought. Batman, J'onn, Etrigan, Raven and Dr. Fate were joined by Zatanna, one of the other magic users of the League and Green Lantern. J'onn was conveniently stationed with the group of civilians and was engaging in a telepathic conversation with Danny.

"_You have plenty of potential__ to do this Daniel."_ Danny wrinkled his nose a little at the use of his full name. He couldn't help but think of Vlad because he had been the only one to call him that until the Angeles' came to Amity. Thank goodness no one noticed the nose wrinkling action. _"First, you must stop thinking loudly. Whenever you are panicked, your thoughts become louder. Calm yourself and focus. Think of it as creating a shield from your powers."_

'_Easier said than done.'_ He groused mentally, hearing an amused chuckle echo in his mind following the thought. That made him realize that he had done it again and Danny unwittingly groaned out loud.

"Danny? Is there something wrong?" Danny grimaced when Jazz peered over to look at him worriedly from Tucker's other side. Ugh. He really had to stop doing this.

"It's nothing Jazz." She arched an eyebrow elegantly at him, clearly seeing through the lie. Brad and Casse peered over at him from Jazz's other side, blinking at him curiously. He released a sigh of defeat and allowed his shoulders to slump. "I'm just tired Jazz. Really."

'_God I am one screwed up kid.'_ Danny grumbled internally, but was grateful that Jazz, Brad and Casse had accepted his excuse and stopped staring at him.

"_You must focus Daniel. Your thoughts are beginning to seep out once more and Raven will __have more than likely to have heard them."_

At J'onn's warning, Danny banished whatever thoughts he had and tried to inconspicuously concentrate on creating that wall in his mind as the Martian had instructed. He tried not to scrunch up his face when he was concentrating, his tendency to do so when he concentrated was a dead give-away and would probably attract not only his friends' and Jazz's attention, but his parents as well.

"_You are doing well Daniel. I can see the wall that you are creating in your mind. Try having a thought and see if the wall is strong enough to keep it within just your mind."_

With that encouragement, Danny's eyes swept across the group of family and friends and blinked when his eyes stopped at the Angeles siblings. Brad had finally stopped shifting away from Casse and was allowing his younger sister to cling onto his sleeve. He did look a little uncomfortable though but the thought that middle triplet was feeling guilty for the earlier isolation up in the Watchtower came to Danny's mind.

"_Excellent. You are doing far better than you believe yourself to have done. The wall is strong enough to keep a majority of your thoughts inside__, although you might want to continue honing this skill to completely block others from your mind."_

"_Wow, am I really doing that well J'onn?"_

"_Certainly. The Flash has yet to reach the level of mind blocking that you are currently at. He has potential but he lacks the concentration to complete the training."_

"_Are you serious? I thought all the League members could mind block."_

"_That is a general misconception Daniel. Not all the League members are capable of doing mind blocks and it requires time, practice and proper training to attain complete mind blockage. As I have mentioned, you have potential Daniel, and that has allowed you to reach this level of mind blocking even in on your first attempt."_

Danny hoped that his cheeks weren't coloring red; J'onn's praise of his potential (which he was pretty sure he didn't actually have any) was something he hadn't really been counting on, but it was pleasantly welcomed to his self-depreciating brain. Sure he could lap up praises that were dished out but somehow he felt more humbled now and rather than to feel overly pleased with himself, he would shyly accept the praises.

Perhaps it was a sign in showing that he was indeed growing up.

The magic users were all congregating at the middle of the park; Raven was drawing a circle with strange symbols with a pile of what seemed to be ashes before joining the group of heroes lined outside of the drawn circle.

"We will begin to open the portal. Once the portal is opened Green Lantern, you will need to make haste in the other dimension and quickly retrieve the girl. We will not be able to keep this portal open for long."

"Got it." Lantern turned his head to face Batman who was standing behind him. "Blond girl, red eyes and blue clothes?"

"That would be her."

"Alright." Dr. Fate turned back to the rest of the spell casters and nodded to them. "Very well then; shall we begin?"

What the spell caster were doing had flown over Danny's head, but still he stared intently at the glowing circle on the ground while idly trying to unlatch Sam's hands from his sleeve at the same time. One of her hands was clutching the fabric of his sleeve but the other was slowly but surely cutting off his arm's blood circulation. Somehow while his attention was concentrating fully on the glowing circle, he had managed to pry Sam's hands off him and shift closer to Jazz.

He caught sight of Sam's hurt expression from the corner of his eye, and it just served to baffle him more as to why she was acting the way she was now. But for now, he forced the thoughts of Sam's behavior away into the furthest recesses of his mind and concentrated on the circle of heroes. The symbols on the ground began to flare an array of colors before large swirl of white appeared at the opposite end of the circle from where Green Lantern was standing.

Lantern quick powered up and flew into the portal. Once he left, the anticipation and worry in the atmosphere began to stealthily increase around the group of civilians. Danny had completely blocked out J'onn and idly hoped that his mental shields were up. He had felt someone probe his mind and panicked. Sparing a quick glance at the neutral Raven, he had the gut feeling that the Titan had been behind the mind probe, having recalled her strange interest in him earlier in the Watchtower.

Danny's shoulders shook slightly when his eyes met Raven's dark cool ones and just like with J'onn, he knew that Raven had somehow uncovered his secret. He made a mental note to approach the empath about it later and hoped that she was as understanding as J'onn.

But right now, he was wanted to make sure that Lee was back safely with them.

He caught sight of a tiny quirk in Raven's lips, as if she was smiling about something. Danny wasn't quite sure if the empath was reading his mind (or anyone else's for that matter) or thinking about something funny. Somehow, he was leaning towards the former rather than the latter.

The air around them was beginning to feel even tenser than when Green Lantern had left. The minutes were slowly ticking by and Danny started fidgeting nervously. Surely the other dimension wasn't so dangerous that it would taken the Lantern too long to reach her would it? If the dimension *was* dangerous (Danny mentally shouted to himself to touch wood once he got near any, letting the superstition overcome him for a moment), was Lee in bad shape? Had she been hurt? He could feel the hair on his arms stand up straight as a cold shiver ran down his spine.

Why did he have the feeling that the result was going to be something far worse than what he initially thought?

"There's something wrong." Fear gripped his heart at Zatanna's panicked remark. Danny could feel Jazz's arms wrap around his shoulders and bring him closer to her. The white swirl that was the portal began to warp and shrink. "It's too soon. Something's triggered the portal to close!"

"Green Lantern, where are you?" Danny could almost hear the sound of static echoing in the earpieces and wondered if J'onn was directing his thoughts to him while trying to communicate with Green Lantern. The white swirl began flickering with a dark purple energy as it continued to shrink. "Respond Lantern. The portal is closing. Lantern!"

"Can't you stop the trigger?"

"There is interference!" All the magic users at the circle were holding their ground, trying to force the portal back open but to no avail. Even while focusing on his magic, Dr. Fate still managed to respond to Batman's query. "There is something blocking our magic from halting the process of the portal's closing. I fear that even with our combined efforts, we will not be able to hold the portal open for very long!"

"Lantern, please respond! If you have not been able to locate the girl yet, abort the mission and come back now. Lantern!"

His body felt like it had been doused in icy cold water. _'Abort, abort, abort.'_ If Lantern hadn't found Lee in the dimension yet, they were going to leave her behind. Suddenly, Danny wanted to know what Dr. Fate had meant when he said that the longer Lee stayed missing, the situation would make a turn for the worse. He could see Casse gripping Brad's sleeve tightly, her eyes wide in fear as her brother tried to soothe her while struggling to quell his internal panic.

The portal became tinted in a dark purple glow as it continued to warp and shrink rapidly in size. Danny felt queasy as panic lurched about his stomach, watching the strained expressions of concentration from the four magic users. _'Please don't let this happen – don't abandon her! Don't leave her in there!'_

Suddenly a burst of green pierced through the purple tinted portal, followed by a shout of "Get out of the way!" echoing from the swirl. The four magic users abruptly broke their concentration and together with Batman, dove for cover. The rate of the portal's shrinking increased rapidly without any magic forcing it open but Green Lantern burst through the portal before it completely winked out of existence, a familiar body cradled snugly in his arms as he tumbled across the grass.

J'onn quickly threw his arm out to prevent the group from lunging forward to Lantern and crowding him. Batman and the rest of the League were already doing it the instant Lantern had rolled on the grass. From behind J'onn's arm, Danny swore he caught sight of a large red spot coloring the back of Lee's hand from what he could see. He couldn't see her face or the rest of her body, just her hand hanging limply from her side. Another chill ran down his spine as the Green Lantern stated his report.

"She hasn't responded to anything since I got her. She's breathing, her heart's still beating but she's just not responding at all."

"Step aside!" Danny winced at Etrigan's harsh bellow but noticed that the rest of the heroes had obeyed his command and leapt aside, allowing the demon to inspect her. He could see the demon's claws curl around her wrist, lifting it up and out of his line of sight; Danny somehow wanted to tell J'onn to put his arm down but couldn't muster any feeling to do so. "What position was she in when you found her?"

"On a crucifix dangling from some spider webs. The spider wasn't too pleased with me taking its meal away."

'_Spider webs?__ Crucifix?'_ For a brief moment, Danny thought of Sam's Halloween costume but promptly threw the absurd idea out of his mind. Sam wouldn't do such a thing; she didn't even know magic! She couldn't be responsible for all this crap happening.

… Could she?

"We're too late then." All other thoughts banished to the far ends of his mind as he concentrated on Etrigan's words. Too late? What did he mean by that? They had gotten to her right? Was she hurt?

J'onn's arm lowered from his side and Danny could see the group perfectly; Etrigan was sniffing at Lee's hand while the rest hovered behind him, allowing the demon his space. His breath hitched as his throat as he realized that Lee was just lying limply in Green Lantern's arms, just like she had been during the kidnapping fiasco, her head tilted back and hanging lifelessly from the crook of the hero's arm. Her other hand sported the same red spot coloring the back of her hand, and palm when Etrigan turned the hand over. His eyes swept to her feet where he saw more red spots coloring her feet.

"Her soul has been crucified from her body." Danny's eyes widened when Etrigan pulled her head not so gently forward with his claw, her eyes semi-open with a dark, hazy and unfocused look. Her neck that was now bare of her choker had that red spot coloring the middle of her throat. "She's nothing more than an empty vessel that will be left for dead if we don't find her soul soon."

All positive thoughts shattered at the end of Etrigan's diagnosis. Danny barely registered Casse's crying shriek as she lunged forward, dodging everyone else's arms and threw herself over her sister's body. While Brad was in equal shock and despair, he took a much slower pace at walking towards them, but his steps seemed hesitant and the expression on his face oddly strangled.

Though he didn't hesitant in sweeping both his sisters into his arms and hugging them closely to his chest when he had reached them, Casse wailing and trying desperately to get Lee to respond to them despite having heard Etrigan's statement. Lantern exchanged a quick glance with Batman and quietly moved away from the triplets as Tobias strode forward.

Jazz's arms were doing so little to help calm him down when she wasn't as calm, and Danny felt sick and woefully despaired. He noticed Tucker's paled face as Amanda quickly locked her son firmly in her embrace, whispering soft reassurances into his ear as she tried to soothe Tucker's body's trembles.

And Sam looked like a complete wreck. It was as if she had come to realize some kind of alarming truth that was enough to make anyone sick to their stomach. He didn't know what it was, but it must have been bad enough because Sam had actually gone running to her mother and started clinging onto the stunned Pamela.

He didn't want to know. Danny seriously didn't want to know what on earth Sam had come to realize that made her throw away her hatred of what her parents were and dissolve into a heap of tears.

The day, he realized as the edge of his eyes pricked with tears, had just gone from bad to worse.

* * *

None of them had mustered the will to attend school for the next few days. The League had kept the teens in the Watchtower for observation under Etrigan's demand, his reasons being that he didn't like the stench of magic that was wafting around them. The demon had however, tried various spells in an attempt to retrieve Brad's voice and to figure out whose magic was causing the trouble during that time. Unfortunately none of them worked and the last spell Etrigan used on him (Zatanna had been appalled when realizing Etrigan had used high leveled spells on Brad) had resulted in Brad vomiting blood. Tobias had firmly put his foot down on the demon and refused any more magic to be casted on his son to break whatever spell that was holding Brad's voice hostage.

Brad had been more than happy to keep out of Etrigan's sight after that.

None of the parents had been pleased with Etrigan's demand of keeping the teens up in the Watchtower and Superman had agreed with them. The teens were sent back to their homes after spending three days locked up in the Watchtower, sans Brad and Casse whom both had made residence in Lee's hospital room. Etrigan growled at them when they were pulled to the transportation deck of the Watchtower, snarling that if any one of the teens was responsible for the situation he would throw them into the deepest pits of hell.

Danny didn't know why, but Sam had reacted violently to Etrigan's threat.

Thankfully, he had been allowed a visit to Lee's room before leaving the Watchtower. Hope was merely a tiny glimmer in his heart when he tried talking to her. She had given him no indication of acknowledgement, let alone respond to his words. He watched her sadly as her eyes simply stared back at him blankly, her head awkwardly tilting to one side with her lips partially parted.

Meal time had been torture. Danny wondered just how Tobias could keep his cool without breaking down when cleaning the food up when Lee didn't swallow. Dr. Fate had explained that she was like a puppet without a puppeteer – unable to move her muscles to do the basic bodily necessities and would slowly but surely deteriorate and die. Leaving the Watchtower had not been too difficult; Danny couldn't stand looking at Lee without wanting to break something or someone.

Even in the comforting presence of his family, Danny couldn't lift his spirits or concentrate on defeating the mob of ghosts that had escaped into the Real Realm. It went to the point that even his ghost hunting had gone awry, often missing the intended target and getting subsequently shot at by the Red Huntress. He was thankful though, that his parents weren't putting ghost hunting on the top of their list of things to do. Even with Jazz covering for him, he was sure that they would have been able to find the similarities between his alter-ego and himself being so affected by the current situation.

That would have lead to imprisonment in the Thermos and subsequent interrogation by his parents. He could almost imagine them demanding to know how he knew about Lee's situation and why he was so affected by it. Danny knew without doubt that with his current lack of focus, he could possibly suffer that fate - *IF* his parents had come out for ghost hunting that is.

But it didn't mean Valerie's butt shots didn't hurt any less. Somehow she had upgraded the power of her weapons and his posterior had literally begun smoking after the first shot.

There wasn't a need to wonder what the result of eight consecutive shots (on the same spot) would be. Danny could barely even feel his butt anymore.

"You're through ghost!"

'_Oh please, make my death quick and simple without massive blood splatter.'_ Danny internally pleaded, having lost the will to be bothered with and by Valerie's blind rage. He was tired, harrowed and completely unfocused. Not only was the Box Ghost still making a complete nuisance of himself right in front of Valerie, he was about to have his ass handed to him by her because she was blatantly ignoring the Box Ghost. Danny was starting to think that Jazz had the right idea of telling him not to go out to hunt ghosts when he was this unfocused. He wished that he had listened to her.

Before Valerie could pull the trigger, a black energy encased the weapon. Danny and Valerie watched perplexed at the floating gun that had flew out of Valerie's grasp and was subsequently crushed by the black ball of energy that covered it. Realizing that she had lost one of her big guns, Valerie's head quickly whipped around to face Danny with a glare, her hands already grasping her belt for more of her weapons.

"What the hell did you do to my weapon ghost?!"

'_Gee, here I was hoping that you'd realize that the energy that did that was black and not green.__ How the hell would I know what happened to the weapon.'_ Danny groused internally as he quickly gathered his energy in his hands, preparing to throw up a shield if Valerie so decided to throw all of her grenades at him.

"Maybe you should take a step back and think properly before accusing the poor ghost of an act he hasn't done." Both ghost and ghost hunter whipped around to see Raven floating closer towards them in a sedate manner. "And for the record, I did that."

"Why are you on his side for?" Valerie hissed and withdrew slightly, knowing that she was now dealing with an even more powerful entity that Phantom. "Ghosts are a menace to society and he's the main freak cause of all the trouble around here. If you're the hero you're supposed to be, you should be trouncing him!"

"I don't see him causing any trouble." The empath responded mildly, raising an eyebrow at Valerie. "In fact, I think that stout ghost behind you is causing a whole lot more damage than Phantom is. Of course, the amount of damage he is doing is far less than the damage that you do on a regular basis."

Danny stared at Raven while Valerie spluttered behind her mask. What was Raven doing in Amity Park? By her words, it seemed as if she had been observing them for some time and drew her own conclusions to the ghost infestation of Amity. He felt a distinct pleasure that Valerie just got told off by a well known heroine, at least he wasn't the only one who thought her rage was unreasonable.

But seriously, what the heck was she doing in Amity Park? She couldn't seriously have been interested in the ghosts could she?

"Now if you'll run along now Red Huntress, I'd like to talk with Phantom in private."

"Like hell I'll let that ghost go!"

"Alright then. I'll make you leave." With a swish of her hand, Raven summoned the shadows and surrounded Valerie with them. Before Danny or Valerie could react, the shadows swallowed Valerie and dispersed like whiffs of smoke. "Don't worry, I just sent her back to her home."

"You actually know who she is underneath the mask?" He eyed the empath warily, unsure of her intentions. He received a casual smirk in response to his question.

"Just like you do." She responded coolly, flicking her wrist to use the shadows to slap the Box Ghost as he hurtled their way, intent on scaring Raven. She turned to face him and Danny saw a flash of red encasing her eyes with her lips curved into an evil smirk. The look sent the Box Ghost fleeing away in a whimpering mess. He shuddered when she turned to face him again, her lips back to the casual smirk and the red glow of her eyes disappearing. "And I know of your identity too."

"I figured as much, seeing that you had such a strange fascination of me back up in the Watchtower." Danny could see the amusement dance in her eyes while muttering under his breath. Both of them started drifting towards the roof of the Amity Observatory while he tried making small talk, no matter how awkward it felt. "So, might I ask why you decided to stalk me here?"

"Stalk? That's quite derogatory of you to think of it that way." He scowled at her, folding his arms across his chest with his expression shouting that he was not in the mood to be teased at. Raven wasn't blind to miss the look but Danny knew that she was obviously going to ignore it. "I've been observing you. Of course, your late night patrols were the best times to observe your behavioral patterns, along with your companions who came along with you."

"And so you stalked us back to my place and put two and two together." He wasn't in the mood for beating around the bush. He was tired and worried for crying out loud! Danny wondered if he should have just faced off with Valerie rather than to talk with Raven, he didn't seem to be getting anywhere with either one of them regardless. "But really, why are you interested in me? Is it because I defy the laws of living with the perception that ghosts are dead people?"

He was surprised at the low laugh that she had released from her throat. She glanced at him from the side as he settled down on the roof of the Observatory in a cross legged position.

"Hardly. I know for a fact that there are various definitions of ghosts and you hardly fit into the category of spirits of the dead with your abilities."

"Humor me. My abilities are what perceives me as a ghost. Invisibility, intangibility and flight. I even have this weird white glow around me to boot and weird green energy that bites. So tell me – if you say I don't fall into that spirits of the dead category, which category do I fall into to you then?"

"You're alive aren't you? You breathe, have a heartbeat and need to do every mortal's daily necessities don't you?" Danny raised an eyebrow at her, slowly nodding his head at her questions though unsure of the relevance it had to his question. "Then you can't be classified under spirits of the dead if you aren't dead. All the ghosts in this area are of a different classification from that category too. All of you bleed and breathe. Ectoplasm is just your kind's blood, the blood that keeps you alive."

"You make it sound as if we're zombies; the living dead." Raven smirked at the reference while Danny rolled his eyes. Now that he was talking to Raven on equal level, she didn't seem quite as intimidating or cold as he thought she'd be. "So you never really answered my question. Which category do we fall into then?"

"None of the existing ones for sure." He made an annoyed noise from his throat and glared at her with a 'Oh, now *that* is very helpful' look. She continued to smirk at him, almost pleased that she had elicited that reaction from him. "But nevertheless, all of you aren't spirits of the dead or even the living dead like Solomon Grundy. 'Ghosts' who come here are like aliens, a different species of living entities here on Earth. You however, are metahuman."

"Figures that I'd be the odd one out in all this crap." Raven snorted and rolled her eyes. Danny scowled at her. For a while, a comfortable silence lapsed between them before Danny quietly spoke up again. "Still no luck?"

"I'm sorry."

He sighed and drew his knees up to his chest, resting his chin on his knees while staring at the quiet town. They had found nothing, and how long had it been since they found her body in that other dimension?

"Almost a week." Danny groaned and glared at the amused Raven from the corner of his eye.

"Ever heard of mental privacy?"

"You're getting sloppy." The Titan refuted back calmly, letting her hood drop to her shoulders when a strong wind blew at them. "Like J'onn said, practice mind blocking and you'll be able to block out any one of us and feel safer. Though it is a general and unspoken rule of to not read peoples' minds on purpose without their permission, it doesn't mean criminals with the same abilities stick to that rule."

"And so regardless if I'm feeling shitty and complete utter crap, I should still be able to make a mental shield strong enough to prevent that from happening right?" Danny paused and frowned before eying Raven warily again. "You've been talking to J'onn about me?"

"Yes – to both the mind block and about me speaking with J'onn about you." He groaned and slapped a hand over his eyes, mumbling about gossiping superheroes and promising to practice mind blocking much to Raven's amusement. "You don't have to worry; it's not like J'onn or I have tendencies to blurt out secrets like Flash or Beast Boy does.

"Very assuring, but really I think that's kind of the least of my worries right now."

The atmosphere surrounding them turned somber as the silence enveloped the two teens. There was an unasked question lingering in the air and Raven knew that Danny had left his mind open for her to read on purpose, not wanting to ask the question that was plaguing his mind out loud.

"We have four more days, six at most, until there'll be nothing else that we can do." She could see Danny's shoulders sag at her quiet reply to the unasked question. "We're doing the best we can to find where her soul was taken to."

"I know you all are." His words were small and quiet, but in the still of the night Raven was able to hear him perfectly. "I guess it's just that I feel useless because I can't be of any help."

He blew his bangs from his eyes and stared wistfully up at the twinkling stars, almost as if one of the said stars was the Watchtower blinking over the Earth. "Some friend I turned out to be. If I can't protect my friends, how have I been able to protect the town?"

"There will be situations when you will be powerless to do anything." Raven chided gently, knowing how the hybrid felt. How many situations like these had she been in, or seen her teammates in, in all her years of being a Titan? Too many to count, most were too painful to bring up to mind and there would surely be future incidences of this happening. "There will always be a situation when you will not be able to do anything but to stand aside and watch. In those kinds of times, allies are who will bring you back up to your feet no matter how powerless you feel."

Danny sighed knowing that Raven probably had experienced such situations before; but it didn't make him feel any better. He mulled over their conversation before her words settled into his mind, one of them in particular was blinking brightly like it begged for his attention. He peered at the word, racking through the rest of his mind for possible reasons before it clicked.

_Allies_. His friends, sister, J'onn and Raven weren't his only allies. What if…

He jerked out of his seating position, abruptly floating upwards from the cold tiles with a determined expression crossing his face. Raven raised an eyebrow and tried to scan his mind. Much to her surprise, he had thrown up his mental wall and effectively blocked her out completely. No doubt J'onn would be pleased with this development if she were to tell him about it.

"Revelation?"

"Maybe." Even his tone had gotten stronger. Raven didn't probe his mind any further, if he had something he figured out, it was up to him whether or not he was going to share it with her. "We're going to have to cut out conversation short Raven. I've got an overdue visit with someone."

"By all means." Raven fished out her Titan communicator and checked the time. "I think it's about time I returned to the Watchtower as well."

"Hey Raven?"

"Yes?"

"… Thank you." She didn't need to read his mind to figure out why he was thanking her. A small smile graced her lips as she pulled her hood over her head.

"You're welcome." Raven clicked the yellow circular device and spoke firmly into it. "J'onn? Could you transport me back up to the Watchtower?"

"Certainly Raven. Please stand by."

With that, the empath disappeared in a drizzle of white light, leaving Danny floating alone on the roof of the Observatory. What he needed to do now was to find…

"I am the Box Ghost! Beware!"

Right. The first thing he needed to do was shut the Box Ghost up in the Thermos and then find the Sorceress. He hoped that she would be able to help him, though he was a little apprehensive that he might not be able to pay the price for the two wishes he was about to ask of her. She had been lenient to him the first two times, but he wasn't about to count his chickens before they hatched that she would be this time round.

With a focused mind, Danny shot after the Box Ghost and proceeded to pummel the stout box lover. He wouldn't hesitate anymore. He had a job to do and there wasn't any time to waste.

* * *

Brad blinked and yawned, uncurling from his position on the chair while trying not to wake Casse who was using his chest as a pillow. He lost count of how long they had spent up in the Watchtower while taking care of their sister. It hurt to watch her current vegetable-like state, unable to speak with them or even acknowledge their presence.

Casse had broken down into hysterics when Etrigan bluntly told them that if the League wasn't able to find Lee's soul within the next three days, she would die. It had taken him hours to calm her down, but the thought weighed heavily in his mind. Really, what sort of moron breaks this kind of news to family members and still lumber off grumbling about overemotional people? Brad had stuck the finger at the demon's retreating back before returning to calming Casse down.

In this situation, Brad knew he could no longer afford to avoid Casse. But it didn't stop his body from reacting instinctively whenever she clung onto him – he just had to fight the urge to run away. He was the first person she looked for in needing comfort other than their father, but Tobias was busy enough tending to their sister even though he had taken various breaks from the tending to look after them.

He really had to respect his father for keeping his cool around them, giving them the comfort they needed and still carry on tending to Lee despite the ominous future. Brad wondered if he could be as strong as Tobias to keep a straight face while cleaning up the messes when Lee's body rejected the food and still tuck her snugly in bed.

He knew he couldn't. No matter how strong he made himself look, he knew he wouldn't be able to withstand not breaking down if he was placed in this situation.

Brad couldn't help but wonder where their godfather was; while Casse was blatantly his favorite goddaughter, he never overlooked any one of them and worried for all them like a mother hen. But he was a complete sucker for Casse's puppy eyes which of course, lead him to spoiling her by giving her virtually everything she wanted. Brad remembered Alfred chastising their godfather for spoiling her rotten and made the suggestion that he get his own child to spoil and not his best friend's children.

That had eventually lead to Dick's adoption but despite this, their Uncle Bruce *still* continued to spoil his youngest goddaughter rotten because she just had him completely and utterly wrapped around her tiny little fingers. But it didn't mean he didn't love Lee and himself any less and Brad knew that.

But it was strange since now that Lee was on the brink of death, he wasn't around or had even contacted them at all.

"Bradley?" Alright, he stood corrected. Brad lifted his head up to see another pair of blue eyes hovering above him worriedly. How had their godfather slipped into the room without making a sound? Bruce Wayne gently patting the top of Casse's head before turning back to Brad. "How are you holding up?"

Brad slowly managed to shift his hand out from under his sister and made a few gestures, signaling a short 'alright I guess' to his godfather before allowing his hands to drop back to his sides.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to come any earlier; those idiots back in Gotham weren't leaving me alone with all the political crap." Brad sent a crooked smile and waved his hand at the statement, knowing who his godfather was referring to as the 'idiots'. Bruce gently patted Brad's shoulder before shifting towards Lee, her back leaning against a wall of pillows with her head lolled to the side. Brad lifted his head up and peered around the room, wondering where their father had gone to.

"I kicked Toby out for a break if you're wondering where he is. Didn't hurt that Shayera helped me out by pulling his arm while I pushed him out the door." Ah, Brad figured as much. He knew his father wouldn't leave the room unless it was for the bathroom; he didn't even make any trips to the cafeteria. Shayera had however, been nice enough to bring trays of food to the room and persuaded (it was more forced though) the brunette to eat, much to Brad and Casse's amusement.

It was a little strange to see the Thanagarian woman hanging around their father – she was far too interested in him for it to look like a blossoming friendship.

Brad glanced up at the clock and sighed silently. It was almost time for the routine check-up the magic users would do on Lee before returning to whatever it was they were doing to find her soul. Gently he shook Casse's shoulders to get her awake. She murmured something in her sleep and buried her face deeper into his chest, not wanting to wake. With a roll of his eyes, Brad leaned down and smacked her bum hard which jolted her not only out of her sleep, but out of the seat of the chair.

He mouthed a cheeky 'good morning sunshine' as she glared at him from the floor. It was gradual, but his body was slowly returning back to not flinching away from her when Casse slithered back up on the chair and threw her body across his legs. Their godfather watched them in fond amusement from the bed side as Brad wrestled Casse out of his lap.

It didn't take very long for the magic users to flit through the door, Tobias quickly stepping in after them with Shayera trailing behind him. Brad could see their godfather rolling his eyes as he shifted away from the bed; it was practically a basket case in trying to force a break on their father, he was just that stubborn.

Brad made sure that he was the furthest away from Etrigan as the League members filtered in – after the stunt with various spells which ended disastrously, he was understandably wary of the demon.

Shayera offered the remaining triplets a gentle smile while the magic users did the check up. During the last few days the Thanagarian had taken both of them under her wing, literally. She kept them company when their father took care of Lee and made sure that both of them were properly fed and looked after. It was a little strange, but it was also comforting to have that maternal presence around; a presence that both Brad and Casse sorely missed.

"Do you think –" Brad shook his head that cut off Casse's impending question. He knew what she was going to ask, it was something she asked every time the magic users came by to check up on Lee, and frankly he could see that nothing had changed. By the looks of how they were solemnly doing their work, they still hadn't found her soul.

Casse's hopeful expression dropped and she clung onto Brad's shirt tightly. She wasn't ready for this; she didn't want her sister to die! She hadn't apologized to her properly and they had so many things to clear up – Casse whimpered softly and buried her cheek firmly against her brother's side. So many things she regretted doing but yet now there was a chance that she could never make it up to Lee.

She wanted everything to go back as they were before she had brought the litter of kittens home and disobeyed her. She wanted her friends but most importantly, she wanted her big sister and brother back.

The thought of wanting her brother back had initially come to her as something silly – he was here, comforting her as much as he could but it just didn't feel the same. There was a gap she could see that was wedged between them now that she had thrown herself into his arms for comfort. Even though he was there, it was as if there was a shift in their relationship that forced the gap between them.

Physically he was still here, but yet it felt as if he was in another galaxy at the same time.

Suddenly there was a bright flash emitting from Etrigan's cloak. All attention focused on the demon, who scowled and plucked the tiny blood red gem that was flashing from his cloak and barked into it.

"What Sorceress? This better not be a social call."

"This is hardly a social call Etrigan." The gem flickered and shone brightly, flashing an image of Zeraphina the Sorceress at the empty corner of the room. Brad blinked and stared at the image; he recognized her well enough as the one who helped Danny in the Joker incident but her clothes were different. She looked more… traditional and professional at the same time, and her expression wasn't the relaxed and knowing one that he had first seen her with, she was more stern faced and neutral right now.

"Then what are you –"

"Bring the girl down to Earth, to the same place where you opened the portal to the dimension that held her body. I'll be waiting there."

"Wha – Wait a minute!" The rest of the room had grown quiet, all eyes trained on both Zeraphina and Etrigan as they continued speaking to each other. Hope flickered in both Brad and Casse's eyes; was the Sorceress going to help? "What's the meaning of this Sorceress?"

"Everything will fall into place once the task is complete Etrigan." Zeraphina responded cryptically, her violet eye sweeping across the room once through with her gaze lingering at the two Angeles siblings before it closed. "I shall be waiting."

Before Etrigan could bark out again, the image dissolved and the tiny gem in his hand stopped flickering. He growled a few incoherent words under his breath before lumbering to the bed, ignoring the inquisitive looks he was getting and ripped off the IVs and machines from Lee's body.

"What are you doing?!" Zatanna demanded, grabbing a hold of Etrigan's muscled arm and returned the glare he threw at her with equal force. "How do we know we can trust her?"

"She helped us before." Casse swallowed as all eyes focused on her, shrinking back slightly at the intense stares she was getting. Her mind registered her brother's hand rubbing soothing circles around her shoulder blades before she mustered the courage to speak up again. "M… Maybe she's going to help us again. I trust her."

Silence enveloped the room, everyone contemplating on the newest turn of events. Sans Etrigan who was busily ripping off the wires from the body and causing the machinery to go haywire. With a small shake of his head, Tobias quietly walked forward and switched the machinery off.

"Who is she?"

"The Sorceress Zeraphina. More of a wish granter though, one whom has lived longer than I." The demon rumbled his response to Dr. Fate, hoisting the lifeless body into his arms bridal style. He scowled when her head hung backwards from his arm and jerked his arm so that her cheek rested on his chest. "If I know her well enough, it seems that someone has wished to help the girl."

"Then we will have to hurry then." Raven murmured, exchanging meaningful glances with the rest of the League members. "We shouldn't keep her waiting for long."

"Who else is coming then?" Zatanna questioned, throwing a glance at the three remaining Angeles' and Bruce. "The family isn't going to not come along for sure and the four of us just to keep it safe. Shayera?"

"I'll come along. I don't think we will need a huge group for this and the five of us will be more than enough to handle any trouble if it comes."

Brad tapped Shayera's shoulder and made a few gestures. He scowled when she wasn't able to fully get what he meant and just stuck his index fingers out and stuck his palms to the side of his head, resembling Batman's pointy eared cowl before drawing a question mark in the air. Tobias coughed lightly at the gestures and glanced meaningfully at Bruce who rolled his eyes discreetly.

"Oh, you mean to ask what about Batman?" The teen nodded and continued on with another series of gestures. Casse giggled when her brother made arm flapping movements, like a chicken, and imitated the looming figure of Batman before pointing to his sisters and himself. Shayera released a hearty laugh when she managed to figure out what he was aiming for. "You're wondering why he's not here because he's like a mother hen who's always looming over the three of you?"

Brad nodded again and gave her thumbs up. Shayera spared a quick glance at Tobias, whose eyes were dancing with mirth while Bruce huffed lightly from behind his two godchildren. Brad and Casse didn't manage to catch the exchange. The winged woman smothered her giggles and patted Brad's shoulder lightly.

"He's got work back in Gotham so he's not up at the Watchtower right now. If we leave now, we'll be lucky to avoid him."

"YES PLEASE!" Casse blurted out loudly, eyes wide with hope of avoiding the Dark Knight. Raven and Dr. Fate chuckled softly at the same time Zatanna clapped her hand over her mouth to smother her laughs. Shayera burst into laughter when she caught sight of Bruce's affronted look from behind the two blond teens while Tobias coughed lightly from the side. Casse at least had the decency to blush at her sudden outburst but Brad smirked evilly; oh it would be so much fun to tease his baby sister about the outburst afterwards.

"Stop talking and start moving!" Etrigan barked impatiently, scowling at all of the occupants of the room. He lumbered past Zatanna and strode out of the room without another word. The rest quickly followed suit.

The Sorceress was indeed waiting for them at the park, clad in the traditional robes of black and red with her eye closed. Her black neck wrap tripled as a shoulder wrap and a cloak, the long red patterned fabric pooling silkily on the grassy ground. Her eye opened and stared straight at them as Etrigan stepped forward with Lee's body cradled in his arms.

Brad idly dug his cell phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. He had managed to send Danny a message and the other teen had responded immediately, stating that he would be there with his sister and would pass on the message to Tucker and Sam. The reply had been too quick for Brad's liking – it was as if Danny had been waiting for him to send that message and would get into gear once he received it. But he stopped the train of thought and focused on the scene in front of him.

Etrigan had placed Lee gently on the ground but hadn't moved away from the body just yet. He eyed Zeraphina critically before sniping at her.

"What's the price for finding the girl's soul Sorceress?"

Zeraphina waved at him to step backwards as if ignoring his question. Etrigan grumbled incoherently under his breath and relented, stepping backwards a few steps before the Sorceress gazed at him coolly.

"The price has already been paid."

"What?!"

Etrigan's roar had been drowned out by the buzzing sound of magic flitting in the air, and then a circle with intricate symbols and patterns flashed brightly on the ground beneath Lee's body. Brad could feel Casse's grip on his shirt tighten as their sister's body levitated off the ground by the strong winds that whirled upwards like a hurricane.

Even in the din of the whipping winds and buzzing magic, Brad could hear the thumping of feet on the grass ground but still turned his head when a hand rested on his shoulder. He searched for some kind of clue in Danny's eyes but couldn't quite decipher the look or the thin set his lips were sealed in. The hand that laid on his shoulder squeezed gently and Danny nodded his head quietly while Jazz, Tucker and Sam quickly crowded around Casse and himself (though Sam was still keeping herself at a fair distance away from him); watching in wide eyed fascination at what was being done.

Raven eyed Danny curiously but turned her attention back to the Sorceress without probing his mind. She had the feeling that he had contacted Zeraphina and inwardly applauded him for making such a powerful ally.

The circle flashed a bright green and tiny glowing spheres of the same color circulated upwards in the column of wind. Brad noticed that the spheres of green would change to a bright yellow once they passed through Lee's body. He briefly wondered what the significance of the color change was but shoved the thought aside and concentrated on what was happening.

Zeraphina's eye was closed in concentration, her arms spread out with the wind whipping her cloak about in a wild tango. She raised her right hand to her black lips, her eye cracking open slightly as her lips moved soundlessly with her finger gently touching the edge of her lower lip. From behind her vivid red bangs that covered her right eye, a faint gray-ish glow colored the side of her face momentarily before she whipped her right arm forward, her finger grasping onto a line of red symbols that flowed effortlessly from her lips.

The glaring red symbols warped together, creating a red lined snake that slithered towards the body and lunged, fighting against the purple energy that sparked up in retaliation. The purple energy morphed and took the shape of a spider, dodging the snake's mouth while spitting threads of purple at it, fighting to keep its prey.

Danny's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the purple spider, his eyes glancing to the corner to where Sam was and noticed the silver bracelet on her wrist flicker with the same purple color as the spider. Sam on her part tried shifting closer to Danny and reached out to grasp his hand. She was startled when he purposely pulled his hand away from hers and shifted further away from her and closer to Brad. Her eyes flashed hurt and confusion but Danny ignored it, turning his eyes back to the battle between the snake and the spider.

The snake and the spider weaved around Lee's body as their battle grew fiercer. A loud piercing shriek echoed in the park as the snake made its final lunge and bit down on the spider. The purple sparks of energy that had wound around Lee's body dissipated as the spider's shriek faded and the bracelet around Sam's wrist made an audible cracking noise; however no one seemed to notice this.

As soon as the spider was gone, the snake slithered out of the circle and disappeared. The same instant it did, another circle of symbols appeared in the sky above the first, glowing a pale white color that clashed with the bright yellow that the green color from the first circle had melted into.

From the white circle, a shapeless snowy white figure dropped down to the body. As it dropped lower, the features became more apparent as the soul laid back into the body. The winds picked up and swirled around the yellow circle viciously, covering the body as the soul merged back to its rightful place.

As everyone braced themselves against the wind, Danny forced his eyes open to stare at the column that surrounded the circle. He focused his eyes and saw it: the faint yellow glow outlining the faint image of a girl who looked strikingly similar to Lee, only with white hair instead of blond and clad in a black and white uniform. The image vanished the next instant and the winds died down almost immediately afterwards.

Her body slowly descended and laid gently back on the ground, her once half-lidded eyes were now closed, her breathing regular and the red spots on her neck, hands and feet were gone. The yellow circle symbol dissipated from the ground and the Sorceress dropped her hands back to her sides.

Just as Etrigan was about to step forward, two blond blurs raced past him in a hurry, making the demon grumble lowly about teenagers as both Brad and Casse quickly inspected their sister. Once they were completely sure that she was alive and well, Casse threw herself over Lee's body in relief just as she had done so those weeks ago during the Joker incident. Brad had released the breath that he had been holding and let Lee's body lean against his front as Casse snuggled her chest.

Tobias and Bruce were more controlled in stepping forward, not as crazed as the two teens who had rushed forward without a second thought. But both men were visibly relieved that the ordeal was over, joining the triplets in their little pile on the ground of the park. For the first time in over a week, a real smile graced Danny's lips as Jazz happily squeezed his shoulders from behind and Tucker exchanged high fives with him.

"Wait!" Everyone looked up to see Shayera gliding forward towards Zeraphina, the Sorceress having made a move to leave the vicinity. "From what I heard, you need to be paid for granting wishes. But who wished for this and what did he or she pay?"

"Unfortunately I cannot tell you. Customer confidentiality." The raven haired Sorceress replied smoothly, flipping her red tinted bangs lightly with her fingers. "However, the people whom you thought were your greatest allies could possibly be one of your worst enemies."

"What's that supposed to mean Sorceress?" Etrigan growled, folding his arms across his chest. Zeraphina simply offered him her knowing smile, her eye sweeping across the group and momentarily winked in Danny's direction.

"It could be directed to any one of you, whether or not you take my advice is another matter." With that, the Sorceress turned her heel and silently walked a few steps before regarding them again. "Ah, and do take care. It seems that trouble shall continue lurking among the group that has gathered here."

As she stepped away, her figure dissolved into the shadows and disappeared.

"Bloody woman." The demon cursed, scowling at the spot where Zeraphina had once stood. "I be lucky to understand bits of her cryptic musings. Be luckier to avoid her for another few centuries for fewer headaches."

"I'm definitely not liking the trouble part concerning the kids." Bruce muttered, eying his godchildren and their friends warily as Danny, Jazz and Tucker wandered forward. Sam quietly stood alone from the distance, nervously biting her lips. Raven raised an eyebrow at the Goth teen but refrained from probing into the other's mind. "And it's getting late. Do you need any one of us to send the four of you home or do you want to come up to the Watchtower with us?"

"I think we'll be fine on our own Mr. Wayne." Bruce raised an eyebrow at Danny's response, not completely convinced. "It's not like we haven't gone home this late before and the ghosts don't really freak us out much. Hey Brad, Casse, take care of Lee ok? Remember to give us updates."

Brad nodded and signaled a grateful gesture while Casse hopped up to her feet and glomped the three of them individually with much vigor, thanking them repeatedly for coming. Bruce continued to eye the three warily, glancing behind to look at Sam before looking over to Jazz with a solemn look.

"I'll probably be trusting you to keep them out of trouble."

"Of course I'll keep them out of trouble." Jazz cheekily pinched both Danny's and Tucker's cheeks lightly while the two boys scowled at Bruce. "Don't worry – I won't let Tucker or Sam out of my sight until they reach their doorstep and my brother to stick right by my side until we reach ours."

"Good."

"You don't trust us very much do you Mr. Wayne?"

"After what the Sorceress said? You'll be lucky if I don't tell your parents and have them not let you out of their sight after this."

"Please don't give my mom any more grief than she already has."

"Save us even more grief by not telling them because Mrs. Manson will fly off the handle. Again."

Bruce scowled at the two boys and turned to Tobias for some back up. When the other man simply shrugged, Bruce threw his hands up in exasperation, much to the heroes' amusement. "Toby, you're supposed to be helping me, not keeping quiet and encouraging them!"

"Mr. Angeles totally rocks because he gives us enough leeway and trusts us enough to take care of ourselves."

"Oh yea. Definitely."

"I'm beginning to see what Lee meant by the mother henning godfather."

"The what?" Danny and Tucker chorused out while turning to look at Jazz, their eyes glinting with mischief. Bruce scowled at them again as the boys pestered Jazz for more 'info' of the 'mother henning godfather'.

"Alright, that's enough you three. Go on home now; all four of you." The billionaire sighed and muttered grouchily under his breath as Casse smothered her giggles and Brad laughed silently. "I'm never going to live this down."

"Beaten by teenagers. You are losing your touch Bruce."

"I hate you Toby. I really do."

Danny allowed the mirth to overcome him as the group laughed at the exchange. Etrigan hadn't forgotten that the teens had all been hanging around the same magic source and vowed in their faces that he was going to figure out who's magic it was. Once they had seen the last of the heroes transport up to the Watchtower in a drizzle of white light, Danny, Tucker, Jazz and Sam walked on to their homes.

"So, who goes home first?"

"I was thinking that you take Tucker back while I take Sam back to her place." Jazz raised an eyebrow at her brother's request but noticed the determined shine in his eyes. "I just need to talk to Sam in private."

"Ok, I'll meet you at the junction five blocks from home?"

"Thanks Jazz."

"I don't want to expect wedding invites tomorrow morning Danny." Danny scoffed and swung a half hearted fist at Tucker who danced out of his reach. "I was being serious."

"Yea, so am I. You won't be getting those kinds of things until a decade or so later Tuck. You can sleep in peace tonight."

"Thank god." He laughed and bumped knuckles with his best friend and the four parted ways. It wasn't that Danny hadn't noticed the crushed look on Sam's face when he had rejected the wedding invite joke, but he had something he wanted to confirm. And it wasn't something that he liked.

Danny and Sam walked to her mansion in silence, until they were a block away from it, Danny stopped in his steps and begun talking.

"What the hell has gotten into you Sam?" She flinched at his words, her eyes wide in confusion.

"I don't know what you're talking about Danny."

"Well you should." She was taken aback by the harsh tone his voice had adopted as he stared at her. She had never seen such a mix of disappointment, anger and disbelief in his eyes before. "You get all hissy with the triplets and when this suddenly happens you start avoiding them. I'm not that blind Sam."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The Goth insisted, grasping the bracelet tightly around her wrist but stopped, stunned at the feeling of cracks on the accessory from her fingers. Danny noticed the stop and frowned.

"I'm not stupid Sam." He whispered quietly, still staring at her with a mix of emotions. "If you think you can continue fooling me that you're innocent to this, then why were you so afraid when Etrigan mentioned about the magic being the same that took Lee away and Brad's voice? Why did you suddenly shrink back when Etrigan threatened to throw the one responsible for this into the deepest pits of hell?"

He stepped closer to her while she took a step back, her mind repeatedly chanting that this wasn't happening.

"Why were you suddenly so afraid of being close to Brad? Why cling on to me for that matter? Why didn't you want to stay close to Tucker? What are you afraid of?"

"Nothing! I had nothing to do with all of this!" Sam snapped wildly, her back pressing against the brick wall behind her. She no longer had any where to back up as Danny loomed in front of her with a cold stare. "And I'm not scared! Don't look down on me Danny; I can kick your ass –"

He slammed a fist at the side of her head, the coldness of his stare increasing ten-fold as he glared into her eyes. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Sam's face. She was doing this wrong! She was suppose to assure him that she had nothing to do it with and then wheedle him back to her…

"Don't take me for a fool Sam." He reached down and grabbed her wrist with the bracelet. "And this thing is probably what set Etrigan off. A magical artifact and since it's been on you and you hang around us so much, no wonder he couldn't sniff it out."

"No it's not! It's just a bracelet damn it!" She jerked her wrist away and tried to glare back at him. But still the fear lingered in her eyes, the fear of losing him. "You never had a problem with what I wear!"

"Not if it's the goddamn thing that's causing all this shit Sam!" Danny shouted, gnashing his teeth angrily at her. His patience was wearing thin and she was still denying it. He took a few steps back, his eyes still trained on her. "Go ahead, wish for something. Prove me wrong. Show me that your bracelet isn't a magical artifact."

Sam almost choked at his demand of proof. She hated to admit it, but she was afraid. But if she could wish that Danny didn't suspect her…

"I wish you'd forget that you suspected me! I wish you were my boyfriend damn it!" At her cry, the accents of the bracelet flickered darkly. Sam waited for her wish to come to pass, hoping that everything would come out as she wanted. An audible crack sounded in the air that made her lift her head up from her hands to stare at her wrist.

With another crack, the bracelet shattered to pieces. Sam's eyes widened in shock as the pieces crumbled to the floor before her head whipped around to see Danny glaring at her, his eyes mixed with disappointment and rage.

"So, it *was* you." He took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. He had hoped that he was wrong. He had hoped that Zeraphina's information had been wrong. But in the end it was the cold hard truth. The Sorceress's words played in his mind again, _'the people whom you thought were your greatest allies could possibly be one of your worst enemies'_. He had considered Sam one of his greatest allies and yet…

Rain had started to fall, before long it had become a downpour. Lightning flashed so climatically in the background that for a moment, Danny thought that they were in a dream. But he shook it off the instant the thought came. No. It was real. It was all real.

"You don't know how badly I wanted her to be wrong Sam." He whispered, turning his head away from the Goth. He couldn't face her; not anymore. Not with all the disappointment and disgust pooling in the pit of his stomach. "I liked you too you know. Before you became vindictive and hateful. I really would have liked to see how that possible relationship could have gone Sam."

"We still could –"

"No. And stay away from me." Sam jerked back at his icy tone. Danny still refused to look at her as he continued to speak. "Stay away from all of them. Jazz, Tucker, Lee, Brad and Casse. Stay away from them. I won't let you hurt them anymore."

"But I'm your friend!"

"Friends don't wish hurt on any of their friends!" He shouted, stopping Sam in her tracks again. "Friends don't wish for one of their friends to disappear just because their jealous and real friends don't become selfish just because they happen to fall for one of them and be unreasonable to get their way!"

"We might have had a chance to be something more." Finally he brought his face up to look at her, his wet bangs sticking to his face as the rain continued to fall. Danny shook his head slowly, his eyes showing a hint of disgust beneath the thick layer of rage that was tinted with sadness. "But not anymore."

As Danny disappeared down the darkened street, Sam finally fell to her knees and cried.

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**Authoress's Ending Notes:**

1) Alright, end angst. Sorry if it was over angsty and Sam will take a break from the main group. Don't worry, she's not dropping out of the fanfic, she's still an important character to the plot. It wouldn't be DP if any one from the gang wasn't in it no?  
2) Does anyone else think that I'm being overly mean to my character by sitting her in the death situation a little too often? ^^; Plotwise, it'll be getting worse O_o oh no.  
3) Thank you **Darkeiko**, **Enchanting Elf** and **Ambianca23** for reviewing the previous chapter(s)! :)  
4) **Darkeiko**: In the Original DP continum, meaning after Phantom Planet, they mentioned that Tucker had been made Mayor to Amity Park. So yea ^^; You can check Tucker's Wikipedia profile, it's stated in the last part of the third paragraph in the Appearance and History segment of his profile.  
5) **Enchanting Elf**: I'm glad you liked the interlude ^^ I wanted to do an explanation of which it also shows the reason behind the triplets having their choker accessories and some background of their mother.  
6) **Ambianca23**: Oh... wow. To be honest, I think you've just given me one of the best compliments I've ever recieved for a fanfic. Thank you! I'm glad that you're enjoying the fic and hopefully future chapters will keep you glued to the story! :)  
7) And more dishing out of thanks to those who have placed this story under their alert/favs list! :)  
8) The following links are to deviations of the fanfic :) Remember to remove the spaces though. As you can see, I have tweaked Casse's design and there's the new Angel :D Although she's not properly introduced just yet ^^; and a spankin' new uniform for Danny :D  
**http:// kenzeryuu. deviantart. com /art/ Alternate-Timeline-Characters-117664417  
http:// evahn. deviantart. com /art/ C-Kenzeryuu-118363231  
http:// evahn. deviantart. com /art/ C-Kenzeryuu-2-118603093  
http:// mazjojo. deviantart. com /art/ Commission-Phantom-Night-118939640**  
9) Thank you for reading and please drop a review when you have the time :)

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/K.C**


	16. Reluctant Angel

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress's Beginning Notes: True fact - This chapter was a complete *bitch* to write. There really isn't much fighting in here, mostly reflective on previous chapters, more insights in the mind of another character and the increasing friction between the characters ^^; Please enjoy the chapter =3

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**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 13****: **

**Reluctant Angel**

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The next day passed like a blur. When Danny had been close to reaching the junction to meet up with Jazz in the cold rain, his phone had beeped and he quickly browsed the message. His lips curved into a crooked and sad smile at the message from Brad that told him that the blonde's voice had suddenly returned, though he was 'croaking like a toad' because of its long absence. Even though he was thrilled that his friend had gotten back his voice, it just served as one more piece of evidence against Sam.

The following morning at school, Danny had told Tucker and Jazz to keep their distance from Sam. Both had been startled by the strange request and demanded a reason for the sudden hostility he had against the Goth. All Danny did was stare with a cold edge to his eyes at school entrance doors as Sam walked through before turning his head away from her and replied to them monotonously.

"Because I don't trust her anymore."

Jazz and Tucker hadn't been able to get anything else out of Danny; as Sam came closer to them, he glared at her menacingly which made her halt in her steps. The raven haired boy quickly grabbed his sister and best friend by the arms and forcefully dragged them away from Sam.

Jazz exchanged a worried glance with Tucker as Danny pulled them away from the stunned Goth. What exactly happened the night before that caused this sudden friction between the other two?

That had continued until the end of school hours when Danny had dragged both Tucker and Jazz back to Fenton works once the bell had rung. They had brushed past Sam who had made a move to catch one of them but Danny's cold glare had stopped her again. Danny's open hostility towards Sam was beginning to frighten Jazz, the thought of Shadow instantly came to her mind when she saw the cold glares her brother was giving the other teen.

Danny hadn't told them of his reasons for acting so hostile to Sam even when they got back to the sanctuary of Fenton Works. Instead, the hybrid had begun texting someone on his phone, someone whom Jazz had a feeling was Brad. She hadn't been surprised when Brad showed up at their doorstep some twenty minutes later, but she had been taken off guard when Casse poked her head out from behind her brother to greet her.

Jazz wondered at that moment, as the two blonde siblings entered the house, if her brother was finally going to spill the beans completely to all of them.

She had been right. Once he had made sure that their parents weren't at home, he started talking. He confessed to Tucker about keeping him out of the loop that Brad did know his dual identities, to both Tucker and Brad that Jazz knew about his alter-ego, and demonstrated his transformation to Casse to prove to her that he wasn't lying when he told her that he was Phantom. She had wanted to ask him why he had a sudden change in uniform with a 'D' insignia splashed across his chest but had stopped herself, mentally telling herself to wait for him to explain it in his own time.

Danny had continued on, spending the entire afternoon explaining to them of some of the events he had kept from them (though Jazz had noticed that he had evaded telling them the entire truth on how Brad found out about his identity, choosing to only skim the surface of the event). The most prominent event that took up the most time for him to explain into detail was the alternate future that he had fallen into. Danny had been surprised when he didn't take quite as long as he thought he would in going over the topic of Vladimir Masters as the other hybrid, his arch nemesis Plasmius.

He had been grateful that the four of them had kept quiet and allowed him to speak without being interrupted. He had the feeling that if he had been interrupted at any point, he would lose his nerve in telling them everything and stop. Once he had finished his story, he sealed his mouth shut and waited for their reactions, hoping that they weren't angry at him for keeping so much from them. He only skimmed the surface of the kidnap event but knew that it would be inevitable that Jazz and Lee would have to be told the entire truth of the kidnap.

The silence was eating at him and the longer it lasted, the more uncomfortable he felt. Danny's mind whirled with thoughts as he saw his friends' faces twist in a few expressions that made him feel nervous.

What surprised Danny was that Casse had been the first to speak up, whining about why he hadn't told her earlier. She assaulted him with her puppy eyes with her bottom lip stuck out in a pout, asking him head on if he hadn't thought that she would keep his secret. All he had been able to do was blink owlishly at her and unconsciously edge backwards away from the fabled puppy eyes of doom.

Huh. Casse was surprisingly the easiest to get through to. Though the happy thought bubble popped when she started gushing at how 'awesome' it was that he had cool powers and wished she could do the same heroics he did.

From behind her, Danny had seen Brad rolling his eyes skyward and shrugging his shoulders, the palms of his hands rising upwards as if saying 'oh boy'. Danny somehow wished that Brad had given him some kind of warning that Casse was a fanatical person who wanted these weird things happening to her. But then again, he thought afterwards, it should have been predictable since he did have the knowledge of Casse loving fairytales and wanting to be special.

However, he thought that this would have to be a twisted kind of special to her mind and mentally thanked god that she didn't have the ghostly abilities.

While Tucker had been upset over not being told of some of the events, he understood Danny's reasoning and admitted that he would have done no better if he was placed in his best friend's shoes. Danny had been relieved when Tucker gave him a small smile and raised a hand to slap high fives with him, telling him that he was going to take time to adjust to all the new information but he would still be behind him.

Tucker didn't know just how much his words meant to Danny. The hybrid was thankful that he had an understanding friend.

Brad had stayed silent for the longest period, though Jazz had given Danny an encouraging smile, her eyes twinkling as if to tell him that his friend was just taking his time going through what he had just explained to them. Danny had to admit; it was stupid of him to dump the whole thing on them in one afternoon and shouldn't have expected any kind of response from them. Even though Casse and Tucker had responded, Danny still held no doubt that they had not been completely truthful in their responses of how they felt.

Casse impatiently prodded her brother to respond, but he simply swatted her fingers away and continued to stay immersed in his thoughts. Idly, Danny thought Brad looked strangely sage in his current position. His long legs were folded in a lotus position with his arms crossed over his chest, his chin touching his chest with his eyes closed and brows furrowed in deep thought.

Maybe he would do well as a monk. Danny hurriedly clapped a hand over his mouth at the image of Brad shaven bald, clad in Buddhist robes and chanting prayers. The hybrid quickly excused himself from the room, racing to the bathroom and laughed his heart out. He knew that the rest would still be able to hear his laughs but he couldn't help it. Maybe he would tell them about it later though he had the feeling Brad would be far from pleased at the thought of himself being a monk.

When Danny returned to the room, Brad had thrown him a question instead of giving him assurances that he was fine with everything he had revealed to them.

"Tuck said you wanted us to stay away from Sam. Why?" Brad's voice was throaty and hoarse, but Danny knew it was to be expected since the other hadn't used his voice in over a month. The hybrid sighed and sank back down on the floor, gathered his thoughts up again before finally explaining to them his reasons.

He watched as Brad's expression turned livid, Jazz and Tucker's face pale and Casse's mouth drop open in shock as he relayed to them what had happened after the ceremony of getting Lee's soul back from the night before. Danny heard a few croaking curses from Brad that were followed by a string of threats that was directed to the not present Sam after he had finished explaining the incident to them. Casse had curled into a frightened ball, her eyes wide in fear as her body shivered violently at the revelation with Jazz quickly scooping the younger girl up into her arms and hugging her gently. Danny noted that his sister was shaking herself, though it wasn't near as violent as Casse's.

While Tucker's face had paled, Danny could see that he was piecing together the entire puzzle in his head. His best friend's eyes had widened as he realized the unsaid reasons of why Danny hadn't told Tucker about certain events and now completely understood why he had done so. But that wasn't all he had managed to figure out.

"You made the wish and paid the price didn't you?" Danny nodded to Tucker's question, confirming his thoughts. All attention focused back on Danny who took in a deep breath and spilled out the rest of what he had done.

"I did wish for Lee's soul to be found and returned to her body. I had a second wish though, because I had been getting suspicious of Sam at that time since Etrigan mentioned about smelling magic on us and her reaction to it. So I asked Zeraphina for information of who was behind the magic that took Brad's voice and Lee."

They regarded him quietly, allowing him to take a few more breaths to calm himself before continuing on.

"I… my price to pay for my first wish was a copy of my ghost powers, well at least part of the price. Because my wish was clashing against Sam's – the other wish against mine that wanted Lee gone while I wanted to keep her alive. Zeraphina said that Lee was going to be my responsibility from then on, which was the rest of the payment for the wish if she granted it."

He swallowed and looked up, looking at Brad and Casse with a pained look. He had spent hours agonizing over the decision once he was told of the consequences of his wish. The scene was still haunting his memories of staring aghast at the stern Zeraphina as she laid down the price of his wish on him.

"She said that I was inviting Lee to my world – the world of ghosts. The ceremony wasn't just to find her soul; it was to also infuse the copy of my powers into her and that's why I guess there was a change in my alter-ego's uniform – because we've become connected by the powers. Lee's become a hybrid just like me; half human and half ghost." Danny's eyes sent a pleading look to all four of them, hoping they would understand and not hate him for his decision. "There wasn't any time left and it was the only way to save her."

"You… she –" Danny winced at Brad's incredulous croaks. The shock was settling into them and Danny was growing increasingly uncomfortable. Would they hate him for this? He had been completely desperate and he hadn't been able to think of any alternatives to save her. He could hear someone swallow audibly in the silence before Brad's croaking voice sounded again. "Fairy's a hybrid now?"

"Yes." When no one spoke up after his tense reply to Brad, Danny decided to continue and get everything done and over with. They could hate him after he had managed to spill everything. "Zeraphina said that the ghost powers differ with every individual and that Lee's not going to be a copy of me as a ghost, she just copied the basic structure of the ghost powers from me and infused it in her. So I don't know… exactly what else she'll be able to do other than the regular ghost abilities like invisibility, intangibility and flight."

"I'm not quite sure of what Zeraphina meant by telling me that the price of my second wish would be paid afterwards, and that I didn't need to worry about it. She was pretty cryptic; just giving me the information that Sam was behind it, hinting about that bracelet that Sam had been wearing for a while. And I'll quote what she said that 'wishes never come without price. The prices of her wishes will weigh on her heavily and crumble her life to pieces'."

"So, I guessed that Sam had been wishing for things for a while but I just don't know what else other than taking Brad's voice and wishing for Lee to disappear." He didn't stop, he just had to continue. If he stopped now, he would never be able to finish. Danny willed himself to continue talking without breaking. "The bracelet had been the magical artifact that Etrigan sniffed out and since we've been all hanging around Sam for extended periods of time –"

"The smell of the magic rubbed off us so that's why Etrigan couldn't figure out where the source of the magic was." Danny's head jerked up and stared at Tucker who had finished his sentence for him. "I'm starting to make sense of everything now, but… What are we going to tell Lee?"

"You're… not angry?" Danny peered cautiously at the rest of them with meek eyes. Though he had a gut feeling they wouldn't be angry at or hate him, there was still that nagging doubt hanging around at the back of his head. "You don't… hate me for what I did?"

"Oh Danny…" Jazz sighed as her expression softened and patted Casse's shoulders gently before moving forward to envelop her brother into a hug. "I know it's eating you that you had to make that decision – I don't think I would have been brave enough to make it. I can't speak for Brad, Casse or even Lee for that matter, but I can't hate you for making it. It was either that to keep her alive or watch her die later."

He made a soft strangled noise and clung onto the front of Jazz's shirt, whimpering quietly. Even though she was blocking his view of looking at everyone else's expressions, he needed this comfort desperately. He made the life or death decision for one of his friends and he had brought her into his world. It wasn't as simple as telling his friends about his identities and having them fight alongside with him with ecto-weapons; it just wasn't the same thing.

It was something that made him feel sick – a decision that factored in whether the person would live or die. Danny didn't feel like a god – he felt like an executioner.

Brad, Casse and Tucker hadn't been able to give him their replies; both Jack and Maddie had returned home after a long day out by that time. But before the blondes had left, Casse had squeezed him in a tight hug, tearfully thanking him softly in his ear for saving their sister while Brad mouthed a soft word of thanks. After Brad and Casse exited the door, Tucker slapped a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it with a soft smile before bidding them good night and left for home.

God, Danny wondered what he did to deserve such understanding friends as his family gathered in the kitchen. To help ease the silence, Jazz made conversation by asking their parents what they had done for the day as they went through dinner.

Rachel Roth, Dick's friend who was staying with the Angeles' until the end of January before returning to Jump City, had almost been clean forgotten by everyone in the frenzy of worry when Lee had vanished. Jack and Maddie had tracked the teenager down to one of the nearby hotels where she had booked herself into when she found no one back in the Angeles house the same day Lee had disappeared.

They had spent the day explaining the situation to her and were surprised when the teen waved it off easily, not at all miffed at the fact that she had been forgotten in the whole fiasco.

Maddie gave them a crooked smile of amusement when she quoted Rachel's smug words.

"_It's not like I'm paying for the hotel and food__ with my money. It's all charged to Dick's account. That'll show him not to pester his relatives just because he wants to and use me as an excuse."_

School the following day had gone smoothly enough though Brad and Casse had yet to return back to school. Tucker had stuck close to Danny throughout school hours and easily continued their usual daily routine even without Sam while Jazz would converse with them during lunch before scurrying back to her class. Sam had been completely ignored by the three no matter how many times she had tried to get their attention or corner them.

Much to Danny's pleasure, Brad had sent a message to them once school had let out asking if they wanted to be 'beamed up' to the Watchtower to visit Lee who was recuperating in the medical bay. Tucker made a crack about the 'beam me up Scotty' reference with the Justice League's transporter system as Danny grinned and sent Brad a quick reply of 'yes please'. He outlined a brief plan of action in his mind while they waited for the transport outside of the school, wanting to explain to Lee everything during the visit in case she had unwittingly activated any of her powers.

It would be disastrous if the powers were to be activated in front of any of the Leaguers other than J'onn or Raven. Not to mention that it would completely freak her out at the same time.

Spotting the three of them at the entrance of the school, Sam had moved forward in hopes of finally getting to them until they vanished in a drizzle of white light just before she reached them. When the spots of light disappeared, she glared at the spot where they had been in both anger and disappointment.

Danny hadn't been too surprised to find J'onn waiting for them at the transportation platform of the Watchtower. He grinned up to the Martian and demonstrated his mind block which made J'onn smile at him knowingly, confusing Tucker and Jazz at the silent exchange. While Tucker and Jazz provided the spoken conversation in their walk to the medical bay, Danny secretly communicated with J'onn through his thoughts after letting down his mental shields, asking the Martian his favor of keeping the medical room Lee was in private and unsupervised.

J'onn had raised his eyebrow at the request but didn't question him, promising that he would do so.

When they reached the room, the medical doctors and Dr. Fate were finishing their check-up on Lee, the girl looking both tired and annoyed. The three teens watched in amusement as Dr. Fate caught the back of Brad's shirt as the blonde tried sneaking past him and started checking over the teen on his raspy voice. Casse had fallen into pearls of laughter from the other side of the room at the exasperated look that crossed her brother's face as he repeatedly told Dr. Fate that he was fine.

Once Dr. Fate was satisfied with his check up (Brad had scowled and threw a gesture at him when his back was turned), he swept out of the room followed by J'onn who was had discreetly turned off the surveillance devices in the room.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Danny murmured quietly, sidling up to the side of the bed and touching Lee's hand gently. Jazz took to the other side of the bed with Casse while Tucker joined the boys on their end.

"You mean other than feeling like complete utter crap from being made victim to some weird unknown scheme that actually really almost got me dead?" Lee responded wryly, glaring at the wall opposite of her. Danny winced at the amount of bitterness that leaked from her voice. "Peachy. Just peachy."

"It's not your fault." Jazz protested, taking a hold of Lee's other hand and squeezing it tightly. The other teen gave her a look that almost screamed a sarcastic 'oh really?' but Jazz ignored it and continued. "No one knew this would happen and it's not your fault that you just happened to be targeted."

"I'm a walking billboard advertisement for trouble now." The blonde muttered while she continued to scowl at the wall in front of her, refusing to look at any of them. "It's like screaming: Hey! Come target me, I'm easy as pie to torture and kill!"

"That's not true!" The five of them chorused simultaneously, their eyes glaring at Lee sternly. She finally turned her head both ways to look at them at the side of her bed, her eyes full of skepticism.

"Oh really?"

"Yes really." Tucker beat Brad to the punch and shot back at Lee, folding his arms across his chest with a scowl. "Look, you are not a walking billboard advertisement for trouble; even if you are, Brad and Casse are over triple the size of your billboard because they *look* for trouble when you don't. Plus, I meant it as the individual kind and not their combined efforts in running around into the line of fire."

"HEY!" The African-American boy grinned wolfishly and leered at the indignant duo while Danny and Jazz exchanged amused glances with each other.

"But it's true." The beret wearing teen then began listing out the instances where the two had purposely gone looking for trouble and was subsequently chased around the room by Casse while Brad scowled at him from the corner. While the Fenton siblings laughed at their antics, Lee's lips had yet to twitch from her frown. After a moment (of which Danny had prodded her side for in that duration), she sighed and rested her cheek in her hand, swatting Danny's prodding fingers away from her side.

"Since you guys aren't going to let me wallow in my pit of self loathe, I'll change the topic. So where's Sam?"

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence at the mention of the Goth's name. Lee warily eyed each of them, noting that both Brad and Danny had similar angry looks on their faces while Jazz, Tucker and Casse shifted uncomfortably from their spots. "Ok, maybe I asked the wrong question then."

"Actually, that's one thing we wanted to talk to you about today." Danny eyed the door of the room for a moment before scuttling over to it, opening it to see J'onn standing guard just outside the room. With a thumbs up and a mouthed thanks, Danny pulled his head back in to the room and allowed the door to slide shut again. He peered up to the surveillance camera and noted that the usual blinking red light was off.

Wow, J'onn sure was fast at disabling them.

"What's with the secrecy?" She was eying him carefully from the bed as he slipped back to his original position beside it. The note of suspicion was evident in her tone as her eyes swept through the room and stared at each and every one of them in turn. "Something tells me I'm not going to like what I'm going to hear…"

"This is really important and you're probably right – I don't even think you're going to like what you're going to hear." She sent him an exasperated look and shifted her sitting position on the bed, lying back against the wall of pillows with her arms folded across her chest. Tucker and Casse had slipped back and crowded around the bed beside Jazz. "That's why I got J'onn to turn off the surveillance in the room and look out for us."

"… Since when were you on such friendly terms with him?" An even more suspicious stare headed his way while the rest wisely kept silent to allow Danny to talk. Before she could speak up again, Danny had raised his index finger to his lips, signaling for her to let him explain without any interruptions.

"It's a very long and complicated story. I won't be able to tell you everything today because there's just too much to be told. I'll tell you the important stuff, but you're going to have to just listen to me first ok?"

Her lips had set into a thin and firm line, her eyes glancing at everyone warily before landing back on Danny. Lee locked gazes with him for a moment and grudgingly nodded her head, pushing herself upwards against the wall of pillows and set her attention on him. Danny sighed and took a few breaths; this was going to take a while.

"Jazz told me that she's told you about my…I mean THE accident that happened a few months before you guys moved to Amity." He paused as Lee contemplated before slowly nodding her head to his statement. "Well the accident did more than just electrocute me; it… well, mutated me? Ok, I know that doesn't sound very assuring because I'm not very sure about what the accident had done to me even after all this time, but I guess my DNA got mutated in the portal start-up."

She stayed perfectly silent and her focus on him had yet to wane. Idly, he realized that everyone else was listening to him attentively despite having heard the story the day before. Swallowing his saliva and composing himself, Danny continued.

"I started to… experience some strange abilities after the accident. Going through the floor, turning completely invisible at times and have various parts of my body either go invisible or intangible at the worst possible moments." He could see the flicker of comprehension in Lee's eyes, as she slowly pieced together the puzzle that he was trying to help her with. "At first I thought it was just some weird coincidence, but when the ghosts started turning up in Amity Park, that's when all the coincidences stopped."

"I couldn't hide the fact that I had become different, that I wasn't an ordinary teenager anymore; Tucker and Sam were the only ones who knew what was happening to me because they were there when the accident happened." Danny swallowed the vile taste that dashed his tongue his mention of Sam's name. He couldn't help it – no matter how much he wanted to be neutral about it, the anger was still there and her name left that disgusting aftertaste whenever it left his lips. "The accident gave me something – an altered look to my original human look and a whole bomb of abilities that easily classified me under my parents' most hated creature gallery. I could become a ghost, I –"

"…You're Phantom." She had muttered it so quietly that Danny had almost missed it. He could see the full comprehension in her eyes that was laced with confusion. Everyone else was still wisely silent, though Tucker was seen covering Casse's mouth on more than one occasion when Danny was speaking. "Go on."

"Y...yea. I am Phantom." He cursed himself inwardly. He couldn't falter now! Danny composed himself again and forced his mouth to continue. "So about after… a month or so of getting used to the superhero act, you guys moved to Amity. This explains my absences whenever ghosts appear; Danny Fenton would always be suspiciously absent while Danny Phantom would mysteriously appear. Once the ghosts were gone, Phantom goes and Fenton reappears with a whole bunch of bruises that he had spontaneously gotten from 'falling' somewhere."

"It hadn't been too bad even after we made friends with you guys, until… the kidnapping incident." Danny's eyes shifted to his sister who straightened her posture and watched him intently. Lee herself had leaned forward to listen more closely while the rest shot alarmed looks at him. He glanced over to Tucker, Brad and Casse calmly. "I – We can't keep it from them anymore guys. If I want to explain to Lee the later events, we'll have to tell them about it now."

"Can't you skim over it?" Danny shook his head at Casse's hopeful tone, her expression dropping to a crestfallen look. He turned to see Brad contemplating quietly beside him while Tucker bit his lower lip nervously. "But there could be an–"

"He's right." Casse's head whipped around to stare at her brother who cut her off. Brad had his arms folded across his chest, his eyes conflicting between agreeing with Danny and with wanting to side with Casse in thinking there were another way around it. "It was after that incident that Sam started changing too. We can't… we can't avoid telling them about it anymore."

Casse had wanted to argue but Tucker had rested both his hands on her shoulders and squeezed them; gently that it didn't hurt her, but firm enough to stop her from speaking up again. Tucker gave Danny an approving nod to continue as did Brad who did so after a moment's hesitation. Casse chewed the side of her lips and turned her face away to hide her expression.

Well, it was now or never.

"It wasn't a regular kidnapping case; it wasn't about ransom money but… it was more of an experimentation the Injustice League was looking to do and used the both of you as their guinea pigs." Danny turned to look at Jazz. "You remember when dad had that weird spontaneous garage sale of all the ruined stuff from the lab when the triplets moved to Amity?"

"Yea I do." Jazz tilted her head, puzzled at the sudden change of the topic. "But what does that got to do with the Injustice League making us their guinea pigs?"

"Oh it's connected alright." Danny responded grimly, his eyes set in a hardened gaze. "Dad was being controlled by the Joker that time. Apparently that crazy clown was experimenting on some control magic and made dad his test subject. Why he made him do that garage sale is beyond me."

Jazz's lips parted, opening and closing with her eyes wide as she tried to articulate her words but failed. Finally she just sealed her mouth shut and settled for staring at her brother. He stopped for a moment, his lips set in a thin line before he continued speaking.

"Well since dad broke out of that control after a few hours, the Injustice League apparently had gone on to find a way to get complete control of the person for a longer period of time. They were looking to use civilians against the Justice League, making them their puppets because they knew the Justice League wouldn't hurt them."

"So… us." Danny noticed Lee's fingers twitching on her lap as her hands clasped together loosely. Her face might have looked neutral but her eyes with conflicted with an array of emotions that Danny had difficulty identifying since they flashed through her eyes too fast for him to do so. Slowly, he nodded his head to confirm her statement.

"Yea. Both of you. But that's not quite all." He swallowed again, gathering everything up and not leaving any rock unturned as he continued speaking. "The both of you became their puppets. You guys started doing martial arts like you've done it your whole life and it was either the League had toned down their powers or you guys were actually matching up with them equally in skill and power."

"Lee, do you remember the dress you made for the Halloween house?" Slowly she nodded her head, unsure of the relation but kept silent and allowed Danny to continue. "It's actually the very same thing the Injustice League made you wear when you were brainwashed. That's why we were all disturbed by it. You managed to get it exactly right, including the spike collar that was controlling you."

Her jaw was set in place, her lips thinning into a straight line and her eyes narrowing slightly. She remembered the dress alright; the thing was still in her closet. Danny allowed the information to sink in a little before carrying on.

"That's when I met Zeraphina, the Sorceress who grants wishes. I'll tell you more about her later." Lee simply nodded, prompting him to carry on. "She gave me a way of freeing the both of you from the controlling spell. I had to wish for it and pay a price so that she could grant it. My price for freeing you was to get the spell book and the collars, and give them to her. She was lenient back then, loaning me one of her magical accessories that temporarily allowed me to duplicate myself to have both my human and ghost sides exist at the same time without extra charge."

"It didn't quite go as planned though… but to keep things short, to prevent you two from dying, I had to make the decision of what memories were to be erased from your minds and chose the entire forced villainy to be erased. But even then, you guys could still do martial arts like no one's business." He glanced at them shyly before lowering his voice to a mutter. "That's why we all got kicked into taking self defense classes with mom."

"Anyway, the point is that we did get you guys back and then went back to daily life." Danny quickly moved on, checking the time from the corner of his eye and briefly cut down which events he was going to explain more about. "About a week after the Halloween house, I uh… kind of dragged Brad into a huge mess that involved the Specter Speeder, driving in the Ghost Zone and a Ghost Prison Warden who goes by the name of Walker. After I managed to save him from Walker, my secret kind of spilled out on its own."

"…I guess this explains how you two suddenly got close in a span of two days…" Danny nodded his head mutely, detecting a hint of bitterness in Lee's voice but it had been covered up with comprehension. When she didn't speak up again, Danny took it as a sign to carry on.

He quickly skimmed through the events of the alternate future timeline, making mental notes to divulge more information when she got discharged from the Watchtower but leave out the fact that his alternate self had been completely enamored with her alternate self. Danny omitted the Christmas event; it hadn't been much to tell anyway. Finally, he briefly outlined what had happened when she had disappeared before diving forward to what he had explained to the rest the day before.

"Sam… Sam was responsible for making you disappear and for Brad's loss of voice. She had a magical artifact, that weird bracelet she started wearing after Halloween, that granted its owner wishes and she wished for you to disappear. That's why she's not here; we're all avoiding her now."

Danny watched as Lee's eyes widened and noticed that the rest were no longer listening, each other them distracting themselves with something to avoid having their anger boil up again. Jazz was staring down at her hands, fiddling with her fingers while Casse had started bugging Tucker, reaching out for his PDA. Brad was leaning against the wall, his face turned away from his older sister and hiding his expression from the rest. Lee eyed them curiously before shifting to Danny, nodding silently for him to continue.

"The League found your body but your soul had been, um… 'crucified' from it, leaving it like an empty shell." Danny cautiously raised his hands and made quotation marks when he said the word 'crucified'. He still wasn't quite sure what to make of it though he remembered that Lantern had found her nailed to a crucifix. "And we were told that if your soul was separated from your body for an extended period of time… you would die."

"It went on for about a week and the League didn't have much luck in finding your soul. By that time, I was feeling pretty useless because there hadn't been anything that I could do to help… until I had a conversation with Raven."

"Wait… Raven as in Raven of the Teen Titans?"

"Yea, she came down to Jump City to 'observe' my behavioral patterns and decided that I was harmless enough to approach." Danny made a pouty face, internally cheering for easing the tension a little as Lee's lips broke into a small smile before carrying on. "So I went searching for Zeraphina again and made two wishes; one was to find your soul and return it to your body and the second was to have the information of who was behind it."

"This… this is when everything becomes complicated." He tried swallowing but there was a lump in his throat and he was beginning to feel nervous and nauseous. Danny forced the feelings down and opened his mouth to speak. "She said that the price of the second wish, the one where I wanted to know who was the one behind making you disappear and for taking Brad's voice, would be paid later. I still don't know what she had meant but, one part of the price I had to pay for the first wish, the one to find your soul, was a copy of my ghost powers. Because I wanted to keep you alive while Sam's wish wanted you gone, Zeraphina said that other part of the price was that you were going to be my responsibility from then on."

"Wa- would that mean something like being my protector or something?" Lee wrinkled her nose in distaste, already having voiced earlier on that she was bitter about being the damsel in distress. "Ugh…"

"N...no. Not quite that kind of responsibility." Danny tried to force the nervousness down and stop himself from stuttering. He knew he wasn't doing a very good job at it; Lee was looking at him both worriedly and curiously from the bed at the first word stutter. The nervousness got the better of him and Danny couldn't hold back the stutters. "I uh… no. She, I mean Zeraphina, said that I was inviting you to my world. The world of ghosts. The ceremony that was done wasn't only to find your soul… it… it also infused the copy of my ghost powers that was a part of the price into you."

"Y…you're a hybrid now. Just like me."

Silence met his ears and Danny could feel the tension rising in the air. Lee's opened and closed like a goldfish, the words had left her completely and all she could do was stare at him incredulously. Danny could see everyone else directing their eyes away from her and swallowed his saliva loudly.

"I'm a what?!" Her voice had risen a few octaves and sounded close to an indignant shriek if it weren't for the fact she had controlled the volume and made it low. The others had winced at the low shriek and faced her with wary expressions. Danny reacted and went to reach out to calm her down when he stopped and stiffened. He recalled that even though his powers had been haywire at first, they had also triggered because of his emotions.

Lee was panicking. And Lee was slowly sinking _through_ the bed.

Her eyes widened in fear and her mouth opened. She was ready to unleash a scream of panic but Danny quickly lunged forward and clapped a hand over her mouth to prevent the sound from coming out. Jazz hurriedly grasped Lee's hand, squeezing it firmly in an attempt to calm the younger teen down while Tucker, Brad and Casse tried grabbing her legs that were halfway through the mattress.

Danny signaled for them to move away and floated upwards with his arms wrapped securely under Lee's arms, his hand still covering her mouth to prevent her from screaming. He pulled her body up and out from the mattress, far enough for her legs to hover a few inches above the bed but low to the point that he wasn't excessively tugging any of the wires off her, and whispered into her ear.

"Take a deep breath and calm down. Right now the intangibility activated because you're panicking and you don't know how to control it yet. Breathe for a while, don't scream though, and then I'll set you back down."

He slowly took his hand off her mouth to let her breathe and could feel the slow rise and fall of her chest as she tried to calm herself, gulping in air like a drowning person, but it didn't stop her body from trembling. Below them, Danny could see everyone else holding their breath, waiting patiently for her to calm down.

After a moment, Danny slowly descended down and set Lee back on the bed, the intangibility having turned off. Her body hadn't stopped shaking yet even though she was taking slow deep breaths. An awkward silence settled in the air before Casse quietly squeaked.

"Fairy?" Cautiously the youngest Angeles sneaked forward but Lee had yet to make any indication of acknowledgement. "Are… you ok?"

"Am I ok?" It came out as a whisper but Danny could hear the incredulity oozing from her voice as Lee lifted her head up to glare at everyone. Danny winced as the volume of her voice began to rise as she continued speaking. "Am I ok?! First I become some target that gets easily picked off the streets for some whacked up villains, then I get told that one of my 'friends' want me dead and now I'm no longer normal?!"

"But think of all the cool stuff you can do!" Danny groaned and wanted to stop Casse from agitating Lee further but the younger girl had already gone full speed ahead. "You're special! You have awesome powers and you can –"

"No, no, no, no, no!! I just want to be normal! I don't give a flying shit about being special or having some goddamn powers; I just want to be normal!" She yelled, borderline on hysterics as her hands gripping the sheets tightly and her wild angry eyes flew at each and every one of them before turning back to Danny with a cold glare. "Undo it."

"Wha- wait. What?!" He wasn't the only one who had turned to stare at her incredulously. Everyone else had turned to look at her, shocked at her demand.

"Undo it." Lee repeated, her voice unwavering as her eyes continued to stare into Danny's. "Tear my soul out again or whatever. Undo it! I don't want these powers; I'd rather be dead than to have them!"

Danny felt his body freeze and tried to valiantly swallow the harsh lump in his throat. Her reaction was something he had feared, but he hadn't thought that it would be this bad. He realized then, that he had been playing a dangerous gamble. Playing with her life as his opponent's bet and his bet was infusing the powers in her to win. Sure he had good intentions of keeping her alive, but in the end his win wasn't quite as rewarding as it would have felt.

"You can't be serious!" Brad rasped out, rushing forward and grasping her hand tightly. He returned her glare with equal force when it was directed at him. "Look, we didn't want to lose you and he didn't have any other choice. Please, we just –"

"And so you didn't want to take into account that I would hate it? That I wouldn't want to live with freaky powers?" She snapped back coldly, wrenching her hand from her brother's grasp. Her arms folded across her chest, her hands gripping her upper arms tightly before she uttered her next words. "Get out."

"Be reasonable! If he didn't do it you'd be dead!"

"I said get out!" At her shout, Lee's eyes flashed a glaring yellow and her clenched fists began to charge with yellow energy as opposed to Danny's green. Jazz exchanged a startled look with Danny before quickly gathering the other three teens and hurriedly shoved them out of the room before they could protest. She followed them straight after, the door sliding shut behind her and left Danny with the angry blonde. "Get out Danny."

"I can't. At least, not until I get you to learn how to not activate your powers when you're upset." He pointed at her glowing fists which prompted her to look downwards. She gawked and the energy dissipated into thin wisps of yellow that twisted around her fingers before completely fading away, the glow in her eyes faded at the same time. Slowly Danny stepped forward and hesitantly placed his hand on her knee, speaking to her gently. "The powers can activate whenever you're emotional and it will get you in to plenty of trouble. If you become intangible, you might sink out of the Watchtower and I don't want to even think about if the ability deactivated when you were halfway sinking through steel."

"Please. At least… at least let me help you for now." Danny didn't flinch when she suddenly vanished in front of his eyes again. He could still feel her knee, her body shaking uncontrollably, and squeezed it lightly. "Hey, now you've gone invisible." He chided softly. "Ok, like just now when you were sinking through the bed, take a few deep breaths and calm down."

Danny forced his face to be neutral as he heard Lee take in audible deep breaths. If the situation and atmosphere weren't so dire and tense, he would've allowed his lips to break into a smile. But no, he couldn't. The taste of her anger, though brief, had been bitter and it still lingered in his mouth.

It took a moment, but she became visible again just as J'onn stepped in through the closed doors to check on them having seen the other four teens leave the room. He frowned at the lack of the mental shield in Danny's mind and became visible to the two teens. Lee had squeaked in shock before she disappeared again, her squeak alerting Danny of another presence in the room and caused him to turn to face J'onn.

J'onn blinked and raised a brow at the 'empty' bed before turning to Danny.

"I can see why you wished for privacy. Perhaps I shall come again later."

"Eh – no, wait! Don't go. In fact, I think I have another favor to ask of you J'onn." Before he continued to speak to J'onn, Danny turned back to Lee and shook her invisible knee again lightly. "Hey, calm down. Remember, take deep breaths."

"Shut up and get out!" She hissed as her body flickered between being visible and invisible. He noted that her eyes were glowing yellow again and was glaring at him as her image flickered. "You're the last person I want to see right now!"

Her words stung and Danny lifted his hand from her now visible knee so quickly, it was as if she had slapped him hard. He swallowed as the harsh yellow glared at him before getting up and slowly backed away from her bed. Once he was next to the door, Lee had curled into a ball, grabbing the blankets and threw them over her head to hide beneath them. Danny swallowed again, feeling J'onn's hand rest on his shoulder and allowed the Martian to lead him out the door.

Silence settled between J'onn and Danny once the door had slid shut. The Martian typed a few commands to the console beside the door, allowing Danny some time to his thoughts before he turned to face the teen.

"Was there something you needed to ask of me?"

"Huh?" Danny blinked for a moment before recollecting his words. He shook his head to clear his mind a little, his gaze lingering at the door to the medical room before turning to J'onn. "Uh yea. I do. Or… did." He released a sigh and ran a tired hand through his raven locks. "I'm not sure if she's going to be willing to learn how to do a mind block now though."

"I see. Your hesitation in assessing her willingness is understandable." J'onn's monotonous voice grated Danny's nerves a little but he pushed the feeling down, chastising himself for the stray thought of J'onn being emotionless. He grimaced when he realized that J'onn had read his thoughts and gave the Martian an apologetic look. "However, I will do my best in persuading her as well as to keep an eye on her in case her abilities should activate as they had earlier."

"Thanks J'onn." Danny mumbled softly, feeling oddly drained from the day. J'onn simply gave him a nod, his hands slipping back beneath his cloak.

"I believe it is time for you and your friends to return back to Earth. Approximately five hours have elapsed since your arrival to the Watchtower."

"Mm… I just need to find them right now."

"I would suggest you try searching for them in the cafeteria before trying the Central Command."

Danny nodded absentmindedly, not fully listening to J'onn's suggestion as he allowed his feet to lead the way. He wandered around the corridors of the Watchtower aimlessly, mumbling small apologies if bumped into anyone. He didn't bother looking up if any of the heroes spotted him in his aimless wandering, all of them watching him curiously before he turned a corner and disappeared from their line of sight.

Eventually he found himself facing the cafeteria and just as he took one step in, he took five steps backwards and landed hard on his back when he was tackled by the babbling Casse. Whatever she was saying made no sense to Danny, his mind was simply not computing anything that was being said, even those his sister and Tucker were saying after Brad had pried Casse off him.

"Danny?" He blinked as Jazz hovered over him worriedly, noting the rest were regarding him curiously. "Are you ok?"

"…Yea." Danny bit back the urge of wanting to scream 'no'. Now that his mind had returned back to function properly, he had come to the realization that he had possibly just severed one of his friendships. He wanted to scream, tear his hair out in frustration and bang his head against a wall until he slipped into the state of unconsciousness. But he felt too drained to do either one of the three things; all he wanted to do was go back home. "Let's just go back home. I'm kind of tired now."

He caught them exchanging worried looks with each other but was too drained to even be bothered about it. Danny simply let his feet walk into the direction where the Central Command was suppose to be, the rest quickly trailing after him. He tuned out their voices and just stared blankly in front of him as they walked; he didn't register Casse's hand waving in front of his nose or Tucker's hand patting his shoulder in an attempt to catch his attention.

Danny remained in that state of blankness even as they stepped onto the transporter. Brad and Casse were following them back to Earth at J'onn's gentle suggestion of letting Lee have time on her own instead of them staying in the Watchtower for the night. Danny had barely heard a word and hadn't even realized that it was J'onn speaking in the first place.

The hybrid hadn't realized that J'onn was seeing them off until the Martian gently probed his mind from his position at the consoles, causing Danny to blink and look up at him just as white invaded his vision.

"_Give her time. She is struggling to come to terms with what you have told her today; __that is quite a lot of information to absorb. Right now, anger and fear has overridden her ability to be calm and rational, but in time she will come understand your reasons. Have patience Phantom, I have no doubt that she will come around soon."_

_

* * *

  
_

A night of sleep hadn't helped. She had hoped that it was just some terrible nightmare that she just needed to wake up from. But much to her dismay, her pleas went unheard when she found her hands to have suddenly vanished again when a jolt of panic coursed through her body at the sudden knock on the door.

Frantically she tried to calm down, taking a few deep breaths and quickly pulled the blankets up over her whole body to prevent anyone from noticing the missing limbs. It was surprising, yet not as surprising as it should have been, when J'onn stepped through the doors. She glanced up at the clock, frowning when she realized the check-up brigade (the team of medical doctors and Dr Fate) hadn't come to poke and prod her at their usual timeslot.

She eyed J'onn warily as he strode over to her bedside and sat on the chair without a word. He returned her gaze with a cool one of his own; his hands clasped together as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, letting the silence settle between them like a thick layer of wool.

"_You should not be so hard on Daniel."_ Lee stared incredulously at him, unsure of why he was speaking to her in her mind rather than out loud. _"I am speaking with you telepathically so that our conversation will not be picked up by the camera. As far as the League is concerned, I am trying to help you to move on from this event. Think of your words in your mind as if you were speaking." _

"…_Why are you doing this?"_ She wrapped the blankets around her body, not wanting to take the risk of the cameras getting a shot of her invisible limbs. _"And why should I not be hard on him? I never asked him to save me. If it were my sister, she'd be happy about it because she likes this weird sick kind of special, but I'm not her and I hate it."_

"_Indeed. But try to understand. He had a way, though possibly unorthodox, it was the only clear way he had in being certain that you would survive the ordeal."_ The Martian chided gently, his eyes never wavering from his cool stare as she twisted her body around on the bed, the blankets wrapping even tighter around her body. _"And it is by his request that I should teach you how to mind block while keeping an eye on you in case your abilities should unexpectedly activate."_

"_I don't care."_ The blonde responded stubbornly, tearing her eyes away from J'onn and settled for glaring at the wall. _"It's as if being related to Gotham's richest and most eligible bachelor wasn't bad enough. There's nothing wrong in wanting to be normal or wanting to live a life that doesn't include superheroes wearing their underwear outside of their pants or lunatic villains who dress up as circus clowns. Why can't I be normal?!"_

"_Perhaps, as Wonder Woman would say, it is God's will."_

_  
"I hate God. Someone overthrow the current one and get a new proper God who won't screw my life over a million times."_

J'onn allowed her to stew silently in her thoughts without him prying in. Lee gripped her knees tightly from under the blankets. Why did fate always throw curve balls at her that would turn her life topsy turvy? Normalcy, something she desired because of their exceptionally screwed up childhood of getting involved with super villains. Even in Amity Park, there hadn't been as much normalcy as she had liked but had forced herself to deal with it.

This took it to a whole new level and frankly, she was pissed at the amount of crap that had been tossed onto her shoulders.

"_With powers come responsibility."_ She whispered quietly in her mind, lowering her gaze to her huddled knees. J'onn blinked and watched her calmly, waiting for her to continue. _"I can't handle that responsibility; I can barely manage my responsibilities as the older sister, playing surrogate mother to my siblings, understanding daughter and hardworking student. Was it too much to ask for normalcy that the guy up in the sky wants to punish me with extra responsibility?"_

"_But you understand that there is a responsibility that comes with these powers."_ Lee slowly tugged her hand out from the blanket, thankful that it was visible and gazed at it as J'onn continued. _"There are many others who crave for such power, yet they do not understand the full consequence of them. Power can corrupt; can drive anyone to insanity in their greed for more. Even those with the purest of intentions fail to comprehend even the most basic concept of having powers."_

"_It does not necessarily mean you have an obligation to protect the rest of the populace. There are plenty of other methods of protecting that do not require such powers; it is solely up to the individual who chooses the action. You are not obligated to become a hero; it is only by your decision if you are certain that you are able to take up the mantle and go on a worldwide cape crusade. The main responsibility that we all have is to keep a clear and mature mind with these powers and to make sure we are still in touch with reality, what is truly happening around us; even those with powers can fall as well. Powers do not necessarily make you invulnerable and risking your life would be the last thought in your mind."_

"_I'll say."_ She quipped softly, resting her chin on her hand as her other hand dug out from the snug wrap of the blankets. _"Overconfidence because you have these powers breed carelessness and if you're careless in a life and death situation, you'll find yourself sitting at the gates of hell waiting to go through because you're dead. People who go around risking their lives, believing that they're doing it for greater good are full of bullshit."_

"_How so?"_

"_Because they're unbelievable." _Lee returned J'onn's gaze with a serious look. _"I don't believe anyone can go around proclaiming that they'll die for the planet or their loved ones because it's just bloody bullshit. In real situations, fear will grip them and they'll freeze. I wouldn't be certain if I'll be able to leap up to take a shot for any of my family members because in all humans, we all fear death. No matter how insistent a person is that they don't fear death, there'll always be a small part that lingers there when the time comes. Not everyone is mentally conditioned to take a bloody bullet to the head in the name of love."_

"_I find that your opinion to this matter to be quite intriguing."_ J'onn sat up straighter in the chair and lifted his elbows to rest on the arms of the chair rather than on his knees. _"Please continue."_

"_People who publically proclaim their intentions to die for their family and friends__, who don't have mental conditioning and training, are the ones who won't be able to pull it off when the situation comes. A bunch of idealists who don't do so much as to peek out of their goddamn dream worlds to see reality. I gave up dreaming of an ideal world and faced facts that reality will always overrule it. Dreaming does nothing to change the world."_

She paused and stared at her hands, more thoughts invading her mind. J'onn patiently waited for her to articulate them properly before mind speaking out to him again.

"_I guess that's why my sister is still living in her ideal world; we're still protecting her because it's probably the last shred of innocence she has but at the same time__, even when we were growing up, her ideal world seemed far too fantastic to any of us. It's like she's a wannabe-martyr, which is so annoying…"_

"_What of those who have thrown themselves in the line of fire and have proven that they indeed have the courage to die for their family and friends?"_ The teen snorted and raised an eyebrow at J'onn.

"_If you're talking about the heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman and the lot, well they aren't dead now are they?"_ The Martian returned the raised eyebrow at her in amusement._ "Superman's an alien who can't be shot dead unless it were a kryptonite bullet and Wonder Woman deflects them with her fancy bracelets. For humans, it's either because they're incredibly stupid or crazed adrenaline junkies to jump into the line of fire_ _or if it's because they're highly reactive to these situations."_ She paused before adding in a last comment. _"I know my siblings and friends are such stupid adrenaline junkies who do exist in the world."_

"_Even our League members who hold no power such as Batman?"_

"_Are you kidding me? He's the biggest adrenaline junkie to ever exist; someone who is completely stupid and mad to boot. Lock the guy up in a bloody asylum to stop him from breaking his goddamn bones on a daily basis!"_

J'onn released a low chuckle at her rant. Lee sighed and flopped back against the pillows, the pressure in her chest having eased off a little after blowing off some steam.

"_I see that you are feeling better." _She nodded her head slightly without looking at J'onn, unwrapping the blanket from around her body and threw them over her head. _"I am afraid I do not have much time left to speak with you; the doctors have deemed you healthy enough to be discharged and return back to Earth. Dr Fate is also pleased that your body and soul are doing well."_

"_Swell."_ She sighed and closed her eyes from beneath the blankets. _"I don't think I can face any of them any time soon."_

"_It is understandable that you feel angered because what you desired has been snatched from you and can no longer be attained. However normalcy can be perceived differently; perhaps you will be able to get used to the powers and life should become 'normal' once you accept the fact that this will now have to be considered normalcy to you."_

"_But for now." _J'onn reached forward and pulled the blanket away from Lee's face. She blinked back at him owlishly, a variety of emotions dancing in the depths of her eyes as he pressed the tips of his fingers against her skull. _"I can only telepathically send you the basics of mind blocking as well as set a barrier that will prevent your emotions from activating your powers. However the barrier will not hold for very long, three days at most and it is up to you whether or not to practice mind blocking on your own. Use this time wisely to think everything through. I am not here to judge you, nor am I here to persuade you to actively pursue a double life like Daniel. In fact, I would rather discourage you from doing so."_

"_What you decide is by your own will. Do not let others sway your decision; pressuring you to do what they believe should be done with these powers. You are your own person and you decide your own fate. Daniel might have taken matters into his own hands to prevent a terrible fate from being bestowed on you and you will have to live with what he has done. But remember that you are not alone; he too is living and bearing __with the responsibility that come with his decisions. You might not be able to face him now, but you will be able to eventually."_

A comfortable silence settled between them as J'onn imprinted the mind blocking information and worked on setting up a barrier that separated her emotions from her powers. Her eyes closed, her breathing calm and regular, as if she had found a delightful moment of peace as J'onn worked silently. When he was done, her eyes flew open as he withdrew his hands and found Batman looming at the door behind J'onn.

"Are you finished J'onn?"

"Yes. It will take her some time to completely adjust but I have no doubt that she will be able to make a full recovery just as before. She is ready to return back to her home."

Lee wet her dry lips, feeling that the prospect of returning home not quite as reassuring as it would have felt. Undoubtedly, she was nervous. After everything that had been dished out to her the day before, she found none of the courage to simply ignore it by returning to her daily routine; this was neither something that was unavoidable nor something that could be easily dismissed at a wave of a hand.

And she knew her reaction had been nothing short of terrible. She could feel the lingering heat of the anger that had boiled in her chest when Casse had tried to glorify the uses of her newfound powers. The volcano of anger hadn't stopped there; it churned again and sent another shockwave of anger coursing through her body when Brad tried reasoning to her in her already unstable mental state.

The final eruption had been catastrophic, her mind unable to stand the sight of them trying to reason with her and roared for them to leave her alone. They hadn't understood, they believed that Danny's decision had been right just because she remained alive. They didn't take the time to consider how she would feel about having her life turned upside down and rattled to the very core. All that had mattered to them was her to be alive.

She wasn't ready to face them. Not now, not tomorrow, not any time soon.

"Miss Angeles." She blinked and looked up at Batman's gruff call, having not realized that her chin had dropped down to her chest and her gaze had been focusing intently at her visible hands. "Your father left you some clothes in the drawer to your left before we chased him back down to Earth. You'd better go and change, I'll be bringing back home."

"Oh." Lee internally winced at just how blank her voice sounded but couldn't help but let her next words fly from her mouth in equal blankness. "Thank you."

Once the two men had left to give her some privacy, Lee easily slipped out of the hospital gown and into her regular clothes. She didn't bother with tying her sideburns into braids or her sweater over her hips, choosing to just hold the sweater in her hands instead. She stuffed her accessories, including her choker, into her pocket, her mind set on conjuring ways of how to avoid her siblings when she would return as she idly folded the hospital gown into a neat square.

The trip back was dull and silent, Lee too absorbed into her thoughts to make any kind of conversation or to make the observation of Batman's seemingly protective watch over her. But she had noticed that the Dark Knight had chosen to bring her back to Earth using the Javelins and not by the transporters, though she didn't give it too much thought.

When they did reach Amity Park, Lee had found herself hesitating in opening the door to her home having checked the local time on the Javelin's console. School had ended and she didn't know if they, being her siblings and friends, were congregating in her home. But she could also feel Batman's gaze trained intently on her back, as if silently questioning her for a reason behind her hesitation. He wasn't leaving until he was sure that she was back in her home properly. She shook her body slightly in an attempt to dispel some of the nervousness, inserted her key and unlocked the door before pushing it open.

The first thing she saw was an array of different shoes by the door and her spirits deflated the instant she heard the choruses of familiar voices from the dining room. Quietly she slipped off her boots and tried to close the door without a sound (Batman had vanished the instant she stepped a foot through the door), but alas luck was not on her side.

"Daddy, are you home early?" Panic overruled the mask of calmness at the call, hearing light footsteps getting closer to her from the other room. No longer finding the need to keep silent, Lee tossed her boots to the side, slammed the front door shut and escaped up the stairs in a flurry of pounding footsteps, ignoring her siblings' and friends' shouts for her. She wretched her door open and slammed it shut, locking it just as another stampede of footsteps raced up the stairs.

"Fairy?" She flinched at her brother's hoarse call, throwing her light blue sweater at her chair and fished her choker out of her pocket, putting on her bedside table. She flopped onto her bed and dove under the covers, praying that they would leave her alone. Again, she had no such luck when one of them rattled her doorknob and started pounding the door while Brad continued to call for her. "Come on, open the door. We need to talk. Lee!"

Lee clamped her mouth shut and reached out for her pillow from under the sheets, stuffing her head underneath it to shut out the noise once she had gotten a hold of the soft object. It only worked to the point that it muffled their voices, but didn't completely shut them out. She could still hear them from beyond her door.

"It must be really bad if she's gone that far to lock her door. Maybe we should give her some time alone…"

"But we won't know what she'll do in that time Tucker! Danny you can go in; you can use your intangibility can't you?"

"You want me to invade her privacy? No way. I'm just as worried about her as you are Casse but I'm not going to barge in on her if she needs time to herself."

"Look you guys." Jazz's voice rose above the rest and quelled their bickering. "Arguing is going to get us nowhere but it does look like she needs some time to think about this."

"It's been almost twenty-four hours!" Casse protested loudly. "That's already plenty enough time for her to think especially since you shoved us out of her room yesterday."

"If you wanted to stay in the room with an angry hybrid who doesn't have complete control over her powers and will be prone to unleashing her power unwittingly at anyone, be my guest!" The older teen snapped back harshly. Lee could imagine Jazz folding her arms across her chest and glaring at her sister. "Not everyone is as excitable like you in having their lives turned upside down with an addition to an array of abilities that they have to control. Think about her for once, stop thinking about yourself!"

"I am thinking about her!" Lee winced at the high pitched shriek her sister had emitted and buried her head deeper beneath the pillow, grabbing another to pound over her head. Even with the additional pillow, she could hear Jazz's snort from beyond the door and almost flinched at the older teen's next harsh words; words that Lee never had the courage to articulate and shove in Casse's face.

"Could have fooled me. You don't realize that all you've been doing is hurting her; you whine, you pout and you throw tantrums when you don't get what you want. You're spoilt, a complete and utter spoilt brat who doesn't give a shit for her siblings' feelings and is living in her own fantasy world and not looking into reality. Wake up; you may think that powers are cool and makes you special but I'll bet you don't realize that there are consequences that come with those powers."

"Grow up Casse. Stop hurting Lee. Stop hurting Brad. For Christ sake, stop hurting your _dad_. Stop being a whiney spoilt brat who goes around doing whatever she damn wants because she thinks she can get away with it." A tensed silence followed and Lee cautiously pulled the pillows upwards, knowing that none of them had moved or she would have been able to hear the footsteps. "I'm going home. Danny, call me if you're not coming home for dinner. I'll cover you."

Soft footsteps padded across the wooden floor and a few harsh stamps rattled along with it.

"I'm not –"

"That's enough Casse." Whatever Casse had wanted to shout out was cut off by Brad's quiet command. Lee tugged one of the pillows from above her head and drew it to her body, wrapping her arms around the soft object tightly and didn't bother with trying to block out the voices anymore. "Danny? Could… could you just poke your head in and make sure she's ok? Just at least you know…"

She closed her eyes and turned her body to face away from the door when she heard the soft sigh. "Fine. Only because you asked and it'll probably put you at ease a little knowing she's ok."

"Thanks bro."

She stayed still and kept her breathing steady, the blankets covering her body were up to her elbow, the pillow still settled over her face and her eyes closed. For a moment there was blissful silence but she almost jumped when she felt the pillow lift off her head and a cold hand slipping under her cheek that was resting against the mattress. She suppressed the shivers that threatened to run down her spine at the hand's cold touch on her cheek. Lee continued to feign sleep as she felt the hand lift her head up and the pillow was slipped underneath before the hand gently laid her head back down.

The blankets were tugged at before they were pulled up to her neck, tucking her neatly into bed and the cold hand brushed her tussled hair away from her face, the tips of the fingers brushing lightly against her forehead. The hand withdrew after a moment and soon she heard them talking from beyond her bedroom door again.

"You went in! Why didn't you just open the door from inside and –"

"Shh!" Casse was cut off again but this time by Danny. "She's sleeping Casse. She had her head stuffed under her pillow so I'm guessing that she fell asleep half-way during our…debating here. And the only reason why I went in instead of just sticking my head in was to tuck her in properly. Give it a rest will you?"

"I still don't see why you couldn't at least unlock the door."

"Oh come on." She could hear Tucker scoff lightly as he shot back at her. "That's like giving you an open invitation to barge into her room and hound her when she least expects it and isn't ready to face everything yet. Why can't you be patient for once?"

"So what's wrong with wanting to put everything straight now?" Casse retorted and Lee could almost see her fuming at the three boys with her fists clenched and arms stuck firmly at her sides.

"Because everyone needs some goddamn time to themselves." Lee's eyes cracked open and stared at the closed window of her room. Brad's harsh and cracked voice wavered slightly as he chastised their sister. "Everything takes time Casse, not everyone can be so understanding and accepting of having a bomb drop in on them at the drop of a hat."

"Hey Tuck, Danny, wanna get out and grab something at the Nasty Burger? I can't cook to save my life and I'd rather keep the house intact when dad gets back from work."

"So what, the invite is a boy exclusive thing?" Her eyes squeezed shut again, already feeling the vibes of an imminent explosion.

"Because we all need some fucking time-out Casse!" He choked and coughed violently when he raised his voice into a yell and Lee could hear someone thumping her brother's back hard. Brad's breathing sounded like a strange wheeze as he snapped at their sister again. "You need time-out to pull your head out of your ass and I need time-out because I'm fucking sick and tired of everything right now!"

Silence reigned and was followed by the stomping of feet rattling the floor then a loud slam of a door rebounded against the walls and slipped into her room from underneath her bedroom door. A few incoherent curses and a few more words were exchanged between the boys before they padded softly across the floor.

Lee fisted the cover of the pillow in her arms, letting the painful silence lull her into a fitful sleep.

'_Why can't __life just go back to how it was before?'_

_

* * *

  
_

Danny sighed and rubbed his temples, unable to concentrate on the in-class assignment Lancer had given them to do; everything was falling apart. The confrontation the day before left a tense gap between Brad, Casse and Jazz, and he and Tucker were stuck in the middle of it. They were all still avoiding Sam in school and Lee was still refusing to show herself. Brad had told him earlier before class started that she had left her room, but it was before anyone else had woken up. She left them breakfast and was back locked up in her room when their alarms went off.

Everything was just so tense now, nothing he did was enough to ease that horrible pressure that was building in his chest; a pressure that was almost making it difficult for him to breathe. The night patrol had been pretty sedate, the only major occurrence being Skulker still being set on continually hunting Danny so that he could put his pelt at the foot of his bed.

His pen scratched the surface of his paper again as he tried to concentrate on his work again. Sam had been slipping notes onto his table throughout class but he shoved the folded pieces of paper to the far corner of his desk without bothering to open them up to read. Despite this, Sam was undeterred and continued to slip the notes onto his table until he grabbed the whole pile of them, stomped to the front of the class and dumped them all into the wastepaper basket before returning to his seat.

He watched her deflate from the corner of his eye, but she continued to persist in getting him to pay attention to her. Again, he continued the cycle by shoving the neatly folded pieces of paper to the side of his table.

Danny tapped his pen on the table impatiently, eager for the bell to ring so that he could escape from school. It felt suffocating, stuck between the masses of people that kept on closing in on him and while it was a normal day to day thing, his mind was feeling trapped and in turn made his body feel the same when he was surrounded by the masses.

He looked down at his paper again, noticing that he had filled in less than a quarter of the entire sheet and a majority of them were wrong answers. He glared at his paper before finding some correction fluid, skimming the tip of the stationery across the paper and whited out his entire paper. Danny grumbled softly under his breath; he was going to need Tucker to help him through another piece of work again.

The bell rang and a wave of relief washed over Danny's body. The entire class had gone packing their belonging as Lancer raised his voice above the noise to remind them to hand in their work the next day. As he stuffed his books into his bag, he felt a dainty finger tap his shoulder and ignored it, knowing exactly who it was trying to catch his attention.

"Hey bro!" He looked up and let his eyes slide away from the indignant Sam and settled on Brad who was still at his desk, throwing the blonde a raised eyebrow. "My place later and take-out?"

"Chinese?"

"Whatever you guys want."

"I'm in!" Tucker cheered out, sticking his tongue out at Brad who had given him a mocking look of 'who asked you'. "I know a good Chinese take-out we can order from when doing work."

"Listen to Tuck Brad, he's got very good taste in picking food." Brad rolled his eyes and slung his backpack over his shoulder. Casse had already left the classroom while Sam was gritting her teeth as she stood firmly in front of Danny's table, the other teen blatantly ignored her presence by simply returning to packing his back without so much as giving her a glance. "I'm game too."

"You two can repay me for my tutoring services by paying for the food." Tucker joked lightly, bumping shoulders with Brad at the classroom door as Danny stood from his table. He easily sidestepped Sam and made his way to the door when Sam grabbed a hold of his arm.

"Hold it! I want to talk to you Danny."

"We've had enough talk." He responded stonily, wrenching his arm from her grasp. "Don't think everything becomes peachy and forgotten after a few days. If you think I'm not one to hold a grudge, well you obviously don't know me very well."

"I just want to talk to you!" The Goth shouted angrily, unused to being talked back to by the usually soft spoken Danny. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to talk with my best friend!"

"'Best friend'?" The temperature in the room seemed to drop drastically at his incredulous repeat of her words as he whirled around and glared icily at Sam, his next words harsh and unrelenting. "You forsook that title when you wished harm on my friends, harm that almost killed one of them. My best friends are standing at the door waiting for me; you're not at the door right now are you?"

He turned his back and walked towards Brad and Tucker, both boys having watched the exchange silently. When he reached them, Danny turned to face Sam who was rooted to the spot, staring at him incredulously. "You're no best friend of mine and stop dumping notes on my table during class, it's bloody annoying."

Danny never looked back again, leading Brad and Tucker out of the classroom and out to the courtyard. A part of him felt guilty for lashing out at Sam like that but that small part was squashed by the majority of his feelings that cheered for the outburst against her. The boys made small talk as they trooped over to the Angeles house, but the main topic that dominated the conversation was Casse.

The hybrid shivered lightly, Casse had reacted very badly to Jazz's harsh words and would have been very vocal about it if Brad hadn't stopped her. But Danny could see why Brad had called for the time-out; the middle triplet had been shaken because he and Lee had never let Casse know when she'd hurt them, or how badly she had hurt them and had agreed with everything that Jazz had said about his younger sister.

Because of that silent agreement, Brad couldn't help but need some space to think without having her bug him and have some unbiased views on the topic. Casse had, unfortunately, taken it as a bad sign and threw a tantrum because of it. It had eventually led to Brad blowing up in her face and left a sour taste lingering in everyone's mouths for the rest of the day.

Casse had avoided all of them in school and Danny had made internal sighs whenever he caught sight of her puffed up cheeks and angry pouts. A part of him wished that she would step out of her comfortable fantasy world and wake up to reality to see just how badly she was hurting her siblings. Though, he thought, it was partially Lee and Brad's faults for giving in to her to almost everything she wanted but it didn't excuse the fact that she had knowingly used them for her benefits.

He'd hate to see another confrontation like the time Lee had completely lost her temper at Casse for purposely bringing cats into their house.

The boys exchanged wary glances at each other when their ears met with soft clatters that came from the kitchen when they stepped into the house. Slowly and quietly, they made their way to the dining room/living room and froze when they saw Lee emerging from the kitchen at the other end of the room. She too froze on the spot when she caught sight of them and resembled a deer caught in headlights before she quickly turned her heel and scurried back into the kitchen.

An awkward silence settled between them as they blinked at each other owlishly.

"Um…"

"I'll go and uh… try to talk to her."

"…Good luck bro. Come on Tuck, let's scram to my room."

Tucker gave his shoulder a reassuring pat before he fled out of the room behind Brad. Danny eyed the door for a moment with a raised eyebrow; he had the feeling that they weren't truly going to disappear into Brad's room. He dropped his bag on the dining table and quietly made his way to the kitchen. He didn't immediately barge in, he leaned against the frame of the door, his head tilting and resting on the frame as he observed her silently.

He noticed that she was cooking, curry to be more precise. The smell was making him hungry and he realized that there were microwavable containers packed neatly with rice sitting beside the large pot. Danny deduced that despite Lee's need to avoid everyone, she was still continuing her regular responsibilities of feeding the family.

Danny continued to watch her carefully, noting everything that she did and couldn't help but start speaking.

"You know… you're doing a whole lot better than I did when I first got my powers." He winced when she jumped slightly at his gentle whisper but she didn't turn to face him, her hand still holding the ladle and stirring the liquid almost absentmindedly. "I kept on falling through the floor, certain limbs disappeared and going through soda machines when I wasn't looking at where I was walking. It's… kind of amazing."

He bit his lip when she didn't reply; her gaze fixed at the bubbling brown as her hand mechanically stirred the contents of the pot. Danny started to wonder if it had been a bad idea to approach her now, especially since she had given an indication the day before that she wasn't ready to face any of them any time soon. He pushed off from the door frame, watching her for another moment and turned to leave when her voice caught in his ears.

"J'onn set up a barrier that cut the link between the powers and my emotions." He stopped and turned around again. She hadn't moved from her position, nor did her gaze from where it was staring at. "I'm not doing anything amazing."

Another silence settled between them and Danny returned to leaning against the frame of the door. His nose wrinkled a little, the smell of the food becoming increasingly enticing with each whiff and struggled to make sure his stomach didn't growl in the middle of this important conversation.

"How long will the barrier hold?"

A pause. "Three days at most."

"I can help teach you how to control your powers, I mean, as much as I can that is because I'm no expert on them either."

Another pause.

"Um…" Danny wrecked his brains to find the appropriate words to continue, his eyes squeezed shut with the tip of his tongue peeking out from the side of his mouth as he concentrated. He didn't notice Lee eye him curiously from the corner of her eye, the edge of her lips tugged into a half smile before it dropped back to the neutral thin line.

"Wh… What I also wanted to tell you is that you don't have to use the powers. You don't have to become a superhero if you don't want to." He strung all of his words in one string and babbled them all. He fumbled with his fingers, his gaze trained on the tiled floor and his cheeks tinting a light pink. "You're not obligated to do anything with them or have any obligation to me for that matter. All… All I wanted to do was to make sure of was that you were safe and alive, and I'm sorry that I chose how your life was going to go and –"

"…Danny, you're babbling." He closed his mouth and brought his head up; she was still standing in the same position as when they first started talking, but she had finally turned her head to look straight at him. Just when he was about to open his mouth again to speak again, his stomach chose that same moment to emit a loud growl.

His cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red, his body jerked away from the frame of the door and his arm wrapped around his stomach in embarrassment. He could see a sparks of surprise and amusement in her eyes and heard a few groans and grumbles coming from behind him. Danny's entire face boiled a bright red when he realized that his earlier feeling had been right; Brad and Tucker had *not* gone to hide in Brad's room.

They were spying on them from the dining room door and were stage whispering on purpose, as if they were deliberately giving away their position from the dining room door.

"Dude, this has got to be the worst timing for him to get hungry."

"And I thought I was bad when it came to sniffing out Lee's cooking. But at least they were talking."

"You guys should make permanent residence here and pay for rent and food if you love her cooking so much."

"Don't you think it'd be better if you just gave Lee to us?"

"…Dude, go find your own sister and don't steal mine!"

"Oh my god." Danny moaned and buried his reddened face into his hands in embarrassment. Brad and Tucker's bickering stopped when a feminine laugh ripped through the air. Danny brought his head out of his hands and watched Lee in wonderment. The ladle was sitting in the bubbling curry, her right hand hovering over her mouth and her left arm wrapped around her stomach as she laughed. Tears were leaking from the side of her closed eyes.

"Awesome work Tuck, we got her to laugh."

"Either it was us or it's because Danny is showing an uncanny resemblance to a beetroot." Danny started and turned around to face the grinning duo whom had suddenly appeared at his back, his foot stamping on the ground once in indignation.

"I do NOT resemble a beetroot!"

"Danny oh best friend since forever of mine, your face tells us otherwise."

Just as Danny was about to protest, his teeth chattered slightly and a visible wisp of blue air escaped his lips. The boys flinched at the sight of the blue air while Lee stopped laughing and eyed them warily having seen the wisp escape from Danny's mouth. Danny saw no point in hiding the wisp from her and quickly spun around to explain it to her. He blinked when he saw her use her free hand to fan her face lightly, as if the temperature of the room had risen and was making her uncomfortable. But he brushed it off and started explaining.

"Um, that's almost like a kind of warning that a ghost is nearby. Don't ask why it happens, I don't know why it does either." She nodded in understanding, wiping her brow with her forearm as Danny spun around again and nodded to Brad and Tucker. "I'll go check out which ghost it is. Hopefully it won't take too long."

He paused and slowly turned back to Lee again. "You… won't start avoiding us again will you? I mean, I understand if you still need some time and all and –"

"Danny." She sighed and turned back to the pot, wincing as she grabbed the heated ladle and stirred the contents. He detected a tone of defeat in her voice as she stared at the pot and continued speaking. "As much as I want to continue hiding out in my room hoping that this is all a dream, I have to face the fact that I'm not normal anymore."

"I don't think we've ever been normal Fairy." She rested a hand on her hip and glared at Brad who simply shrugged. She sighed again and pushed the vegetables deeper into the pot with the ladle.

"The point is, I'll… try to stop avoiding you and let you explain everything else. Just… don't keep anymore stuff from me."

"Can I be really anti-climatic and use a Yoda statement?" Tucker received two smacks at the back of his head courtesy of Danny and Brad, both boys chorusing 'no' at the same time. "Meanies."

Danny shook his head in amusement before focusing on transforming. The ring of light appeared from his waist and split into two ways, one travelling up and the other travelling downwards. He could feel her eyes watching him closely as he fully transformed and opened his bright glowing green eyes to meet her curious red. He tilted his head in confusion when he saw that her eyes were looking at him up and down before he realized what had made her so interested in his clothes.

His uniform had gotten a make-over and the inclusion of a dashing DP insignia on his chest, but the color scheme of black and white remained the same. It was a surprisingly pleasant change from the one piece hazmat suit; at least he had more articles of clothing on though he thought he had acquired a feminine look because of the black top that exposed his shoulders. It was a good thing that he was wearing a white one piece spandex suit underneath that covered his entire body from his neck down to his feet.

"…Nice uniform change."

"Thanks, but I think that should be directed to Zeraphina." He grinned lightly, jumping up and hovered above the floor. Tucker had shifted over to his bag and dug out the Thermos. Danny caught the Thermos deftly and attached it to the belt. "The uniform got changed since… you know, since she infused the copy of my powers into you."

"I'll be right back." He gave them a two fingered salute, flew through the dining room window and up into the sky to find out which ghost had escaped the Ghost Zone. It didn't take him too long find the said ghost; the Lunch Lady was floating aimlessly above the houses with a cross looking expression on her face.

Danny raised a brow at the sight of her. She didn't look as if she was about to cause any trouble but Danny didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth and approached her cautiously.

"Lunch Lady?"

"Hum?" A look of surprise overturned the cross look that had been on her face as she turned to face him. "Oh hello dear."

"Is… there something wrong?" His body was tense, ready for any surprise attack she might inflict with the knowledge of her ability to change her emotions at the drop of a hat. A nice smiling and pleasant lady that could turn into a monstrous angry glob of meat if school lunch menus were changed. "You look kind of angry."

"Oh?" She blinked at him before it dawned to her and waved her hand to dismiss it. "Ah, I was just trying to look for Boxie. He's gone missing again and I swear I've told him many times not to go running off without telling me. I can't continue on like this in my condition."

"Boxie? Condition?" Danny blinked, the tension in his muscles having relaxed slightly though he still kept his body alert just in case. It took a while before he realized who she meant by 'Boxie' but still couldn't figure out what she meant by 'condition'. "You mean Box Ghost? I'm not surprised if he's flying around somewhere trying to terrorize humans with death by boxes, but what do you mean in your condition? Is there something wrong?"

"Oh heavens no! Nothing life threatening, don't you worry dear." Lunch Lady laughed at his worried look and reached out to pat his shoulder reassuringly. He raised a brow at her as she chuckled. "You might not know since you don't quite live in the Ghost Realm. Not everyone was pleased to know when the news spread that I'm carrying Boxie's offspring."

Silence enveloped them and it took a few moments for the information to compute in Danny's brain. The instant it did, his eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open in shock, the little memory of Box Lunch having infiltrated his thoughts when he realized that Lunch Lady was actually _pregnant_.

"Oh… wow." He could hear Lunch Lady laughing at him but the shock was still running haywire through his system so he couldn't care less. "Um… Congratulations? Though I can't say I'm all that… elated at the prospect of having a smaller hyper version of Box Ghost running around soon."

"Trust me, not even I am looking forward to that." The older ghost snorted, an amused smile tugged on her lips. "But thank you dear. In about a month or so I won't be able to come out of the Ghost Realm to come looking for Boxie if he continues running off like this. Nicolai has been lecturing him on his responsibilities as the father of my child."

"Ah. I see. He really does need to stop that and look after you. Though I have to ask," He eyed her curiously as he folded his legs into a lotus position in the air. "What do you see in him? I mean, I know a lot of the other ghosts regard him as a pest and all, so do I for that matter, but…"

"Don't worry dear, I used to think the same about him." Lunch Lady settled in a sitting position, resting her hands on her lap. "But that started to change when he started courting me. Of course he went about it in the wrong manner in the beginning and only made me angry."

"Then he called me beautiful." She sighed and Danny raised a brow at this, letting his attention focus on Lunch Lady as a wistful expression crossed her face. "I was quite skeptic at first. Me? Beautiful? Heavens no. If it were Ember McLain, Penelope Spectra or even that sweet girl Kitty, it would be understandable. But me? Old, fat and ugly Lunch Lady beautiful? I thought he was blind."

"He became rather poetic after that." Danny snickered at the mental image of the Box Ghost waxing poetic poetry to the slightly aghast and blushing Lunch Lady in a very bad imitation of a French accent with a little red beret nestled in his hair and a rose pressed between his lips. "He said that beauty is to the eye of the beholder and to him, I was beautiful. That was just about the only intelligent thing he's ever said in his entire time of existence as the Box Ghost anyway."

"So I gave him a chance and realized that he can be quite the romantic… if given enough ideas." Lunch Lady exchanged wide grins with Danny. "Haven't gotten rid of him since and I'm quite happy to be honest. My only complaint for now is that he hasn't been able to stop his habit of running into the Real Realm to 'terrorize' humans."

"It's going to sound a little mean, but why not put a leash on him?" He blinked when Lunch Lady looked like she was seriously contemplating the idea. "Uh, I didn't really mean that you should though."

"But it would definitely be easier to keep him in the Ghost Realm." She chirped, her eyes gleaming a little evilly. Danny shivered a little, mentally apologizing to the Box Ghost that he just gave his pregnant girlfriend a particularly evil idea on how to keep him in one place. "Maybe I should get Nicolai to stick a tracker on him as well. Boxie needs a good kick in the pants to get into the right direction for most times."

"Speak of the devil." Danny felt another blue wisp of air escape his lips and turned his head about, catching sight of the aforementioned ghost gleefully shouting 'BEWARE!' around the streets below them. "There he is."

"And so he is." She smiled at Danny and got up from her sitting position in the air. "Thank you for the company dear. I'll be taking him home for a good wallop and I just might use your idea in keeping him in place."

"If he ever asks, I had nothing to do with it." They hybrid groaned, pointing his index finger at her in mock seriousness. "It was nice talking to you though, without having to fight the big meat monster."

"It's like a trigger dear." She sighed woefully and shrugged. "I can't help it sometimes. Certain things that happen or are said trigger the strong malevolence in some of us and negative emotions like fear and hatred only feed the malevolence. Not all of us enjoy being so hateful or making humans suffer."

"Take care of yourself dear." Lunch Lady smiled and ruffled his hair gently before descending down to the ground with her hands resting on her hips. "BOXIE!"

"Oh he is so screwed." Danny chuckled out loud, watching in amusement as Lunch Lady grabbed a hold of Box Ghost by the ear and began to drag the whining stout and pudgy ghost away. No doubt to Fenton Works to use the Fenton Portal to get back to the Ghost Realm.

Danny felt strangely enlightened after the talk. Who knew that he could hold such a decent conversation with the Lunch Lady? He immersed himself in his thoughts as he quietly flew back to the Angeles house, phasing through the walls and into the dining room while invisible.

His nose was immediately invaded with the sweet scent of curry and fragrant rice, his mouth almost watering as he snapped out of his thoughts and looked through the room. He huffed indignantly when he realized that Tucker and Brad were both happily digging in to the food while Lee was watching them in amusement from her seat on the table.

But he had been particularly aghast when Tucker raised his polished plate and gave Lee wide pleading eyes with a wide grin playing on his lips. "Another serving please?"

"Tucker at the rate you're eating, I'm going to have to cook another pot for dinner!" The blonde girl sighed in exasperation but nevertheless took the plate and shuffled into the kitchen. Brad rolled his eyes at Tucker's gleeful grin and pointed his spoon at the other boy.

"We have to start charging you pretty soon – that's going to be like your what, fourth plate?"

"Tucker's on his fourth plate already?!" Danny switched off his invisibility and stared at his best friend incredulously. Brad and Tucker jumped slightly at his sudden reappearance but recovered quickly enough as Lee emerged from the kitchen with Tucker's refilled plate.

"There bouts." She muttered, slipping the plate in front of the exceptionally gleeful teen who cheered out thanks to her before attacking the plate again. Danny's stomach released a growl as he stared at his best friend gorging himself on the food. "I managed to save some for you if you want."

"Yes please?" Danny dove to the table, transforming back into his human form and settled on the chair next to Brad as Lee disappeared back into the kitchen. Even while he was enjoying his food, Tucker began the conversation with the much anticipated question.

"So, which ghost was it this time round?"

"Lunch Lady and Box Ghost." He responded easily, quickly thanking Lee when she slipped the filled plate in front of him and happily quelled the growling of his hungry stomach with a few mouths full of curry and rice. Lee quietly settled back onto the chair beside Tucker and sipped her glass of water while paying attention to Danny. "No biggie actually. Lunch Lady was just looking for Box Ghost and we didn't even fight – just talked a little before Box Ghost coincidentally came flying below us screaming 'Beware' when we were almost finished talking."

"You managed to hold a decent conversation with the Lunch Lady?" Danny shrugged at the two incredulous looks and the raised eyebrow that was sent his way as he shoved another spoonful of food into his mouth. "Please do enlighten us oh great one, what did you two talk about?"

"Eh…" He paused and eyed them all warily. He swallowed his mouthful of food and looked at each of them seriously. "It's probably not a good idea for me to tell you while we're eating but… Lunch Lady's pregnant with Box Ghost's kid."

Tucker immediately began choking on his food and Lee smacked his back repeatedly in alarm. Brad's face had drained of color as he stared at Danny incredulously.

"No. Fucking. Way." Danny shook his head and continued to look at him with complete seriousness. "Box Lunch is really going to exist?"

"Apparently yes, she is going to exist in a few months time." With that, Danny took another spoonful of curry and munch happily on it for a moment before continuing to speak. "Hey, I was just as shocked when she told me about it. You think the memories of a miniature and twice as hyper version of the Box Ghost running around on the loose didn't cross my mind? Besides, Lunch Lady wasn't too thrilled at the thought of it either."

"Wait a minute." Danny blinked and turned to look at Lee who tilted her head in confusion. "Ghosts can have babies?"

"Yep. Think of ghosts like… meta-humans. Or maybe even like aliens like some of the Justice League members." He grinned when he saw her wrinkle her nose in slight disgust. Well he was essentially telling her to think of themselves, as hybrids of humans and ghosts, like meta-humans and aliens. "Ghosts aren't spirits of dead people if that's what you were thinking. They still need food, drink, sleep and the usual stuff that we as humans have to do to survive. Sure they've got a longer life span, but essentially they aren't any different from us."

The three plates were polished and Tucker had released a burp of satisfaction, much to Lee's disgust. He gave her a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

"So." Brad grabbed the plates and cutlery before Lee could and scooted to the kitchen to clean up. The girl sighed and turned to Danny. "What now?"

"Um…" Danny blinked and lowered his gaze, unsure of how to answer her. Luckily for him, Tucker supplied him with a suggestion.

"How about practicing controlling the powers? Nobody else comes to your place and it's still pretty early for your dad to come home." Tucker paused and turned to look at Lee before hastily adding, "That is, if you're willing to start practicing."

"I don't exactly have much of a choice now do I?" She sighed again and rested her chin on the palm of her hand, her elbow propped on top of the table. "That reminds me, where's Casse? She didn't come back home after school."

"Probably sulking somewhere." Brad responded from the kitchen over the sound of the open faucet. "She's not happy about yesterday."

"So I heard through the paper thin walls." Lee groused, sighing again. "First Sam, now Casse. I don't want to know what's going to happen after this."

"She'll understand in time." _'Hopefully'_ Danny mentally added as he got off the chair. "So, here or…?"

"My room."

Once everything had been cleared and cleaned, the four found themselves sitting on the floor of Lee's bedroom. Danny had initially noticed that her room looked a whole lot larger than Brad and Casse's rooms but realized that it was because her room was sparsely populated in comparison to their rooms. Her room was plain and tidy, lacking the shelves of stuffed toys that Casse's room had or the array of musical instruments that littered Brad's room.

"So, what's the first thing to practice?" Danny pondered her question for a moment, having difficulty in picking between intangibility and invisibility since those were the main two abilities that gave him the most trouble when he started out. As he pondered, Brad eyed his sister curiously before raising a suggestion.

"How about transforming?" His suggestion was met with raised eyebrows and he shrugged back at them in response. "What? I'm curious to know whether or not she ends up looking like Danny."

"That is a good point." Tucker conceded and tilted his head as he gazed at the girl sitting opposite from him. "I'm pretty curious about it myself but we're here to help her control the problematic abilities like intangibility and invisibility. Plus, we've already agreed that it's up to her if she wants start using her powers to help Danny. If she doesn't want to, there isn't a need for her to transform into an alter-ego."

While Tucker and Brad debated, Danny noticed Lee giving him a curious stare. "What is it?"

"How do you transform anyway?"

"Um… just think it I guess." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and shrugged at her raised eyebrow. "Ok, so I used to shout 'I'm going ghost' before we met you guys because it felt like a moment that in saying some 'magical' words out loud, it would trigger the transformation. Later on I just thought of transforming and didn't bother with the call anymore."

"I don't have to say that do I?" Danny laughed quietly at her slightly disgusted and semi-hopeful tone. Now that he come to think of it, it had been silly of him to think of 'magical' words to help him transform. It had seemed appropriate at that time but now he realized that it had probably been the fan boy side of him that wanted to mirror some of his comic heroes.

"No you don't." He chuckled. "Just… think 'go ghost'. Maybe it'll work. It's become… kind of normal for me to just think that and transform."

He watched her carefully as she contemplated, her eyes shifting over to Brad and Tucker who had stopped throwing ideas at each other and were watching her curiously. Tucker tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment before he turned to face Danny and whispered into his ear.

"Hey bro, do you think your powers might have evolved after the… well, copying and infusion of them into Lee? I mean, the uniform is one thing but the powers itself are a completely different matter."

"I haven't gone checking through all of them just yet and I'm frankly not about to unleash a Ghostly Wail to check if it has evolved because it causes *big* damage. We can check them another time."

Silence settled between them and Danny shifted his line of vision to Lee, whose eyes were closed and was taking deep breaths. Brad and Tucker were leaning forward, watching her intently before it happened.

A ring of light appeared at her waist and split into two rings of one traveling upwards and the other downwards, just like Danny's transformation. They watched in slight awe as the transformation completed and noted the changes in her appearance.

Her hair had turned pure white, just like Danny's but they hadn't been able to see the color of her eyes just yet, since they were still closed. Her skin had taken on a lighter shade in comparison to her pale human skin. Her uniform was a more feminine version of Danny's new uniform and the colors had been inverted; the sections of white of his uniform were black on hers and it was the same with the black sections that had become white. Her white shorts were much shorter than his knee length ones, her black boots riding up to her upper thigh and her white top sleeve sections were shorter than his that reached to his elbow.

What caught his attention was the black dashing 'A' insignia that was on her chest and frowned when he noticed that the bottom most 'dash' line was longer than the two 'dash' lines above it. He pondered about it for a moment before it clicked. The 'dash' lines were meant to resemble the inverted letter 'L', making the insignia read as 'LA' which was similar to his own 'DP' insignia where the 'D' was doubled in with the top section of the 'P'.

When she opened her eyes, he found himself thinking that if their uniforms weren't a clear enough distinction between the two of them, the colors of their eyes would be.

Her eyes weren't like his bright flashing green, instead it was a soft gentle yellow. Danny suddenly changed into his ghost form, finding it interesting to compare the differences of their ghost forms.

He raised his arm and placed it side by side against hers, noting that her body glowing a soft yellowish-white color while his was greenish-white. She was shifting uncomfortably at their proximity and Danny wisely drew away to give her some space.

"Wow." Brad breathed out softly as Lee carefully examined her gloved hands and peered down at her uniform. "You actually look really good Fairy. Almost… um… almost…"

"Angelic?" Tucker shrugged at the three raised eyebrows that were shot his way. "Well let's take a look at her uniform and energy glow. It's pretty obvious that she's almost meant to be the exact opposite of Danny with the color inversion and the yellow glow *does* look like some angelic aura surrounding her. Danny, I think Zeraphina was counting on you to make that wish to keep her alive."

"How so?"

"Hello?" Tucker waved his hand impatiently and pointed to the insignia on Lee's chest before his finger shifted over to the insignia on Danny's chest. "The insignias you suddenly have. 'DP' and 'LA'? And I'm not talking about the acronym for Los Angeles mind you. 'L' for 'Lee', just like how your 'D' in 'DP' stands for 'Danny' and the 'A' most likely stands for 'Angel'. 'Danny Phantom' and 'Lee Angel'. Can you see it now?"

The other three absorbed the information silently and Danny was starting to see what Tucker was talking about as he looked down at his chest and fingered his new insignia. Had Zeraphina really been expecting him to make that wish to save her? Sure he knew the Sorceress had a knowing smile but…

"This… seems a little too much for me to handle right now." Danny's head shot up at Lee's weak statement. She was staring at her hands and at the rest of her uniform in a mix of awe and horror. "How do I change back?"

"Through completely exhausting yourself to the point that you fall into a state of unconsciousness." Tucker responded seriously and Danny groaned lightly when Lee's head snapped up to stare at them, her eyes blazing in complete terror at Tucker's words.

"No! No, don't listen to him Lee." Danny threw his best friend a dirty look while Brad scowled and punched the beret wearing teen's arm. "Just think of going human. It'll probably help that you put the image of your human self in mind when doing so."

"Tucker, are you out to scare the shit out of her?" He hissed lowly as Lee squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated. Tucker returned the earlier dirty look before turning serious.

"No, but it's a fact." Danny could see Tucker and Brad glance at Lee from the corner of their eyes as her transformation back to human commenced. "Face it, most times that you turn back to human is when you're completely exhausted other than the times when you were forced to turn back to human to hide. We might not know if that has been affected with this turn of events but we also need to make sure she knows that it could very well happen to her if it comes to it."

"But did you really have to say it in that way?"

"I said it that way because it's serious! Come on, Danny had this tendency to suddenly change back to human when he got exhausted and we were lucky that there hadn't been any bystanders around to witness his transformation. If that happens now, we might not be so lucky."

"Ok, ok. I see your point." Danny sighed and raised his hands in defeat, noticing that Lee was now back to her human form. Her eyes were squeezed shut tightly and her face was scrunched up with fear. He swiftly returned to his human form and spoke to her gently. "Lee, it's ok. You're back to human now."

Slowly, her eyes cracked opened, her hands snaking up to her forearms and began rubbing her skin vigorously through the sleeves of her shirt as she checked over her body.

"C… Can we continue another time?" Danny realized that Lee was trembling, obviously a little shaken up but he was unsure of the reason why. "I… uh… need a little time to absorb this."

"Sure. Take your time." He reached out and patted her shoulder gently before giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Just remember that we're here to help you ok? We can continue when you feel like it. Though I think we're going to have to tell Casse about the sessions or she'll be throwing another tantrum. That's probably the last thing we all want to happen and hopefully we'll try to make things easier for you."

"…Thanks." Danny gave her an encouraging smile before turning to Brad and Tucker, nodding to the both of them.

"Ok. We'll leave you alone, but we'll be downstairs doing homework. Lancer said that since you weren't in class he'll give you a different one to work on when you come back to school."

"Ok."

The boys got up from the floor and quietly left the room. Once Danny had shut the door, they stood outside Lee's bedroom for a moment, staring at the door.

"Think she'll be ok?" Danny turned to face Brad and Tucker, his lips curved into a knowing smile and nodded firmly.

"Definitely."

* * *

**Authoress's Ending Notes:**

1) I like to see things in a more realistic light and there are quite a number of fanfics with OCs that I've read who are quickly acceptive of their powers and go on this big fat journey of becoming a hero and what not. I actually find that it's *rare* to find a fanfic where a character is completely mortified and unaccepting of the powers, and not want to become a hero just because they've got these l33t powers and can do 'greater good'. To be very honest, my character is actually going to take a long time in becoming fully acceptive of the powers.  
2) Yes, Box Lunch is going to come into existence. The Ghost Realm better be baby proof-ed. XD  
3) Thank you **Enchanting Elf**, **Ambiance23**, **RHK**, **Kradeiz** and **crimsonshrouds** for reviewing the previous chapter =3  
4) **Ambiance23**: I take the time to read every single review I get ^^. If you guys can take the time to drop me a review, I definitely should be able to make time to give you a reply! (How I reply would vary since for signed reviews I'm able to give those reviewers a reply through the 'reply review' function while for anon reviewers who don't give an email, I have to usually reply through my ending authoress notes in the next chapter) I'm glad you're enjoying the fic :) I really hope that I'll continue to be able to hook you into the story in future chapters. I'm a bit of an angst and dramatic person, so there's usually plenty of that oozing in the story XD  
5) **RHK**: ^^; Ah. Uhm. Silver. Right. Silver is something already taken by Chrissy-Kouhai's character Carrie Angel if I'm not wrong. Besides, I think that colors like Silver and Gold are overrated. I wanted to keep her plain but have a distinct difference between her and Danny :) Thanks for reviewing!  
6) **For anyone who's been keeping tabs on my DA and have been wondering about pairings in the fic**: The pairings are kept **ambiguous** and are open for you to just pick the pairing of your liking and let your imagination flow to how they would begin their relationship and all. There are no set pairings in the fanfic for now and please don't worry about yaoi/yuri in the fanfic, the commission I ordered on DA was just a fetish I needed fed because I could *totally* see it happen and allowed that tiny fangirl side of me to reign and squee.  
7) Thank you to the folks who have placed this story under their favourites list and me on your author alert list =3  
8) **berrycherry9** on DA has made two fanarts of the story ^^ Do check out her awesome renditions of Sam as the Spider Queen Pupper and Shadow!  
**http: / / berrycherry9. deviantart. com/ art/ Spider-Queen-Puppet-Sam-120372631  
http: / / berrycherry9. deviantart. com/ art/ Shadow-Phantom-121695665  
**9) Just one missing ref sheet of Brad and my more 'polished' version of the 10 characters in the fic :3  
**http: / / evahn. deviantart. com / art/ C-Kenzeryuu-3-119411020  
http: / / kenzeryuu. deviantart. com / art/ DP-Characters-AT-Remake-121290916**  
10) Thank you for reading! Please drop a review if you have the chance :)

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	17. Fall to Pieces

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress's Beginning Notes: Blah. I was conflicted between introducing more of the canon DP characters or keeping them on for later. I did like, five different kinds of plots before sticking to this one. I thought I'd be able to finish this in time on the 30th of May since that marks the fic's first birthday~ ^^ Yep, it's been one year since I started writing and posting Phantom & Angel and I'm really pleased. Uh, just alot more plot twists though there's barely any fighting in here D: forgive me. Thanks for your patience and please enjoy the chapter :)

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**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 14: **

**Fall to Pieces**

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"Excellent." Plasmius smirked as the scene of Danny slamming the door in Sam's face played on his computer screen. The girl's shoulders had slumped but straightened after a moment and proceeded to bang on the door again. After a while, she had given up and stalked away from Fenton Works with an expression mixed with hurt and anger splayed over her face.

His plan had gone on flawlessly. Now there was a rift in Daniel's friendships and soon he would grow wary of each and every one of them. It was only a matter of time that he would come to realize that he, Plasmius, was the only one who would be able to understand him. All that was left was to continually bait the little badger, dissolve his relationship with his other four friends before the younger hybrid would come running to him.

Yes. That was the scenario – The perfect scenario that he had envisioned when he first cooked up the plan. Baiting, waiting and a whole lot of patience. In his mind he could see it all happen and a part of him became eager for the day Daniel would fall right into his arms.

Plasmius watched with a predatory grin as Danny stepped out of Fenton Works, his ghost vulture minion following him at a safe distance, and walk towards the triplets' home.

Wayne's godchildren. The Gotham billionaire's name left a vile taste in Plasmius's tongue. He had tried over and over again to gain control of Wayne Enterprise through overshadowing the playboy like his previous 'take-overs', but all had failed because he could never find that dratted man whenever he tried. But he was rich enough now, yes. But later, much later, he would finally conquer over that blasted Bruce Wayne.

Patience. Yes. Patience was the key. He'll conquer them all! Soon, very soon, he'll have the perfect son he's always wanted – granted he was the spawn of his 'best friend' and the 'love of his life' but that made no difference. Daniel would see it his way soon.

It was time to begin the next phase of his plan.

The hybrid typed a few commands into his computer and waited as one of the side screens flickered to life. The screen showed none other than Dashiel Baxter, the jock following behind Paulina Schatz like an obedient puppy to its master with piles of books in his arms. Plasmius smirked and began typing on the keyboard again, pressing the large red button to the side once he was done and leaned back against his chair, watching the scene unfold on his screen.

Appearing on the screen behind Dash was a slithering ghost, though it looked albeit like a shapeless blob of ectoplasm, the ghost's eyes glowed red and dove straight into Dash's body. The blonde suddenly jerked, halting in his steps and his blue eyes flashed red for a moment before it disappeared as Paulina turned around to glare at him.

"What are you doing? Hurry up already, I don't have all day. You lucky that I'm spending my spare time tutoring you because you got suspended Dash!"

"C..Coming Paulina-bear."

Plasmius's smirk grew wider. He had already relayed what he wanted done to his failed experiment and tapped the tips of his fingers together. Daniel wouldn't be able to detect the failed experiment, the failed ghost clone that he, Plasmius, had tried creating from scratch out of Madeline's DNA and ectoplasm. Samantha had just been the first important chess piece he took out and Daniel was clueless at to what was going to come next.

To kick Cassandra from the board, first he'd have to break the protective wall around her that was her siblings.

* * *

With his days preoccupied with teaching Lee control of her powers, avoiding Sam, hanging out with his friends, getting his homework done and playing mediator between Casse and Jazz, Danny hadn't realized what day it was even when his mother had dropped a box of chocolates beside his breakfast plate. Maddie had been amused at her son's blank reaction to the chocolates before pointing at the calendar stuck on the refrigerator with the date 14th of February emphasized in a large red circle.

"…Oh." Maddie chuckled lightly when she saw realization dawning on Danny's face when he looked at the calendar. "…It's Valentine's Day already?"

"Does this mean you aren't looking for a Valentine this year sweetheart?" Danny blinked at his mother who clucked her tongue against her teeth and shook her head. "Honey, last year you were so eager for Valentine's Day – you were drafting a 'perfect' love letter to… who was that girl again? Paulina?"

"Oh. …OH." By this time, Jazz had come down for breakfast and pecked both her mother and brother's cheeks, wishing them a Happy Valentine's before settling down on her chair. "Uh, no? Not this year?"

"If we're talking about Danny's love life, or the lack thereof of one," Danny stuck his tongue out at Jazz who returned it easily. Maddie smiled and shook her head in amusement at her children's antics. "I don't want to hear it."

"No sweetie, I was just asking Danny if he was going to look for a Valentine this year. I'm just surprised that he isn't as enthusiastic about it as he had been last year."

"Thank god too – drafting his letter to Paulina was a nightmare."

"You're rotten Jazz. Completely and utterly rotten." The youngest Fenton groused, folding his arms across his chest indignantly with his bottom lip jutting out in a pout. Both Maddie and Jazz exchanged a look with each other and giggled. "Besides, I stopped being interested in Paulina months ago and I have been kind of busy for the past few weeks to notice that it's Valentine's."

"So I've noticed sweetie." Maddie smiled and turned to the stove, dropping a few strips of bacon on the heated pan. "You've been spending an awful lot of time with Lee lately." She added, eying her son from the corner of her eye as she listened to the bacon sizzle and pop. "Is there something going on between you two?"

With a piece of bacon halfway down his throat, Danny began choking once his mother had finished her question. Jazz thumped his back hard with a few slaps and Danny managed to swallow the food before turning to face his mother with a look of horror.

"What makes you think that mom?"

"Now I'm just saying what I've noticed Danny." Maddie said gently, trying to placate her mortified son by slipping a few crisp pieces of bacon on his plate. "I'm not saying that there *is* anything going on between you, but it does seem to be the case because of the amount of time you've been spending with her lately."

"I spend the same amount of time with her as I do with Brad and Tucker." He argued, poking the bacon for a moment before chomping down on it viciously. Jazz however, could see where their mother was headed.

"I think she means that you've been spending time with her, *alone*." Danny raised a brow at Jazz, his expression screaming 'so…?' which made Jazz sigh and roll her eyes before giving her brother a pointed look. "Come on Danny, think about it. You're spending a lot of time with one of your female friends without anyone else with the both of you, not even her siblings. You're not that daft that you can't connect the dots to where this is leading."

"So? What's the big deal? We hang out just like we normally do with the rest of them." He countered, apparently still not getting what Jazz and Maddie were trying to explain. "I don't see anything wrong with hanging out with my friend."

"Oh for… Danny, it looks as if you two are dating!"

Silence followed Jazz's abrupt shout. Danny blinked repeatedly at the agitated Jazz while Maddie covered her mouth with her hand as giggles threatened to bubble from her throat. After a moment, Danny shrugged and went back to devouring his breakfast.

"So? You know better than anyone else that Lee and I are just friends, so why the huge fuss over it?"

"Mom? I'm sorry, but your son is a clueless idiot." Jazz scowled at the confused Danny who stopped in mid-chew to blink at her. "A completely clueless idiot."

"Now Jazz, that's not a nice thing to say about your brother." Maddie scolded gently, flipping the eggs in the pan around. "Anyway, you two have to finish your breakfast soon if you want to meet up with your friends at your usual time before you head for school."

"That reminds me," Maddie switched off the stove and slid the eggs onto a plate before turning around to look at her two teenage kids with a semi-stern and questioning expression. "Speaking of friends, what's happened between you and Sam Danny? She's been calling the house almost every day since last month and you've never taken any of her calls. And don't think I haven't see you slam the door in her face whenever she dropped by young man."

"It's complicated." He responded automatically, looking fairly nonchalant though his teeth had taken to biting down on his food harder than necessary. Maddie raised a brow at him and shifted her gaze to Jazz who was concentrating far too intently on finishing her breakfast. "But in any case, I don't want to talk about, or to, her at all."

Maddie wisely did not pursue the matter and allowed her two children to finish their breakfast in tensed silence. Once they were finished, Danny quickly thanked his mother for the chocolates, slipping them into his bag with the hope of having them as a snack during his lunch break. Jazz and Danny bade the older Fenton good bye and trotted out the door towards the Angeles home.

The siblings met up with Tucker halfway, the other teen greeting them cheerfully as they continued down the pavement. They exchanged a light conversation and as they reached the Angeles house, Danny was surprised when the door opened and was even more surprised when a pretty red headed woman stepped out. She looked vaguely familiar but Danny couldn't quite put his finger on why she was so.

"I really hope you're all alright with this…"

"I'm saying that it's a lost cause but since you're persisting, why not?"

"Brad!" As they got closer, Danny could see Lee smacking her brother's shoulder with an annoyed expression while the woman chuckled lightly at their antics. Casse jumped onto her brother's back from behind and stared curiously at the red head.

"I still don't get why you wanted to ask us if it was ok to… pursue?" She glanced at her siblings, both nodding their heads at her questioning of whether or not she was using the right word. Once she confirmed she was using the right word, she continued. "Dad. What makes you so interested in him anyway? He's so boring…"

"You might think he's boring, but I think he's someone special." The woman leaned forward and gently poked Casse's nose, the younger girl wrinkled her nose at the touch and stuck her tongue out at her in retaliation. "And your opinion means a lot to him. Did you know that the reason why he doesn't go looking for a relationship is because all of you have voiced your dislikes over your godfather's choice of women when setting him up on a blind date? That's why I wanted to ask you three if you were alright with me trying to pursue a relationship with him."

"That's different. Uncle Bruce's taste in women sucks and dad probably has better taste than he does. It's not like we never noticed that he gets uncomfortable with a majority of them clinging onto him like a leech." Brad rolled his eyes as Casse smothered her giggles on his shoulder, Lee sighing in exasperation and shrugging lightly. "On the other hand, I used to think that dad had to be approached by a woman because he'd never make a move or shown any interest in them."

"Did you think that your father was gay?" Brad stuck his tongue out at the woman's light teasing tone. "Come on, I won't bite if you admit it. It's natural to think that way if you see a man who doesn't seem to show any interest in women."

"No, I thought he was asexual." The woman released a silvery laugh at Brad's refute. "Uncle Bruce said it before – mom was the one who initiated their relationship and dad just went along with it. The only time dad took a stand was when he proposed to mom."

"In any case –" Lee hurriedly cut in before Casse could chip in her view. "I don't see why you shouldn't pursue a relationship with dad. It's really nice of you to ask us permission to pursue the relationship with him and I say go for it. You're really one of the only women I've seen who's genuinely interested in him and not out for him just because he and Uncle Bruce are best friends."

"Just don't hurt him Ms Hol."

"What did I tell you about calling me Ms Hol?" She glared mockingly at Brad who returned it with a cheeky smirk. Casse mirrored the smirk for a moment before her lips grew into a wide Cheshire cat grin and Lee giggled lightly from the side. "I wouldn't hurt him unless it was something unintentional and for the last time, call me Shayera. You make me feel old calling me Ms Hol."

"But you *are* old."

She bopped the top of Brad and Casse's heads lightly with her fist at their chorus, scowling at them lightly as they both stuck their tongues out at her in retaliation. Lee snorted and looked up, catching sight of the three of them standing a distance away from the front door so as not to intrude the talk.

"Oh, hey guys." She waved lightly at them. "Good morning."

"Morning." They greeted, stepping closer to them. Danny scrunched up his nose as he inspected the woman closely. Her deep green eyes were looking at them curiously and the sense of familiarity increased in Danny's gut as he tried to pinpoint who she was. It clicked once he rewound the conversation and caught her name.

"Hey, you're Hawkgirl!" He spluttered, eyes wide and pointing at her with a look of surprise and shock. Tucker and Jazz mirrored his expression as they stared at the smiling woman, whose wings were suspiciously missing from her back. _'No wonder I couldn't really recognize her. Her wings are… not there.' _Danny thought as Shayera laughed and winked cheerfully at them.

"I don't go by that name anymore; in fact I haven't gone by that name in years. Please, just call me Shayera."

"And shouldn't you six be heading to school now?" She grinned mischievously as her statement sunk in to the triplets, the three of them hurrying back into the house to grab their bags. "Hopefully I would have been able to persuade your dad to have dinner with me tonight."

"My tip is, don't do anything too fancy. Dad doesn't like fancy so go simple!"

"Encouraging me now are you?" Brad rolled his eyes at Shayera again, giving her a pointed look before hopping off the porch and striding to Danny, Tucker and Jazz. He greeted the boys by bumping their knuckles and nodded to Jazz as Casse flew out of the front door with her lips lightly smeared with chocolate.

"Young lady are you eating your chocolates now?" Casse grinned impishly at Shayera's vaguely astonished tone and nodded, digging into the little red box in her hands and gleefully popping a tiny piece of chocolate into her mouth. The woman placed her hands on her hips and shook her head in amusement. "From the looks of this, she's going to be plenty hyper today."

"Pixie! I told you not to eat them now. You're going to have another stomachache like last year if you keep this up." Lee sighed in exasperation, her arms cradling three neat red boxes as she closed the front door. She quickly strode over to her friends and handed them a box each. "Here, I make chocolates every year for everyone so don't think that it's meant to be special or anything."

"Yes! Chocolates!" Tucker cheered gleefully, popping the box open and nabbed a piece of chocolate. He grinned widely as he chewed the chocolate but closed the lid and put the box in his bag. "But I won't be so nuts as to eat it all now. Thanks Lee."

"Thanks Lee, looks like I'll have another box to eat along with the one my mom gave me this morning during lunch break." Danny grinned lightly, stowing the box into his bag as Jazz did the same.

"No problem. Just don't let Pixie raid your bags for the chocolate. She stole Dwarf's box last year."

"I did not!"

"Oh yes you did." Brad teased, poking the indignant Casse's cheek and retracted his finger quickly when she tried to bite it. "And you got a stomachache after eating all that chocolate last year too. When will you learn?"

"When Fairy stops making all this good chocolate every year?"

"The three of you are complete riots." Shayera laughed fondly and Danny finally noticed another red box nestled in her other hand that was hidden from his viewpoint. "Thank you for the chocolates Lee and I'll keep your tip in mind Brad." She winked and waved cheerfully at them as she pressed a finger to her ear. "And you six have fun in school. J'onn? One for transport please."

Shayera's figure dissolved in a drizzle of white light and the six quickly started their trot to school.

"So, I'll pretend that we didn't hear your conversation with her," Brad snorted while Casse and Lee giggled at Tucker's mischievous waggling eyebrows. "What did Shayera want?"

"She wanted to know if we were ok with her chasing dad around." Danny and Tucker smothered their laughter behind their wrists at Brad's deadpan while Lee rolled her eyes and smacked her brother's shoulder again. Casse's giggles increased as she popped another piece of chocolate in her mouth. "Ok fine, not really. She was asking for our permission if she could jump dad – ow! Fairy that hurt!"

"No! Shayera was asking permission if she could pursue a relationship with dad and go out with him tonight. Not jump him or chase him." Lee scowled at her brother's impish smile as he shrugged lightly. Tucker and Danny had dissolved into fits of laughter, having imagined a scene of Shayera literally pouncing on Tobias. Jazz apparently had gotten the same image because she was giggling so hard that the edges of her eyes were tearing. "Why is it that you guys like to make everything sound as if it relates to sex?"

"I blame Dick for corruption."

Danny grinned as they all started bantering. Casse and Jazz were still keeping a distance between them but it was to be expected. Casse was still sore over Jazz's blunt statement of her being a spoilt and rotten brat and Jazz was furious that the younger girl still wasn't opening her eyes to look at the bigger picture.

Casse had started avoiding her siblings again in the aftermath of Brad's outburst at her and Danny had to take drastic measures, cornering her at the end of school and bluntly telling her that she would regret harboring the childish resentment. He told her outright that there was no way he could guarantee that he would be able to save either one of her siblings if they happened to get into trouble again and she would live with the feeling that she had ignored them just because she resented them for needing time alone.

He even used that recent event to punctuate his point, stating that he did not have anything else to give Zeraphina if it came down to saving their lives again.

The youngest triplet sang a completely different tune after that and latched herself onto her siblings whenever she had the chance. Danny felt bad that he had to resort to making Casse fear losing her siblings and live in regret for taking them for granted but that was the only way he knew at that time that would pierce through her stubborn skull. But even so, he could see that she was forcing herself to act that way and still sent hostile pouts at her brother.

Lee had been furious with him when she cornered him for answers on her sister's one hundred and eighty degree turn of attitude during their one-on-one session of practicing. She had yelled at him and completely lost control of her powers. It took him over an hour to get her calm with her powers transforming her back and forth between her human and ghost forms, completely dropping her through the floor every ten minutes or so and an accidental yellow energy beam that shot from her palm and burnt a section of the wall black.

Explaining to Tobias about the new 'décor' of the wall had been exceptionally difficult. Then again, Danny had the feeling that Tobias hadn't bought any of their lies but just chose not to pursue the matter further.

So far, Lee hadn't made any effort to further discover the other abilities of her powers and only practiced keeping herself from going intangible, invisible or floating off the ground.

Danny took a moment to observe his ragtag group of friends. Casse had finished eating her box of chocolates, the box having been thrown away some time ago and the chocolate smear that was streaked across her lips looked like dark brown lipstick. Lee had a look of exasperation on her face, taking out a handkerchief and chastised her sister while rubbing the chocolate smear off Casse's lips. Tucker was grinning, joking about 'chocolate kisses' and pretended to lean forward towards Casse while exaggerating puckered lips that were ready for a kiss.

Jazz laughed from Danny's side when Casse squealed and squashed Tucker's nose with the palm of her hand, fleeing from the whining teen and squished herself in between her brother and sister. Danny paused and peeked out from Tucker's shoulder to observe Brad. The middle triplet certainly looked as if he was behaving like normal but…

He couldn't find the proper words to explain it in his mind, but Danny thought that there was something… off about Brad today.

For one, Danny noticed that Brad was standing particularly close to Lee, something that he knew his friend would avoid as much as possible because of his little… infatuation with his sister. The usual distance had definitely shrunk and there was a tense air radiating off the blonde boy. Even with the tense air, Brad had a very soft look in his eyes when he faced her. It took a moment before the thought clicked in Danny's mind.

'_Oh…'_ He paused and thought again. _'OH. Hmm… I wonder if Brad does anything for Lee on Valentine's Day. He isn't quite the type to take this kind of days seriously but…'_

"Hey Danny?" Danny stopped in his thoughts and looked over to Jazz who was watching him with concern. "Is there something wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking about something." He waved his hand and gave Jazz a reassuring smile. His sister didn't pursue the matter and the six continued their way to school, chattering lightly while keeping their backpacks away from Casse who was eying their bags with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

"So, how do you guys go through Valentine's Day?" Danny asked, noting the visible blush that colored Lee's cheeks while Brad had averted his eyes away looking at Danny. "Methinks that something must at least happen during Valentine's Day for you guys."

"Oh oh! I know, I know!" Casse eagerly waved her hand in the air to catch everyone's attention while Lee gave her sister a horrified look. Danny noticed Brad coughing lightly and spotted the tinge of pink that was slowly coloring his pale cheeks. "Fairy's got an admirer who always puts flowers in her locker and writes a whole bunch of mushy poetry in a card. But since we're not back in Gotham I don't think he'll strike this year."

"Sounds… like a very serious admirer." Brad had given Danny a sideways glare at his statement and the hybrid instantly knew the identity of the 'secret admirer'. But a smile graced his lips when he recalled Casse's words. Flowers and 'mushy' poetry? Wow, who knew Brad could be a romantic? "No luck figuring out who the guy is?"

"Absolutely none." Lee shouldered her duffle bag and sighed as they walked to the entrance of the school building. "The poems are all typed out and it's always in calligraphy font. But what makes me a little nervous is how he knows what my favorite flowers are."

"Your favorite flower?"

"Grape hyacinths." Brad responded, his face adopting a scowl that Danny instantly recognized as a fake while looking at Lee intently. The blonde boy didn't notice his younger sister sneaking up to his back and plucking at the zipper to his backpack as he regarded their older sister seriously. "But those flowers aren't in season so it's hard to get a good bunch of them during this time."

"No, the earliest blooming for the grape hyacinths is spring and it *is* spring right now Dwarf." Lee countered, poking his cheek with her finger and smacking Casse's itchy fingers away from unzipping Brad's backpack in her attempt to steal his box of chocolates. "It's just that they aren't easily found in some regions and Gotham and Amity Park happen to be some of them."

"Anyway, we'll catch you guys later at our lockers." The girls quickly blended in the throng of students, many of them exchanging gifts of chocolate and cards with each other and left the boys to worm their way to their lockers. Tucker had broken away once they reached his locker so Brad and Danny weaved their way through the crowd and got to their lockers.

"So… you right?" Danny made a sideways glance to the blonde who was twisting the dial of the locker door. The hybrid quietly unlocked his locker door and rummaged through it before he heard the short grunt from the other.

"…Yea." Silence followed after Danny heard the small creak from the other's locker door and turned back to face his locker. He paused and frowned before sighing audibly, catching Brad's attention. "What is it?"

"Can you remind me to change my locker combination later?" Danny could hear Brad shifting at his locker before feeling the blonde's presence hovering by his back. There was an awkward silence as Brad stared into Danny's locker before turning to face the other.

"I'll… definitely remind you to do so after class."

It wasn't something monstrously big or overly pink, but that simple black box with a card that had been hidden behind his books was enough to darken Danny's mood. The little 'SM' mark and the handwriting on the card were easily recognizable to him and he wasted no time in tossing the box into the nearby trash bin. Brad wisely kept silent and left Danny to stew in his thoughts while he rummaged through his locker for his books.

'_She used to say that Valentine's Day was overrated and that she'd never join the crowd in handing out chocolates. Pish, yea right.' _

The boys finished getting their books and made their way to the girls' lockers. They met Tucker halfway and the bespectacled teen raised an eyebrow at his best friend's sudden dark moon. He exchanged a look with Brad who simply shook his head and mouthed 'don't ask'. The dark skinned boy wisely kept his mouth closed as they got closer to a mob of students who seemed to be crowding around Lee and Casse's lockers.

The boys exchanged a wary look with each other before squeezing through the mob and popping up at the front and saw…

"…Ok, what the hell are *you* doing here?" Brad demanded, glaring at the older raven head teen who was standing by the girls. Danny recognized him as Garth, one of Dick's friends from Christmas and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him, remembering the stolen glances the older teen had made with Lee during their short stay. "Steel City is thousands of miles from Amity and I don't think you have any business here."

"Oh, hi guys." Garth waved at them cheerfully, not at all disturbed by the three glares that were aimed his way. In his hand was a bouquet of flowers, a species that Danny wasn't quite able to identify although there was one large white rose nestled snugly in the middle of the mass of blue-ish purple flowers. "I was just uh… dropping by."

"What for?" Brad had weaved forward and stood solidly in front of Lee, who had shaken off her blank expression and huffed lightly at her brother's reaction. Casse was covering her mouth with her eyes glaring narrowly at Garth, standing a little behind Lee and nudging Jazz with her shoulder while the older girl scrutinized Garth from head to toe.

The older teen rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, his black tresses slipping out of the short ponytail that his hair was tied him and Danny swore he could hear female love-struck sighs from the crowd behind him. He could see a blush rising in Lee's cheeks at the same time and glared at Garth for eliciting that reaction from her.

"Well…" Garth faltered for a moment before sidestepping Brad to get to Lee, offering the bouquet to her and bent down slightly to meet her eyes. Brad glared and scowled at Garth for completely avoiding him. "I was… wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me tonight."

Danny could hear Tucker gagging lightly from beside him and tensed at the chorus of disappointed female sighs at Garth's question to Lee. A stab of protectiveness surged in his veins and Danny resisted the urge to shove Garth away from Lee (because of the proximity between the two was too close for his liking) and kick the older teen in the nuts.

'_If our lives were animated, this scene would be filling with sickeningly bright sparkles and flying roses.'_ Danny thought with disgust, wrinkling his nose at the imaginary sparkles and floating bubbles dancing around Garth and Lee as the older teen waited for a response. While a part of him was hoping that Lee would decline, the other part of him was telling him that it was a fat chance she'd decline having seen her interaction with Garth during Christmas. Danny exchanged a look with Tucker before shifting his gaze to Brad who nodded his head slightly at him.

Before Lee could respond, the three boys had stormed forward and formed a wall between her and Garth, all of them having their arms folded across their chest and glaring sharp daggers at the violet eyed teen. Danny could hear an exasperated noise coming from Lee and faint cheering from Casse further behind.

For his credit, Garth looked more amused than put out.

"So… I'm taking this as a 'no'?"

"NO!" Lee yelped out and smacked the three boys hard on the head, giving them each a pointed glared before turning back to Garth. "No no, ignore my nosy brother and friends; dinner sounds great Garth."

The boys sent her bewildered looks before turning back to Garth, their glares increasing ten-fold. The blonde girl huffed and smacked the top of their heads again. A smooth laugh erupted from Garth's throat as he gave her a charming smile and slid his hands into his pant pockets.

"Would seven be a good time to pick you up?"

"Sure. Um…" The boys continued to scowl at Garth as Lee stumbled in her words and Danny felt the brotherly instincts scream at him again at the rosy blush that was settled in her cheeks. "Casual or formal clothes?"

"Casual." Danny could tell that Brad wanted nothing more than to punch that smile off Garth's face that seemed to have made a permanent residence on the older teen's lips. He knew he had the urge – the number of girls who were swooning in the crowd when Garth smiled was annoyingly many. "I don't want to overwhelm you and uh… I don't think your brother and friends would be very happy with me sweeping you off your feet."

"Ignore them!" She squawked out, smacking their shoulders and tried getting them to stop glaring at Garth. From the corner of Danny's eye, he could see Casse puffing her cheeks and glaring at Garth from behind Lee. Too bad the older triplet didn't see it. "But yea um… see you at seven."

"Sure will." Danny frowned when Garth swept forward, taking Lee's free hand and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. He gave her another one of his charming smiles before turning and quickly weaved his way out of the throng of students, his tall figure sticking out from the short height of students before disappearing out the front entrance of the school. Brad and Casse took this moment to round up on their blushing sister who was glancing wistfully in the direction Garth had left in.

"Fairy!"

She didn't answer their incensed chorus. Instead she brought the bouquet up to her nose and sniffed it lightly, sighing dreamily with a happy smile gracing her lips. The smile felt different from the other smiles that Danny had come to identify her with and it felt disconcerting that it looked like a completely happy smile, nothing forced with no other emotions lingering behind it. A happy smile that Danny painfully realized, none of them had ever been able to get from her.

The girls in the crowd were giving Lee envious looks before shuffling away, the spectacle having ended. Danny swore he could hear some complaints (one of them easily recognizable as Paulina) that were drowned out in the chatter that now flitted in the corridors. Lee still had a dreamy expression, almost floating towards her locker, humming a tiny tune as she twiddled the dial of the locker.

"Lee!"

"Hmm?" The smile hadn't wavered nor did her attention to opening her locker. Once she had gotten it open, her cheeks colored a darker shade of red, and the happy look in her eyes dissolving into an expression mixed with surprise and a little bit of fear. Quickly, her siblings crowded behind her at the change of expression and stared into her locker. Danny, Tucker and Jazz quickly followed suit and peered into the locker in any of the available spaces the triplets had between them.

Nestled in her locker was a neat bouquet of fully bloomed grape hyacinths, wrapped delicately with dark blue paper with turquoise streaks tied with an elegant dark red bow at the stems. A trim white card that had borderlines of baby blue swirls lay beside the bouquet, the curvy blue letterings peeking out from under the top flap.

Danny stole a glance at Brad and had to admit that the blonde was doing a rather good job at faking his livid expression.

Lee gingerly reached forward and plucked the card out of her locker, flipping it open and reading through the words. It startled Danny when her entire face heated up, turning a deep scarlet and peered over her shoulder to read the words on the card. He recited them for the rest to hear but not nearly loud enough for anyone else around them to pick up.

---

_Come the night, come the dreams._

_Come the lady beauty who captured me._

_Sweet tenderness should our hands meet,_

_Yet __will end with bitter-sweetness, tenderness only fleeting._

_Perhaps fated to never meet,_

_But still shall I feel I love you. _

_---  
_

Again Danny stole another glance at Brad, this time spotting the faint hue of pink at the edge of his cheeks. He looked back at the 'poem' and whistled softly. Damn. Even though the poem was nowhere in par with big league poets or one that twisted the English language in an elegant way, it conveyed Brad's infatuation well and the hint of despair of preserving his anonymity, just willing to observe her from afar.

"Wow… he's quite serious."

"Muu… How did he know we moved to Amity Park?" Casse muttered, her eyes narrowed as she poked the card in her sister's hands warily. "Do you think he might be a stalker Fairy?"

"I… I'm really starting to get that feeling Pixie." Lee muttered quietly, flipping the card over and stared at the intricate flower patterns that decorated the paper. "This is creepy… how did he know which was my locker and the combination to it? This is too weird."

"I'm getting pretty troubled myself." Danny turned to see Jazz frown at the card. "Even though it's nothing life threatening and he does seem to want to keep a distance from you, I don't think we should be taking this lightly. Have you ever told your dad or godfather about this admirer?"

"Well, no." The other three gave Lee curious looks and she elaborated her reason. "Mainly because I didn't think that it was something big that they should be told about it – I still don't think it is – and because Uncle Bruce would probably fly off the handle and start hunting whoever it is."

"You probably want to avoid such a manhunt huh?" Lee rolled her eyes and gave Danny a pointed look.

"Of course I want to avoid that. Uncle Bruce always assumes the worst and I remember once that he swore he'd never let any of us out of the Manor when we hit puberty."

"He has a very good reason for it." Brad muttered, eying the bouquet in her arms that Garth had given to her with his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Frankly, I agree with him. You and Pixie should be locked up in the Manor."

His sisters turned their heads and gave him a dirty look, chorusing out at the same time. "Excuse me?" "Say that again?"

"Uh, Casse?"

Six heads turned to see Kwan standing by Casse's locker, looking strangely awkward and fidgety. His right hand was stuffed in his pant pocket while his other hand scratched the side of his head, his expression nervous. Casse blinked at him before responding.

"What do you want?"

Danny suddenly had a feeling that he knew what Kwan was trying to do and didn't like what the feeling was. Beside him, Danny could feel Brad bristle and spared a glance at his friend, noting the snarl that curved on the blonde's lips and narrowed glare that was directed at Kwan.

Kwan looked even more nervous at the glare that was sent his way and shuffled his feet about before blurting out what he wanted to say.

"Iwaswonderingifyoudliketohangoutafterschool!" Casse blinked and tilted her head to the side.

"Wha?"

Kwan took in a few deep breaths, his eyes shifting nervously at the three glares and two suspicious looks that were sent his way before he repeated what he said slowly.

"I was wondering if you'd like to hang out after school." Casse wrinkled her nose, her lips puckering up as she thought for a moment.

"You mean like with your A List groupie or just us?"

"J… just us."

"Like a Valentine's date?"

"Uh… yea."

"But aren't you dating Star?"

"Huh?" Kwan stuttered a little as he blinked at Casse, the blonde blinking back at him. "Uh – oh. N...n...n...n...no! No. Star and I are just friends! We've known each other for years because we live down the same street."

'_Liar._' Danny thought as he narrowed his eyes at Kwan. He knew for a fact that even though Star and Kwan did live on the same street, they didn't become 'friends' until the year before they all got to middle school, when the A List first started. Though it was true that he wasn't dating Star (from what Danny knew, Kwan hadn't dated anyone since Valerie was kicked out of the A List), Danny wondered why Kwan was lying about the 'friends' part.

He glanced warily at Casse who actually seemed to be giving thought to Kwan's offer. There was just something in her eyes that told him that she was going to be up to no good. Before Brad could stride forward and decline for her, Casse looked up and gave Kwan one of her brightest smiles.

"Sure! Why not?"

Kwan's lips had broken into an awkward smile and Brad finally reached forward and roughly grabbed Casse's upper arm, glaring at Kwan as he tugged Casse towards him.

"Hold that thought. We need to talk Casse."

"What's the big deal?" She snapped once Jazz and Tucker blocked Kwan's view of them. "I can choose what I want to do! If Fairy can go out with porcupine's friend, why can't I go out with Kwan?"

"Because unlike fish breath we know how Kwan is!" He snapped back. "Are you doing this just to spite me or something? For all we know, he could have been dared by his king-of-all-jocks best friend to take you out for one day and dump you the next!"

"Pixie, please try to understand." Lee had placed Garth's bouquet of flowers beside the anonymous bouquet and rested her hand on her sister's shoulder. "We don't want you to get hurt and knowing how ruthless Dash is –"

"But he's not jockwad!" Casse ignored her sister and persisted, her eyes shining with defiance and Danny could almost detect some kind of smugness beneath them as she glared back at her brother. The youngest triplet shrugged her sister's hand off her shoulder, not noticing the expression of hurt that crossed Lee's face as she regarded their brother. "You're just jealous because you don't have a Valentine!"

"Why should I be jealous of you?! I don't care for Valentines remember?" Brad hurled back, his voice growing a little louder with his agitation apparent on his face before he threw his hands up in exasperation. "Fine! Be that way – don't go crying to us if he publically humiliates you just for the jocks' entertainment!"

Brad stormed off, glaring venomously at Kwan on the way and made the Asian teen shudder while Casse puffed her cheeks and stuck her tongue out at him. "I won't!"

Casse turned to face her sister, only to find herself looking at the back of Lee's head as the other girl quietly filed through her locker. Danny grimaced and glanced at his sister who took action. Before Casse could reach out for Lee when the other blonde closed her locker door, Jazz took action and ignored Casse's pouty face, whisking Lee away from them by chatting with her lightly and semi-dragged the blue-clad girl along with her.

Kwan awkwardly stepped aside to let them through, his lips curved into a nervous frown as he turned to look at the remaining three. Danny and Tucker hadn't lessened their glares at him, making the Asian swallow audibly. Casse huffed and pouted at them.

"You too?"

"I don't like it." Tucker responded immediately, his eyes still narrowed dangerously at Kwan. Casse huffed again and stomped her foot lightly.

"I can take care of myself! And it's not like Kwan's like jockwad."

"I just hope you know what you're doing Casse." Danny muttered quietly as he gave her a firm stare. She blinked at him as he continued. "Brad's right; I get the feeling that you're just doing this to get on his nerves. If it were anyone other than the A List jocks, I don't think he'd explode this badly."

Danny and Tucker separated from Casse and passed by Kwan to get to their classroom. Danny paused in his step when he got right next to Kwan, turning his head and narrowed his eyes at the A List jock and pointed a threatening finger at him.

"If you hurt her…" He left the threat hanging. Garth was a different matter from Kwan and unlike Lee, the rest of them knew that Casse was definitely *not* able to take care of herself in this situation.

Kwan gulped but didn't make any kind of response, making Danny more suspicious about his ulterior motives of asking Casse out. But now that the triplets were separated *again*, Casse was going to be alone.

Danny curled his finger back in to his fist and strode to their classroom with Tucker trailing behind him.

'_This is __going to be one hell of a Valentine's Day.'_ He grumbled to himself as he spotted another card and black box on his desk. He pushed the items to the edge of his table, ignoring the stare Sam was giving him and tried to act neutral. _'Just let us survive today…'_

_

* * *

_  
"So, let operation 'Looming Shadow' commence." Tucker hastily ducked away from Danny's halfhearted swing at his head and shrugged. "Well, we *are* looming around Casse like shadows so the title is appropriate."

"We're just keeping an eye out for her Tuck."

"Because we all know that it's going to end in disaster, especially when you overheard Kwan talking to Dash just before he met up with Casse after school." Tucker sighed and leaned against the wall, keeping an eye on Casse and Kwan from the corner of his eye in the alleyway as they walked towards the mall. "I don't get it though. She should know that Kwan's easily pushed over by Dash and that there's *always* ulterior motives when it comes to the A List. What's she trying to do?"

"Like Brad said earlier; she's just doing this to piss him off and tried using Lee as an example as to why she should be allowed to do what she wanted." Danny didn't keep his eyes away from the duo, frowning when Casse hooked her arm with Kwan's and continued to chatter away. "I guess it was too much to ask for Dash to develop some change while he's on suspension from school. Comparing the two situations we have, we know that Garth's different from Kwan. Though I admit I'm not really keen of the idea of either one of them dating – and Jazz too – Garth's more genuine than Kwan."

"And no matter what she says –"

"—she definitely can't look after herself in this situation." Both boys muttered at the same time, finishing Tucker's sentence.

"By the way." Danny made an 'hmm' noise, signaling to Tucker that he was listening. "I kind of noticed that you were glancing at Brad a lot today. Is… there something I should know going on between the two of you?"

"…What?" Tucker threw his hands up in a pacifying gesture at Danny's incredulous look that was sent his way.

"Well I mean because during the whole time when we found the anonymous bouquet in her locker, you were eying him a few times so… Just to say that uh… I don't care if you're bisexual?"

"…Tucker. There's nothing going on between us." Tucker raised an eyebrow at Danny's tired exasperated expression. "Look, I was glancing at him because I was gauging his reaction to Lee's anonymous admirer. You know he's an overbearing and protective brother."

"Oh." Danny laughed lightly at Tucker who had the decency to blush. "OH! Ah… Sorry I looked at it in the wrong way. I mean, gee. Why didn't I see that you were relating to him and thinking that you'd react the same way if Jazz had such a persistent admirer?" Tucker smacked the side of his head, his face continuing to grow a darker shade of red. "But still; if you do happen to be bisexual I wouldn't care. You're still my best friend since forever."

"I'm not about to go around declaring my undying love for anyone any time soon Tuck." Danny rolled his eyes skyward and punched Tucker's arm lightly. "Like you, I'm perfectly happy being single right now. But thanks for the sudden thought – even though I'm not bisexual – and I say the same right back at you too."

"Thanks and you never know." The other quipped, tilting his head out of the alleyway to peer out into the streets. "They've gone in. Shall we?"

"Activating invisibility." Danny mimicked a robotic voice, making Tucker laugh. "Stand by."

The boys quickly phased into the mall and continued stalking keeping an eye on Casse while she was on her 'date' with Kwan. Danny and Tucker had done some plotting during their lunch break but Brad refused to play a part in them, standing firm in his decision to not bother on what his younger sister was doing. Lee too had declined to take a part in their stalking activity and Jazz had chosen to stick with them, not very happy with the youngest Angeles's behavior.

'_Just leave her alone.' _The older Fenton muttered. _'She needs to learn the hard way that letting her resentment make the decisions for her is wrong and she'll get hurt. She also has to learn that Brad and Lee aren't going to be able to be there for her forever. Just look at what happened this morning – she completely ignored Lee and was reveling her sick joy of gloating at Brad to notice that she was hurting them again!'_

But they couldn't. So once school had let out, Tucker and Danny had trailed after Casse by means of using Danny's ghost abilities to remain undetected. They weren't very surprised when Casse first dragged Kwan into the arcade, knowing how much she loved playing video games. But it was surprising to find out that Kwan sucked at them; he lost every single round of Daytona and crashed the vehicle at least a dozen times.

"I'm no good at video games." The taller teen said sheepishly while scratching the top of his head. He winced when his car crashed against the wall again. "I mean, I like playing them and all, but I don't have any coordination with these kind of games."

"That sucks." Casse tilted her head to look at Kwan and took her hands off the wheel as she finished the race. "My brother's better than me in Daytona and my sister doesn't play these racing games; but she's awesome in those dancing games even though they drain her energy and all."

"I've been… meaning to ask." Danny frowned at Kwan's stutter but the other teen seemed to be genuinely curious. "But how come she's so… unfit? I mean, she's always so breathless and pale after P.E, not that you aren't either, but yours doesn't seem to be as bad as hers."

"Fairy has a weak body. Really weak." His frown deepened when Casse shifted her eyes about before leaning close to Kwan and whispered in his ear. "Just don't tell her I said so!"

"Ok?"

The duo left the arcade and Danny flew Tucker to a secluded spot close by, switching off his abilities as he frowned in their direction. "Did she just…?"

"Take a stab at Lee's physical capabilities?" Tucker's brows had furrowed into a frown and glanced at Casse and Kwan's backs. "Yea. She did."

"Ok well, we do know that Lee really isn't quite as physically fit as most of us," Danny turned and exchanged a look with Tucker. "But a 'really weak' body though? Geez, that sounds as if she's physically disabled or something. She has been improving a little in P.E lately though."

"She's probably being careless with her words." Tucker muttered as he spotted Casse pull Kwan into one of the art stores. "I mean, let's think about it for the moment – she usually just blurts out without thinking and most of the time she ends up saying things she might not really mean and hurt people; mostly to Lee and Brad."

"Somehow, I don't feel like trailing them anymore." Danny mumbled softly, running a hand through his messy tresses as he turned to look at the store Casse had pulled Kwan into. "But I'm really going to hope that Kwan doesn't do anything funny that will get her upset, or anything that would potentially be hurtful to anyone else."

"Amen bro." Tucker nodded fervently. "Come on, let's hope tomorrow won't go as badly as we think it will and go see if we can help Brad in grilling Garth."

"We're a little… early don't you think?" Danny returned Tucker's impish grin as they slowly walked out of the mall. He gave one last glance at the art store before turning back to Tucker. "Seven is like… three hours away."

"Then maybe we can persuade her to not go on that date then."

"I'm liking that idea. But first, we need to stop by my place. If we fail to persuade her not to go on the date, we're going to need a back-up plan."

* * *

Casse grinned as she slid the pen across the screen and scribbled doodles over the recently taken pictures from inside the neoprint booth. She giggled as she noticed Kwan from the corner of her eye as he tried mimicking her smooth movements beside her but ended up botching the print instead.

"How do you do it?" He asked in wonderment as he scratched the back of his head, staring at the botched print mournfully. "You make it look so easy and it comes out so good."

"Lots and lots of practice." She responded seriously when the timer on the screen hit 0 and placed the pen back into the holder. Casse swiped the prints when they were done and giggled at them. "Come on! Let's cut them out and pick which ones you want."

"I don't trust myself to cut them straight." Kwan muttered, glancing at the two botched prints woefully and stuck his hands into his pocket. "You'd probably do a better job than I would."

"Oh." Casse tilted her head to the side and blinked at him. Kwan turned his head away to hide the red tint that was coloring the side of his cheeks. They got to one of the free tables and Casse began to meticulously snip the prints out one by one. She didn't mind Kwan watching her intently as she continued to cut the prints out.

"What are you two doing together?" Casse looked up to see Valerie Gray who was frowning heavily at Kwan who shifted uncomfortably at the glare.

"Is it any of your business?" Casse responded crossly, her lips twisted into an angry pout as she glared at Valerie. Her hands stopped cutting the pictures, the scissors poised at the edge of the glossy paper but not clamping shut to cut it.

"Well it is my business because I know that boy well enough to see when he's leading someone on." The dark skinned girl shot back, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared fiercely at Kwan before turning back to Casse. "And if you were smart enough, you'd take my advice: ditch him now and go back home before you reveal too much of yourself to him."

"And what if I don't?" She challenged, straightening her posture and returned Valerie's glare with equal force. Casse dropped the scissors and gathered up the cut out pieces carefully without breaking any eye contact with the other girl. "I don't have to listen to you and it's none of your business on what I do! Come on Kwan, let's go."

"You'll regret Angeles." Valerie growled as Casse clung onto the tiny pieces of glossy paper and tugged the sleeve of Kwan's jacket with her free hand. "He's just using you and tomorrow you'll be the laughing stock of the school, you hear me? You're going to be the laughing stock of school tomorrow if you don't watch yourself."

"I can look after myself." Casse snapped as her eyes narrowed. Valerie rolled her eyes and snorted, giving the blonde an even stare.

"Yea right. Lee and Brad are the ones who can look after themselves, but you? Hah. Fat chance because in the end it's always your siblings who look after you." She sneered, her lips curving into an unpleasant smirk as Casse growled and gnashed her teeth. Kwan shifted his gaze between the two girls nervously but didn't speak up. "Take it from someone who's already dated this weak willed moron. It's most likely that Dash pressured him into taking you out for a day and with your loose tongue, you're also likely to give away things you're going to regret saying later."

"Go away!" Casse gritted her teeth and gave Valerie an ugly glare while pulling Kwan away from the store. "You're just jealous because your ex is moving on. Go find someone else to bother!"

The blonde muttered incoherently as she pulled the silent boy along with her through the dense crowd in the mall. They walked in silence until Kwan finally reached out and touched Casse's hand that was pulling his jacket sleeve. She stopped and turned to look back at him curiously as his face contorted into a conflicted expression.

"Maybe… Maybe it was a bad idea for me to ask you out in the first place." She frowned and wrinkled her nose at him. A light blush streaked across Kwan's cheeks when her lips puckered up as she stared at him.

"If it was such a bad idea, then why did you ask me out for?"

"I... uh…" Kwan stumbled for a moment while Casse just watched him curiously. His hand that was touching Casse's flexed a little before he realized that he was still holding her hand and quickly withdrew his hand away, the blush on his cheeks darkening. "Um… because…"

"What's wrong? Did a cat bite your tongue?" She teased, toeing closer to him with an impish grin playing on her lips. Her hand released Kwan's jacket sleeve and plucked through the tiny pieces of glossy paper in her other hand. After finding one that she was looking for, Casse carefully picked it out and stuck it on Kwan's cheek with a grin. He blinked at her before his hand went to his cheek to gently peel the little piece of paper off it and took a look at which print it was.

Wide grins, four peace signs with two of them turning out to be a replacement for bunny ears on the top of each of their heads. Bright little sparkles and a few funny stamps decorated the border and their names were written neatly at the bottom where the two were. Kwan blinked at the print and his expression softened a little before he looked up from the print. His shoulders stiffened as Casse leaned closer to him, her face close to his chest because of their difference in height.

Her cheerful grin hadn't left her face and it seemed to grow wider to resemble the Cheshire cat. His lips spread into an awkward smile to return her grin and his shoulders slumped in relaxation. Kwan pocketed the print and mockingly offered his arm to her with a faux bow.

"Want to grab a bite?" Casse laughed, stuffing the rest of the prints in her bag before hooking her arm with Kwan's.

"Let's!"

They quickly weaved their way through the throng of people and reached the food court with ease. Kwan offered to buy and fully pay for the food, sitting Casse down at one of the tables and pushed through the crowd again to get to the food stalls once he had gotten her order. From the corner of Kwan's eye, he saw Casse take out the prints and her pencil case from her bag and proceeded to snipe the prints again.

His cheeks reddened slightly as he caught sight of the tip of her tongue sticking out from the corner of her mouth as she concentrated on cutting the prints out carefully.

"Hey kid, are you going to order or not?" Kwan snapped out of his daze, the blush darkening a little as he apologized to the annoyed vendor and ordered the food. When he got back to the table, he couldn't help but smile at her bright eyed, gleeful expression as she dropped the scissors back into her pencil case and started separating the tiny prints.

"You're done?"

"Yep!" She chirped, her eyes brightening and lips curving into a wide smile when she looked up to see him as he sat down. "Thanks Kwan."

"No problem."

They chatted lightly, finishing their food first before engaging in a deeper conversation. Casse had separated the prints and gave Kwan equal share with at least one of each of the different photographs. Kwan grinned at the tiny prints and dropped them into his wallet while Casse kept hers in her pencil case and back into her bag.

"Hey Casse, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Yea?"

"Why did you accept my offer to go out?"

She stopped sipping her coke and blinked at Kwan. They stared at each other for a moment, the chatter of the crowd echoing around them.

"Why do you ask? You didn't expect me to?"

"Well… to be honest yes. I didn't expect you to." Casse frowned and raised an eyebrow at Kwan. "I mean, you and Lee and An- I mean, Brad, already made it clear on the first day you guys started school that you weren't interested in the A List or anyone who was in the clique."

"I'm not." She agreed, returning to her drink before continuing. "But it doesn't mean that I can't give you a chance. My brother's such a pain – he's always hovering around like a shadow and playing big boss with me. Humph."

"He is well, protective of you."

"Being a protective brother and being a pain in the ass are two different things." Casse grumbled, resting her cheek on her palm as she stirred the contents in her cup. "I swear, he just likes being bossy. I can't have my own pet just because he says so, and so what next? Have him rule over me with an iron fist and telling me who I can and can't go out with? Hah. If my sister can go out with that Garth guy, I don't see why I can't go out with you."

"He has every right to be wary of me though." Kwan pointed out, slurping his drink.

"He's just jealous he doesn't have a Valentine." She waved her hand dismissively and went back to her drink. "Or maybe he's like a closet gay freak or something. Yuck."

"You don't like gays?"

"It's not that I like or don't like them. They're ok, but I just think they're weird."

"That 'yuck' kind of said otherwise."

"When I start thinking of my brother being gay, that's a total duh. It's kind of creepy because he really could be gay because he's never shown any kind of interest in girls." Casse paused and shuddered. "It's just... ew. Just ew."

"Maybe he's just not looking for a relationship or something to commit himself to." Kwan responded sagely. "Or maybe he just likes to commit himself to protecting you and Lee completely."

"You boys are weird." She muttered, raising an eyebrow at him. "First you get so worried about getting past my brother and now you're trying to reason for his behavior. Make up your mind will you?"

"It's just the nature of being a guy." He raised his hands up in a pacifying gesture. "Well, probably more of my nature, but I can understand him a little at least."

"My brother's no better than our god brother, no wait. In fact, he's a whole lot worse and more annoying than Dick." Pause. "It's as if he's looking down on me you know? Like he's some kind of know-it-all, so called doing stuff for my own good and that I'm dumb or something. He's turning into a snob."

Silence followed, Kwan looking thoughtful while Casse finished off what was left of her drink. She rummaged through her bag and pouted, as if realizing what she wanted wasn't in the bag. The bag was closed and she stood up, startling Kwan slightly.

"I'm going to go get some ice-cream." She smiled over to him. "Want any?"

"I could go and get some if you want." Casse made a 'tsk' sound, shaking her head and waggling her finger at Kwan as he tried to get up from his seat.

"Nuh uh. Either you name a flavor or no. Take a pick."

"Why don't we just walk with the ice-cream then?"

Casse snorted and smacked Kwan's shoulder, scowling at him although her eyes were twinkling brightly. Both of them gathered their bags and went in search of an ice-cream store, neither of them noticed the tiny button device hidden at the top of Kwan's jacket pocket blinking a sinister red.

* * *

"Oh god I'm so nervous." Lee chewed her bottom lip as she considered her outfit options spread over her bed. Jazz regarded her with amusement from Lee's desk while the blonde shifted through her clothes again and glanced at the clock. "It's six and I still don't know what to wear. I don't usually take this long to pick something out!"

"It's first date jitters." The older girl commented, giggling as Lee threw her a look that said 'gee, you think?'. "So it's normal that you're freaking out on thinking of whether or not your clothes are going to impress your date."

"I want to wear what I usually wear but another part of me is telling me to put on a dress." Lee strode over to Jazz and abruptly sat down on the floor beside the chair the other girl was sitting on. She sighed and rested the side of her head on Jazz's knees. "This stinks Jazz."

"Hey, look on the bright side – at least you have a date. I've never gone out on a date before."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Maybe?" Lee groaned and turned her head to bury her nose against Jazz's thigh. Jazz laughed and reached forward, pinching the outer shell of Lee's ear lightly. The blonde shifted and gave her an evil glare from the corner of her eye. "Ok, why don't we take a look at what you have and see what we can do? You'll have to put them on because I don't exactly have a keen mind on imagining how clothes look on people."

"Gee, thanks Jazz. Way to make me feel like I need to look presentable enough to be sold at an auction." Lee sighed and got up to her feet again, walking silently to her bed again and plucked at her clothes.

"Well, you are going out on a date with a guy you are totally interested in." Jazz grinned when she spotted the dark hue of red coloring Lee's cheeks and continued her teasing. "You already 'got sold', now it's time to 'serve'!"

"Jazz!"

Loud thumps and laughter caught the boys' attention down at the living room, causing them to pause from their homework and concentrate their ears to listening to the sounds. Indignant shrieks and hysterical laughter only greeted their ears, no words coherent enough for them to make out. The thumping of footsteps faded as soon as the voices had stopped, leaving the three boys confused as to what had happened.

"Weird." Tucker and Danny chorused and resumed their work while Brad frowned in the direction of the staircase. He stared up for a moment before turning back to his paper, but gave a loud sneeze instead.

"You ok Brad?"

"Yea." The blonde sniffed and rubbed his nose, making a disgusted face at the mucus. He got up and wandered about the living room for a box of tissues, finding the item at one of the cupboards. Brad blew his nose clean as he wandered back to the table with the box and sat down. "I think someone's talking about me."

"One of those feelings when you think someone's talking a whole bunch of crap that isn't true about you behind your back?" Brad nodded to Tucker's query and the other boy whistled. "I hope it isn't who I think it is."

"Goth girl or my spoilt bratty younger sister; take your pick."

"The latter. The former's probably going to be concentrating more on thinking, or talking, more about how to get Danny to start talking to her again to start bad mouthing you." Danny scowled and threw his eraser at Tucker who quickly ducked away. The eraser flew harmlessly over Tucker's beret and rolled about the floor when it landed.

"Thanks a lot Tuck. Way to break my concentration to finish the homework." Tucker gave him an apologetic shrug before reaching down to grab the fallen eraser and chucked it back at Danny. "Well let's just hope whatever she said isn't too bad or will ever be heard by your ears."

"You know you're going to jinx it that way right?" Danny chucked his returned eraser at Brad, smacking the blonde right in the middle of his forehead. This resulted in Brad tossing a potato chip at Danny in addition to giving him the finger in retaliation. The hybrid rolled his eyes as he caught the chip in mid flight and returned the gesture easily, no longer feeling conservative in flipping back at him.

Tucker and Brad stared at him in surprise and Danny rolled his eyes skyward, his lips curved into an amused smile. After a moment of silence, Brad finally spoke up. "… Oh great. Did I influence you?"

"What do you think?"

"I'm thinking that your mom's going to kill me for influencing you to cuss." The blonde responded smoothly, quickly leaning his body to the side to avoid the two chip pieces that were tossed at him. "You're going to have to clean that up you know. Fairy's going to kill you for messing up the living room."

Before Danny could respond, the shrill ring of the phone echoed in the house.

"I'll get it sis!" Brad hollered, holding up his hand in a gesture for Danny to hold off what he was going to say as he got up from the table and shuffled to the phone. A muffled 'ok!' sounded just as Brad pressed the loudspeaker and answered the call. "'lo, Angeles."

"_Bradley."_ Brad turned his head and exchanged raised eyebrows with Danny and Tucker, the three boys sporting identical smirks on their lips before Brad turned his head back and answered his father.

"What is it dad?"

"_I just called to inform you and your sisters that I will not be returning for dinner tonight."_

"Oh really?" Brad rolled his eyes when he heard muffled snickers from behind him. "What's the occasion?"

"_Apparently Valentine's Day."_ Brad could hear Tucker dissolving into giggles and Danny fighting to keep his laughter down at the slightly disgruntled tone in Tobias's voice.

"It's more like 'single awareness day' dad." The blonde laughed. "And… who exactly are you going out with? Or should I rephrase that and go with 'who's the lady who decided to start stalking you'?"

"_Shayera Hol." _Brad held back his own snickers at the flat tone but snorted when a second recognizable voice sounded from the speakers. Tucker slapped his hands over his mouth and Danny bent forward, both trying to keep their laughter down.

"_Oh, what's with that tone? If you don't want to go out then just say so. You don't have to accept __it you know!"_

"_It is rather difficult to give such a refusal when you bring your mace along with you."_

"…Holy shit. Shayera, you brought your mace with you? What were you going to do? Smash my dad's head in if he refused or something?"

"_No I wasn't!"_ Danny and Tucker finally let loose their laughter at Shayera's exasperated tone while Brad choked and smothered his snickers behind his hand. _"I got called on a mission and by the time I finished I realized that I wouldn't have enough time to go back to the Watchtower to clean up and keep my mace if I was going to catch your father at work."_

"_And yet it has not hindered you the slightest in settling yourself on my chair and dirtying it."_

"_Don't you mean your lap and your pants?"_

"Oh god, keep it down you two." Tucker was still laughing but sound was no longer emitting from his mouth, the dark skinned teen clutching his stomach as he rolled on the floor. Danny shared a mock repulsed look with Brad but dissolved into giggles when Brad returned to speaking to the phone. "Anyway, it's probably going to be all boys in the house tonight because Pixie's gone out doing god knows what and Fairy's got a date with one of Dickie boy's friends who came down from Steel City later on."

"… _I see. Which one of Richard's friends?"_

"Garth. That pale raven head with hair that looks way too smooth to be masculine." Tucker's laughter burst out again before he began rasping and choking, his body convulsing as he continued to laugh. Danny had banged his forehead on the table and was laughing so hard that tears were rolling from the corner of his eyes. The thumps and laughter had caught the attention of the two girls up in Lee's room, something that caused them to trot down the stairs to investigate what was going on.

The two older sisters raised their eyebrows at the two laughing boys and the snickering one by the phone.

"_I see. Would you like me to bring home some food before going out?"_

"_Come on, I'm sure the boys will be fine. There's something known a take-out and what kind of trouble can they get into?"_

"You don't want to know Shay." Brad quickly interrupted, catching sight of Lee and Jazz by the door to the living room giving Tucker and Danny weird looks. Lee turned back to face him with a raised eyebrow and he simply pointed to the phone.

"_I have made no such mention of calling someone to baby sit them." _The girls looked at the phone weirdly. _"I am only asking if the boys would want food for dinner."_

_"Brad, is your father always like this?"_

"I warned you this morning that he was a lost cause."

"Is that dad and… Shayera?" Brad nodded to confirm Lee's question and the girl rested her hands on her hips, scowling at him while he grinned widely. "Oh you – you're being horrible to them aren't you?"

"Me? No I haven't! I was only telling Shay that I warned her already that dad was a lost cause that she was trying to pursue."

"_I merely called to inform you__ three that I will not be returning for dinner Amilee."_ Tobias interrupted, the note of disgruntlement returning to his tone. _"Bradley and Shayera were simply having… fun bantering with each other."_

"_You can make fun of me of bringing my mace with me another time Brad."_

"… You brought your mace with you Shayera? Were you going to like… smash our dad's head in if he refused?"

"HAH!" Brad pointed at Lee with his grin spreading wider across his face. "That's what I said!"

"_Good grief. You three really do think on__ the same wavelength don't you?"_

"Not three. Just two of us at least – ow!" Lee strode over to Brad and pinched his ear, giving him a warning look. "Anyway, enjoy yourselves and try not to end up on the front pages of tomorrow's newspapers."

"_Enjoy your evenings Bradley, Amilee."_

"_I will skewer you young man. Just you wait."_

"Aw man Brad." Once the call ended, Tucker had finally stopped laughing long enough to clamber back up onto his chair, hiccupping as he wiped the tears from his eyes. Danny's laughter had faded but he was still giggling. "That was totally good. Really. I think I managed to record it on my PDA but it probably got drowned out by my laughing."

"Then you suck Tuck." Brad quickly dodged the chip that was thrown at him but the chip hit Lee instead. She turned and scowled at Tucker. "Oo, you'd better run Tuck. You just messed up the floor and hit Fairy at the same time."

"You boys are insufferable." Jazz giggled from the door when Lee glared at the boys. "And what's with this mess? I swear, sometimes I think that men would live like pigs if it were for women."

"How hurtful." Danny mourned as he rested his chin on the table and widened his eyes into his teary kicked puppy look. Tucker followed Danny's example while Brad cheekily rested his chin on his sister's shoulder. Lee threw her hands up in exasperation. "Not all of us would live like pigs. You're so mean."

"Have your room cleaned the next time I go over to your place and I'll reconsider the statement." She shot back, pushing Brad off her shoulder. Lee glanced to the clock and yelped. "Oh no, Garth's going to be here soon and I haven't even picked out what I'm going to wear! Please clean up the mess guys."

With that, the blonde girl quickly dragged the older Fenton back up the stairs where the slam of the door echoed in the house a moment later. The boys exchanged a look with each other before shrugging. "Girls."

The mess was easily cleaned with a broom and the boys resumed their work in silence. They were interrupted again, though this time by the ringing of the doorbell and Brad exchanged knowing nods with Tucker and Danny. The three boys quickly kept their books, Danny and Tucker making their way to the cushions on the floor while Brad strode to the front door.

"Uh, hi Brad." Garth greeted cheerfully. In the older teen's hands was another bouquet of flowers, though the species of flowers was blue carnations rather than the water hyacinths from the morning. Brad stared at the bouquet suspiciously. "Is Lee ready?"

A few thumps echoed from the upstairs before the door to Lee's room peeked open. "Brad? Who is it?"

"… Your soon to be scared shitless date."

"Oh you – don't you guys dare! I'll be right down Garth, just give me a few minutes. Come on in and don't get intimidated by the boys; they've been plotting something since the morning." The door clicked shut and more shuffles sounded from behind the door. Garth gave Brad an awkward smile but the blonde didn't return it, simply taking a step to the side to let the older teen in. He then pointed to the living room.

"In there." Garth quietly followed the command and blinked when he faced Tucker and Danny in the living room. Both teens had their arms folded across their chests and regarded him with serious expressions. Brad came in after Garth and jerked his head to the cushions. "Sit."

Garth obeyed the command, his lips curving in amusement with his eyes twinkling in anticipation. The teen set the bouquet aside carefully, not ruffling any of the flowers before turning back to the three other boys and straightened his posture. "Let me guess, protective brother speeches? I already went through Dick's lengthy lecture and death threats before I came here."

"So, you don't think we can scare you?"

"If Dick failed to scare me – and trust me he can actually issue some of his death threats for real – I really doubt that you can scare me." Garth responded honestly, shrugging lightly. The boys exchanged a look with each other. "But well, give me your worst."

"One: She gets back home by 10. Any later we start hunting you." Garth gave them a strange look and nodded his head slowly. Brad continued. "Two: make sure you do NOT have your hands anywhere near her chest or anywhere lower than her waist."

"Three: eyes off those same areas too." Danny took a glance sideways to see Tucker slide over to their bags and rummage through it. He turned back to Garth who had raised an eyebrow at them and continued. "Four: if she gets hurt in any way during this… date, we hunt you down. Five: No kissing. Understood?"

"Uh huh." Pause. "Is… that all?"

"Not quite. We're going to have… someone to make sure that all these are fulfilled." Garth's eyebrow rose higher. Brad turned over to Tucker who had the Fenton Thermos clutched in his hand. "Tuck?"

Tucker calmly unscrewed the Thermos and a sudden bright flash emitted from the opened canister, causing Garth to shield his eyes but Brad and Danny hardly flinched. Out popped a tiny green pup who yipped happily, bounding over to Danny and circling him with his wagging tail. Danny patted the dog's head, Garth stared at the innocent little puppy and blinked.

"…He's green." He looked up at the boys and raised his eyebrow. "And he came out of a… thermos. That's not normal."

"He's a ghost pup, what do you expect?" Cujo barked and sat down at Brad's side, looking up at him expectantly. Brad slowly patted the pup's head, Cujo barked again and leaned against the hand. Garth continued to stare. "Anyway, Cujo's going to be watching you. One wrong move and he'll start hunting you."

Cujo nosed Brad's hand before trotting over to Garth, sniffing at him for a moment before baring his teeth at him. Garth blinked again. "Uh… ok? But he looks pretty harmless."

The boys exchanged another look before Danny turned to Garth and Cujo. "Go for it Cujo."

The tiny pup suddenly blew up into a large heavy breathing monster of a dog, blowing hot smelly breath at Garth as he growled. Garth's eyes went wide as he came face to face with Cujo's large teeth and blinked rapidly.

"…Ok. I get the picture." Cujo shrunk back to his tiny size and sat down, looking oddly smug for a cheerful pup. "So, I guess this dog is… a ghost?"

"Phantom's dog to be more precise." Danny winked at Tucker and Brad, the two other boys exchanging smug looks with each other as Danny continued. "Phantom wanted to do the stalking but he's going to be busy if other ghosts appear, so he dropped Cujo on us and said that his dog will take his place in looming over Lee."

"Protective." Garth turned to look at Cujo who snarled at him suspiciously. "I didn't realize you guys were… friends with him. I thought they said that all the ghosts were malicious and malevolent here?"

"No, that's an exaggeration. Not all of them are malicious or malevolent." The hybrid corrected, raising a finger at Garth. "Cujo's only malicious if you hurt whoever he likes or if you take something precious away from him. Otherwise he's just like any other pup, wanting to play around with Frisbees and be pampered with love." He paused and gave Garth a suspicious glare. "You're awfully calm in your first meeting of a ghost."

"I've uh… had some experience in meeting folks… or other beings of a different kind." Danny and Tucker gave Garth unimpressed expressions and folded their arms across their chests while the older boy held his hands up in a pacifying gesture. "Hey, Steel City has its own brand of weird people. Ghosts… shouldn't be too bad."

"And don't think you can tell Lee about Cujo trailing after you two; Cujo will bite you." Cujo bared his teeth as if to emphasize Brad's point and Garth tilted his head at the pup, nodding his head slowly. Five heads snapped up to the direction of the staircase where Jazz and Lee's voices could be heard. Brad turned to Cujo. "Ok boy, go invisible."

Garth raised his brow in amusement when Cujo straightened his back and made a bark before simply fading from the spot he had been sitting at. Lee and Jazz appeared by the door, Jazz with a pleased grin spread across her lips while Lee had a light tinge of red coloring her cheeks as she smoothened out her clothes.

She had stuck to her usual color combination of blue and black. A sleeveless blue dress with a hood and black patterns that stopped just below her butt, and a pair of dark blue jeans underneath. She still wore her choker and her braids were let loose. Danny blinked when she fanned her face lightly with her hand, her expression shifting into an uncomfortable look as she looked around the room with a slight frown.

"Is it me, or is it… warm in here?" Danny frowned when she wiped her brow with the back of her hand. The others looked at her curiously.

"I think it could just be you sis." Brad stood and walked over to her, feeling her forehead for a moment with a frown. "Are you ok? It kind of feels like you're feverish."

"Yea, I'm ok. It just feels a little warm." Lee gently pushed his hand away and patted his shoulder before turning to Garth. "They didn't creep you out or anything have they?"

"Not exactly." Garth got up and took the bouquet with him, offering it to Lee with a smile. "Just a few ground rules I have to follow, but nothing big. Dick was worse though."

"10 o'clock." The boys chorused, Jazz raised an eyebrow at them as they glared at Garth. "No later."

Garth and Lee left the house a moment later, Lee with an annoyed scowl spread on her lips while Garth chuckled good naturedly. The invisible Cujo trailed after them closely. Back in the house, Jazz watched the boys in amusement as they nursed the new bumps on their heads courtesy of Lee's fist.

* * *

"Hey, isn't that your sister?" Casse looked in the direction Kwan was pointing in and squinted her eyes. She frowned when she realized that it was her sister, chatting animatedly to the tall boy, whom Casse had recognized as Garth, next to her.

"Oh… it's seven already?"

"Yep."

Casse grabbed her phone from her pocket and checked the time. She stared at the little screen for a moment before looking up again, catching sight of her sister openly laughing to whatever Garth was saying. A stab of jealousy flashed through her eyes.

"Hey Kwan?" Kwan made a thoughtful noise and glanced over to Casse who had her eyes glued to her sister's back. "You don't mind if we trail my sister? I mean, you don't have to follow me but I kind of want to go after her."

Kwan studied Casse for a moment, her eyes still following Lee's movements with a mix of determination and jealousy in them. His eyes flitted back and forth between the sisters as he pondered before he responded.

"Shouldn't we give her some space? I mean, Brad's obviously letting her have her space and neither of them tagged along with us through the day."

"I don't trust him."

"Brad didn't, and still doesn't, trust me either." The Asian pointed out and Casse broke her stare to scowl at him. Kwan raised his hands in a pacifying gesture.

"That's different! Fairy couldn't take care of herself because she's a magnet that attracts villains and gets into trouble." The blonde retorted, her head snapping back to where she had last seen her sister. "And because she's weak she's easily picked on. We're lucky she isn't dead yet."

"Are you cursing your sister?"

"No I'm not!" She snapped, her expression becoming agitated. "I'm being careful!"

"Whoa there, calm down." Kwan grabbed her shoulders and squeezed them lightly. "Just give her some space. You're not exactly being careful; I actually think you're being possessive and don't want to share your sister with anyone else."

"I don't need my sister – she needs me!"

"Well this many people who are going to be up all night, I doubt she'll get into any kind of trouble here." The football player reasoned, squeezing her shoulders again before gently leading her away. "Come on, didn't you say you wanted to kick my butt at Daytona again?"

With their backs turned, neither Kwan or Casse realized that Lee was looking straight in their direction. The eldest Angeles frowned and tried looking through the spaces between the people of the crowd but Kwan and Casse had already melted with the rest of the people.

"Is there something wrong Lee?" Lee continued to look over the crowd before turning back to Garth.

"Huh? Oh… nothing. Nothing. I just thought I saw Casse."

"Your sister?" She nodded and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Oh so she was out the whole day. I was wondering why she hadn't been around when I came to pick you up; I thought she was going to team up with your brother and friends and give me the third degree."

"She… she decided to stay out today." Lee responded evasively, looking down at her fiddling fingers for a moment before turning back up to look at Garth. "So, when do you go back to Steel City?"

Garth made a thoughtful noise and tapped his chin with a finger as he stole a glance at Lee from the corner of his eye. She waited for him patiently and blinked when he rubbed the back of his head and gave her a sheepish smile. "Uh… Later on at midnight."

"A day trip?" She frowned and wrinkled her nose slightly. "That's a huge waste of money on plane tickets Garth. I don't think it's worth it to just take a day trip to Amity just to ask me out for Valentine's."

"Dick told me to prove to him that I was genuinely interested in you and he was the one who paid for the tickets."

"Ugh. He's not stalking us right now is he?"

"I… wouldn't be surprised if he was or if he got someone to track us." Garth admitted as he tentatively reached forward to grasp Lee's hand. "He's really protective of you guys. Well, it's not like your brother and friends are any different from him though; they're probably equally, or if not more, protective of you."

"My current record for getting kidnapped and almost getting killed is enough reason for them to be like that." She sighed, smiling at Garth slightly as he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "So… where are we going for dinner?"

"Well I booked a table at one of the restaurants, it's not too fancy, something simple and looks pretty good for a first date." Garth shifted his eyes about before bending down to whisper into her ears. "Besides, I kind of thought that you wouldn't want anything fancy seeing how Dick goes about lavishing all the girls so freely. You're not quite the girl who goes for this kind of stuff."

"You thought right." She laughed, her nose brushing against Garth's cheek as her head tilted towards him while his back was still bent down to meet her ear. He paused and brushed his nose against hers before straightening his back again. She gave him a raised eyebrow.

"They, I mean your brother and your friends, set some rules that I have to follow." He explained shortly.

"…What rules?"

"Oh… just five rules." Garth gave her a shrug that matched the nonchalance of his thin lined lips, but his eyes were twinkling mischievously. "The 10 o'clock curfew was the first one, no kissing is another one of them."

"… I swear that they are going to pay for this." She muttered darkly while Garth politely hid his laughter.

Garth took her to one of the restaurants by the bay and the two ate their meal outside in the cool spring breeze. Unknown to them, Cujo was sitting right beside Lee's chair, invisible the entire time, and was staring at them intently as they conversed and ate. Lee had felt strangely warm throughout dinner even as the cool wind blew against her bare skin. Garth had reached forward to feel her temperature once halfway through dinner and Cujo had emitted a soft growl at his action, standing up from his seated position, but went silent and sat back down the instant Garth pulled his hand back.

The older teen also accidentally 'dropped' some scraps of his food down on the ground during dinner and hid a grin when he stole glances down to his feet to find the food slowly disappearing. Cujo allowed the outline of his figure flicker at Garth's feet for a moment, showing himself munching on the food and nudged Garth's shoe with his nose in appreciation but still gave the raven head a stern glare of 'I'm still watching you'.

Garth allowed a grin to grace his lips as Cujo's silhouette disappeared again, catching Lee's attention. She tilted her head and gave him a curious look.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

Dinner was finished without any incident and the two took a stroll around the park. Lee watched the couples cuddle against each other, the couples either gazing into each other's eyes or up at the starry sky. Cujo trotted behind her, keeping a close eye on Garth's hand that was resting on her shoulder.

"It's a nice clear night out isn't it?" Garth stated as they sat down on a free patch of grass. He winced when he felt teeth gnaw at his hand when it slipped down to Lee's hip and quickly adjusted his hand back up to her waist. Cujo gave an invisible grin as he settled down just behind Lee. "Good view of the stars too; Steel City's sky is always cloudy and fogged, and we don't have stars there."

"Well I heard that Steel City's mostly industrial and that there's a lot of pollution there."

"Yep, you heard right. But we're trying to cut down on the pollution, it doesn't hurt that Roy's been using his dad's influence to help us out."

They lapsed into silence, Lee slowly shifting closer to Garth as the other wrapped his arm around her firmly. Cujo scowled but didn't move, eying the two carefully. Lee rested her head on Garth's shoulder, gazing up at the stars while the other glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

The park was blissfully quiet, the couples happily wrapped up with their partners. Cujo snuggled against the grass, his eyes drooping slightly but was still staring intently at Garth's hand. Suddenly the pup shot up to his feet, his head snapping left and right as he snarled loudly. His snarl startled Garth and Lee, Garth pulling Lee closer to him while she whipped her head about trying to find the source of the snarl. A bead of sweat rolled down her cheek as another wave of warmth washed over her.

"What was that?" Cujo started barking and appeared behind her, startling the blonde so much that she almost scrambled onto Garth's lap. Cujo however, growled and looked backwards, baring his teeth menacingly as he got into an attack position. Lee stared at the pup suspiciously. "…Cujo?"

Cujo began barking again, catching the attention of all the couples in the park and snarled when the perpetrator dropped down from the sky in front of the pup. Lee and Garth quickly scrambled away from Skulker as he scowled at the screen on his wrist. Cujo snarled and hunched lower, ready to pounce if the other ghost moved. The other couples in the park began to panic and many of them screamed, scurrying away as fast as they could from Skulker.

"Stupid piece of junk…! I'm looking for that whelp, not a pack of congregating humans!" As Garth stood in front of Lee to shield her from Skulker's sight, she gasped softly as she recalled what Danny had told her.

"_Skulker's a hunter, he usually uses a high tech suit with a tracker to hunt his prey__ but in real, he's just a tiny little blob of ectoplasm with a huge ego. He's only out for me though so you should be relatively safe, unless some other ghost has seen your ghost form and spread the news of another ghost becoming corporeal. But even though I doubt that, his tracker might mistake your signal with mine because we probably share a similar signal pattern since we're both hybrids."_

'_Oh god, why now?'_ Lee groaned internally as she and Garth started to slowly step backwards from Cujo and Skulker. _'And what's Cujo doing here?'_

Cujo growled at Skulker and blew up to his monstrous size, gnashing his teeth menacingly at the ghost hunter. Skulker on his part, looked unimpressed at Cujo's large teeth and aimed his rockets at the large dog. "Get out of my way pup."

"Cujo! Get out of there!" Her warning came too late as Skulker blasted Cujo backwards, slamming the ghost dog through a tree. The scowling ghost turned to Garth and Lee, his scowl morphing into a smirk as he raised his rockets at them.

"Well since I'm here… no point wasting a good moving target practice."

"Run!" Garth grabbed Lee by the waist and threw their bodies forward to avoid the missiles that hurtled their way. A howl was heard as Cujo launched himself at Skulker again, clamping his teeth down on the mechanical arm firmly and shook the hunter roughly.

"Miserable mutt! Get your dirty teeth off my arm!"

"How about a shot in the butt instead Skulker?" The ghost hunter squealed and shot up into the air when a bright green beam smashed at his posterior and set it on fire. Garth and Lee looked up to see Phantom hovering a few feet away from them beside Cujo. The hybrid turned to face them. "Hurry, get out of here. I'll deal with him." He turned to Cujo and patted the dog's muzzle. "Go with them."

Cujo returned to his tiny size and barked in acknowledgement to his master, quickly dashing over to Garth and Lee as they scurried away from the battlefield. Now that the park was clear of civilians, Danny turned his attention back to Skulker who had dropped back down from the sky, the fire on his butt extinguished. The hunter growled and readied his all of his artillery, aiming directly at Danny who crossed his arms over his chest and raised a brow at him.

"You just saved me the time of hunting you down ghost child."

"Yea, because it looks to me that your high tech stuff is screwing up, bringing you to a place where I wasn't" Danny smirked, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly while Skulker steamed. "Unless of course, you were hunting my dog but Cujo's never interested you before; now shouldn't be any different. After all, after like what… almost a year? You still don't have my pelt at the foot of your bed. You must be losing your touch Skulker."

"I'll capture you now you little whelp! We'll see who gets the last laugh here." A humming noise began to flit in the air as Skulker charged up his weapons. Danny, with his smirk still in place, simply looked over to the bushes.

"Oh I wouldn't be too sure about that." The humming noise came to an abrupt stop and the sudden series of beeps alerted Skulker to look down at the PDA that was strapped to his wrist.

"'Fly around in circles and shoot fireworks in the air'?" The instant the words left his lips, his wings sprouted out from his back and began igniting. At that same moment, Tucker and Brad popped their heads out from the bushes with identical smirks on their lips aimed at Skulker. Tucker waved his PDA at Skulker smugly.

"Get a new firewall or something. Your armor security sucks."

"I'll get you for this wheeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!" Skulker's last word stretched out and was screamed when the rockets blasted the ghost up into the sky, leaving a trail of smoke in his wake as he circled over Amity Park. Danny shook his head and sighed.

"How many times has he said that and still fail at getting back at me?" He muttered as he watched the ghost circle in the sky. Danny then turned and raised an eyebrow at his two friends who brushed off the leaves from their clothes as they stood up from crouching in the bushes. "By the way… fireworks? What fireworks Tuck?"

"Ever wondered what would happen when multiple lasers and missiles are launched into the air and smash against each other?"

"Oh. _Those_ kind of fireworks." He laughed and shook his head, turning to face the direction where Garth and Lee had gone into. Brad and Tucker followed his line of vision. "Man, I can't believe was I right. Skulker did pick up her signal instead of mine."

"And it's a good thing you picked up on Skulker's trail before he did too much damage."

"Yea… Hey Tuck, is it me or are our fights with Skulker actually getting shorter and shorter?"

"'Our'? Don't you mean my fight?" Danny and Brad exchanged a look with each other as Tucker mock scowled at them before the three of them burst out laughing.

"Right, it's your fight now. Then next time I'll just leave any ghost who uses technology to you." Tucker gave exaggerated bows, hamming up the mock applause Danny and Brad were giving him just as the sky lit up with bright flashes of light. "Oo, the fireworks started."

"So how long will he last up there with his ammunition Tuck?"

"By my calculations… about an hour or so if his ammunition spews out continuously. Danny could suck him up in the Thermos after that or just do it now. I don't think Skulker can bust the Thermos up from inside since Danny tried it once using his Ghostly Wail and it didn't work – ok well it did to some extent but it took Danny about two hours to get out after that."

"Ladies and gentlemen, The new and improved Reinforced Fenton Thermos by Tucker Foley." Tucker stuck his tongue out at Brad who returned it easily with his own. Danny chuckled at his friends' behaviors before looking back up at the brightly lit sky.

"Well, you guys should head back first. It's nearly 10 so you guys can grill Garth if he brings Lee back after that. I'll leave Skulker up there for a little while longer, give the scattered couples something else other than the stars to see in the sky."

"Ah, such a way to end a date." Tucker feigned a dreamy sigh and clasped his hands together in an exaggerated love-struck pose. "Fireworks in the sky and then couples lean closer… and closer…"

"Keep your lips to yourself." Brad scooted a fair distance away from Tucker as the dark skinned boy puckered his lips at him in a mock performance of leaning forward for a kiss, the blonde's face contorting into a slightly repulsed expression. Danny choked and smothered his laughter behind his hand. "We'll meet you back at my place then."

"And while you're still out here, look out for Casse and make sure that Kwan hasn't taken advantage of her!" Tucker shouted after he and Brad had walked some distance away from Danny. The hybrid chuckled lowly, activating his invisibility before looking back up to the sky where Skulker was still flying around in circles and releasing all of his ammunition, all the while cursing at 'the whelp' and swearing all kinds of revenge methods into the empty night.

As Danny slowly floated off the ground and up towards Skulker, he shivered lightly.

'_Why do I have the feeling that something bad is going to happen tomorrow?'_

_

* * *

_  
Danny yawned and rubbed the sore spot on his head as he trotted to school with Jazz. Garth had brought Lee back home just before 10 so the older teen had managed to escape getting skinned by the boys before returning to Steel City. Lee did punish them for sending Cujo out to trail her, which was the reason why his head was hurting; her fists had gotten much stronger over the month and Danny made a mental note to tell her that she needed to control herself to not use all of her strength to hit them.

Casse returned home half an hour after Lee did, Kwan receiving a glare from both Danny and Tucker when he dropped her off. Brad had stayed true to his word and had made no visible signs of acknowledging her outing with the footballer. In fact, the middle triplet had completely ignored Casse when she stepped into the house. Casse had thrown him a hostile glare when Danny, Jazz and Tucker were going back home.

Danny couldn't explain why but there was a sense of foreboding that lingered at the back of his mind when he watched Casse glare at Brad's retreating back as the boy walked up the stairs.

"Something wrong Danny?" Danny looked up and gave Jazz a sheepish smile.

"Yea… I can't shake off this feeling that something bad is going to happen today."

"Maybe it's just a pop quiz that'll come out." He sighed and shook his head, wincing at the sharp pain that flashed by for a moment before turning back to the pavement.

"I don't know Jazz. It kind of feels like it's something way worse than just a pop quiz." Jazz stared at him as they stopped just outside of Tucker's house.

"Have you developed a sixth sense or something?"

"That's what I said a few months ago. [1]" Tucker chirped as he closed the door to his house and trotted towards them. "It's like you've gotten this sensor for sensing something bad that's about to happen bro. We really need to check whether if it's an extension of your powers or if you've really developed a sixth sense."

"Har har." Danny rolled his eyes in annoyance and lightly punched Tucker's shoulder as they continued walking down to school. "But really, I can't help but think that today is going to be a bad day. Remember what we heard yesterday Tuck?"

"Like I said, let's just hope that it won't be as bad as we think it will be." Tucker sighed and took his beret off, fanning his face with the hat for a moment before slapping it back on to his head. "So we're meeting them at school instead of at their place?"

"Yep."

The rest of the walk to school was silent but the sense of foreboding had grown stronger and was creating a heavy pressure against Danny's chest. His brain began to pound heavily against his skull, creating a headache out of the blue as he mumbled a short greeting to Brad before twitching the dial of the lock to his locker. Brad looked at him curiously, returning the greeting slowly as he closed the door to his locker.

"You ok? You don't look good."

"Sudden headache, that's all. Should be fine after a while." Danny waved it off, quickly grabbing the books that he needed and shut the door to his locker. He gave Brad a forced smile and jerked his head towards the girls' lockers. "Come on."

"Hmm?" The boys stopped in their tracks when they caught sight of Dash standing with his group of A List friends, Kwan included, surrounding Lee and Casse's lockers. "Hey, isn't jockwad supposed to be serving a five month suspension from school?"

"Yea he is." Danny confirmed and frowned, feeling the pressure squeeze his chest again and the pounding in his head increased ten-fold. "He's not supposed to be back in school yet. Not until May at least."

"This reeks." Danny made a noise of agreement to Brad's exclamation and the two quickly strode forward. Dash's voice finally sounded from the middle of the gathering crowd as they squeezed through the bodies and stood just behind a row of students.

"Come one come all! Let's all hear what little baby Angeles thinks about her _dear_ brother and sister." Danny frowned. The tone of Dash's voice sounded too… sinister. It didn't sound right but Danny's shoulders stiffened when the words had finally sunk in. _'No way. Kwan couldn't have –'_

"Dash, I already told you last night. I'm not going to tell you anything." Kwan said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest. Danny shifted his eyes to see Casse glaring at the A List while Lee was peering out carefully, hiding behind her opened locker door. "Look, I don't know what you're –"

"You don't have to tell me." Dash cut in, digging into his pants pockets and pulled out a recorder. His smirk had grown wider. "This can say it all."

With a click, the recorder started playing and Danny could feel the tension rising in the air. In his line of sight, he could see Casse's eyes widen as her voice filtered out from the recorder.

"_My brother's such a pain – he's always hovering around like a shadow and playing big boss with me. Humph."_

"_He is well, protective of you."_

"_Being a protective brother and being a pain in the ass are two different things. I swear, he just likes being bossy. I can't have my own pet just because he says so, and so what next? Have him rule over me with an iron fist and telling me who I can and can't go out with? Hah. If my sister can go out with that Garth guy, I don't see why I can't go out with you."_

"_He has every __right to be wary of me though."_

"_He's just jealous he doesn't have a Valentine. Or maybe he's like a closet gay freak or something. Yuck."_

"_You don't like gays?"_

"_It's not that I like or don't like them. They're ok, but I just think they're weird."_

"_That 'yuck' kind of said otherwise."_

"_When I start thinking of my brother being gay, that's a total duh. It's kind of creepy because he really could be gay because he's never shown any kind of interest in girls. It's just... ew. Just ew."_

Dash stopped the tape and clicked another button that screeched out parts of the voices before clicking the 'play' button again.

"_My brother's no better than our god brother, no wait. In fact, he's a whole lot worse and more annoying than Dick. It's as if he's looking down on me you know? Like he's some kind of know-it-all, so called doing stuff for my own good and that I'm dumb or something. He's turning into a snob."_

Danny whipped his head to the side to look at Brad. The other boy was grasping his bag strap so tightly that his knuckles bled white. His lips were sealed shut, thinned down to a straight line and his head was tilted downwards slightly, his bangs shadowing his eyes from Danny.

The students in the crowd were whispering loudly with each other, some of the whispers mocked Casse and statements of repulsion echoed in another few of them. Danny could see that their whispers had reached Casse's ears, the youngest Angeles's eyes wide, fearful and confused as her head whipped about looking at the crowd, trying to distinguish who was saying what. Her mouth opened but her voice never came out, as if she was at a loss for words to defend herself.

Kwan stared at the recorder in Dash's hand in horror, the shock having frozen his body in place and making him unable to reach out to grab the recorder. Lee gripped the door of her locker before dumping her armful of books into the locker and made a move to walk over to Casse when Dash boomed out again.

"Oh, oh! But that's just about her _gay_ brother." Dash's voice was mocking and Danny unwittingly clenched his fists tightly. He flinched when a hand rested on his shoulder and he turned to see Jazz and Tucker standing behind him, both wearing identical expressions of worry as they shifted their gaze between him and the downcast Brad. "Wait til you hear what she thinks about her _weak_ sister."

Lee froze at Dash's words and he clicked 'play' button of the recorder again.

"_I don't trust him."_

"_Brad didn't, and still doesn't, trust me either." _

"_That's different! Fairy couldn't take care of herself because she's a magnet that attracts villains and gets into trouble. And because she's weak she's easily picked on. We're lucky she isn't dead yet."_

"_Are you cursing your sister?"_

_  
"No I'm not!__ I'm being careful!"_

"_Whoa there, calm down.__ Just give her some space. You're not exactly being careful; I actually think you're being possessive and don't want to share your sister with anyone else."_

"_I don't need my sister – she needs me!"_

The recording was stopped and the whispers began to echo in the corridors. With Lee's back facing him, Danny couldn't see what her reaction was to listening to Casse's hurtful words. The eldest Angeles had abruptly spun her heel and turned back to her locker, grabbing her books and closed the locker door slowly.

The click of the door silenced the crowd and Casse had brought her head up to stare at her sister. The edges of Casse's eyes were tearing as she tried to reach out for Lee.

"Fairy? Fairy I –" Her outstretched hand and her quiet whimpers were ignored. Lee swiftly side stepping away from her as she walked towards their class room with her books clutched closely to her body. The crowd quickly parted to give way to Lee, the blonde still having her gaze cast downwards and refused eye contact with anyone.

"Brad?" Tucker whispered urgently when Brad suddenly pushed his way through the front row of students and sedately walked through. Just as he was walking past Casse, the youngest triplet lunged forward, grabbing his sleeve tightly.

"I didn't mean it!" She whimpered, tugging his sleeve with pleading eyes. "I didn't… I didn't!"

He jerked and wretched his sleeve out of her grasp, refusing to look at her directly and continued his walk to the classroom. Brad purposely pushed through the chattering group of A List students and deliberately shoved Kwan and Dash's sides before disappeared through the door.

Casse had sunk to her knees, clutching her head as her tears flowed down her cheeks. Te crowd had begun whispering loudly again, many of the whispers now mocking her cruelly. Danny clenched his fist even tighter as Casse suddenly got to her feet and raced away, her cries barely muffled against her hands as she pushed through the crowd and dashed straight into the girl's bathroom.

Snapped out of his shock, Kwan lunged at Dash. "How the hell did you get all that?"

Dash smirked, not at all phased by Kwan's sudden aggressiveness. He simply reached forward and plucked a tiny button like thing from the top of Kwan's jacket pocket. Kwan stared at the tiny blinking device.

"You fucking bugged me!"

Danny's head was pounding again and the pressure on his chest was making it difficult for him to breathe properly. He tried to take deep slow breaths but his body was too tense and rage was beginning to cloud through his mind. He wasn't sure what Dash had responded to Kwan with, but all he knew was that his self restraint had all but snapped.

The last he remembered was seeing red as he pushed through the crowd of students, lunging at Dash and delivering a fierce punch to the blonde's nose.

* * *

**Authoress's Ending Notes:**

[1] Reference to Chapter 5: Growing Up, Growing Apart

1) Wow. Well I was aiming for a lot more friction between the characters, nothing really can stay stable forever can it? Things are... about to get a whole lot more complicated.  
2) I apologize for the lack of fights, but it would kind of be redundant if it were going to be the same result. Right now those fights are... not quite important as of yet. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get to such fights soon and not have it dragged out.  
3) Thank you to **WordLife316**, **Ambiance23**, **Enchanting Elf** and **Abyss of Essence** for reviewing the previous chapter :)  
4) **WordLife316**: Their friendship will be repaired ^^ It just take some time :) Thank you for reviewing!  
5) **Ambiance23**: Drama. Uh, does this chapter have enough of it? XD? Thank you for reviewing :)  
6) **berrycherry** from DA has done yet another two more fanarts for the fic, I'm very honored that she's doing them! Please check out her rendition of Ragdoll Ringmaster Puppet Tucker, Guard Puppet Danny and Puppet Master Lee!  
**http :/ / berrycherry9. deviantart. com /art /Ringmaster-Puppet-Tucker-123724690  
http :/ / berrycherry9. deviantart. com /art /I-ll-Protect-You-123726031**  
7) If some of you have seen my DA, I've been working on a side Timeline to the P&A timeline. The title to the fic is **Alternate Timeline: Warped Future** which will branch out from P&A's 'TUE' event. That fic will Mature rated (meaning there are things that are only for adult eyes), with established Yaoi relationship(s). But it's still in the works and it is just a side story. It may, or may not, be posted depending on whether or not I manage to type out the set number of chapters that I'm aiming for or if anyone is actually interested in an OCXDanny (yaoi) relationship XD  
8) Thanks so much for reading and please do drop a review if you have the chance :)

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	18. Split Self

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress's Beginning Notes: I wouldn't say I'm completely pleased with this chapter, but if I messed around with it too much I think I'd make it worse. Trying to hit something that is a mix of 'Maternal Instincts' and 'Identity Crisis' was far harder than I thought. It's more explanations here (with some more drama and angst) and I'd just like to note that I usually see Phantom as a separate entity from Danny; well in a sense he becomes his own person when they are separated but majority of his attributes are derived from Danny. This is just my take on how it 'could be' in the DP verse. On another note: Original!Danny is coming back :D I hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 15****: **

**Split Self**

**

* * *

  
**

Plasmius's eyes widened as the scene unfolded. The unsuppressed rage that was in Daniel's eyes pierced straight through him from the screen as the younger hybrid lunged forward with his fist drawn back. Plasmius quickly typed a command, ordering his minion to escape from his host as Daniel's fist plunged forward and smashed his knuckles against the host boy's nose, sending him flying backwards and landing on the floor with a loud thud.

His minion quickly slithered out of the host and Plasmius entered another command for him to return to the castle. The older hybrid stared at the image of Daniel's rage filled eyes that glowed a menacing bright green that filled the screen before switching it off and leaned back against his chair heavily.

He hadn't anticipated the violent reaction and tapped his fingers together as he filed through his thoughts. It just didn't fit. Now the nagging feeling that had floundered at the back of his head when he witnessed Daniel's confrontation with Samantha had returned with a vengeance and Plasmius was beginning to worry.

Even though his little circle of friends was breaking away, Daniel wasn't completely reacting the way Plasmius had anticipated he would in his perfectly thought up scenarios. He was reacting far more violently and darkly, not quite what Plasmius had in mind given his first meeting with the younger hybrid back during the college reunion.

Perhaps, he thought, the plan has been flawed. Or his target had simply changed far too much for him to anticipate how he would react to in the different scenarios. He needed to gather more information up front. Sitting behind a screen simply wasn't enough if he wanted to study the younger hybrid's erratic behavioural pattern.

Plasmius got up to his feet and swiftly returned to his human form, staring grimly at the empty screen.

It was time to pay the little badger a visit.

As he walked up the stairs from his laboratory, Vlad made a mental note to send Valerie the new range of weapons he had designed and allowed a cheeky grin to grace his lips.

And while he was studying the little badger, it wouldn't hurt to drop some… hints to his dear Madeline at the same time.

* * *

Danny couldn't remember what exactly transpired once his knuckles made contact with Dash's nose. There had been a lot of screaming and he vaguely recalled someone pulling him back as Dash scrambled away from him, the feeling of twisted pleasure that had coursed through his veins at the expression of complete terror on the jock's face as rivers of blood ran down his broken nose. He had been tempted to simply phase out of that person's (it was later that Jazz told him that it was Tucker who had restrained him) grasp and continue pummeling Dash but Lancer's bellow broke through the haze of rage that clouded his mind.

The next he knew, he was fuming in Lancer's office as the bald teacher chastised him for brawling in the school corridors. Not a single word of Lancer's lecture had gone into his head – his mind was still digging up ways of extracting revenge – and the only part of the lecture he remembered was Lancer dishing out his punishment: a week of suspension from school.

His parents had mixed expressions on their faces when they came to pick him up but Danny hadn't been able to find anything in him to feel guilty for making them worried. He didn't even respond to their questions during the ride home and locked himself up in his room the moment they got back.

He hadn't been surprised when Brad came over after school with his school bag and another backpack filled with clothes. Danny quietly pushed his door open and peered down from the staircase to see Brad silently nodding his head to Maddie before he quickly zipped up the stairs and met Danny face to face. Without an exchange of words, the boys scurried back into Danny's room and only emerged out for meals (Brad still went to school in the mornings).

Brad had been, understandably, quiet throughout his stay in Fenton Works. None of the teens had been willing to tell Maddie and Jack what exactly had happened in school that brought on this sudden change (another one at that) and why Brad was hiding out at Fenton Works again like he did during Christmas. Lee did drop by at various times of the day to check up on him but when Casse came round, Danny threw various excuses at her to avoid the ugly confrontation that he knew was most likely to occur if Brad wasn't given enough time away from her.

Lee mentioned on her second visit (with everyone sans Casse present in Danny's room) that Casse had gone and called their godfather, begging him to let her to return to Manor in Gotham. Much to her (Casse's) dismay, Tobias had denied permission for her to do so when Bruce had called him up. He even gave Bruce a good telling off for giving in to Casse's every demand. Danny had to admit – Casse really did have their godfather completely wrapped around her fingers if he was actually willing to pay for the plane tickets to bring her back to Gotham just because she wanted to.

Danny had sighed when Lee finished off with telling them about the temper tantrum that Casse had thrown at their father at his refusal to let her return to Gotham.

"_She said a lot of… things."_ The eldest triplet had murmured, her gaze dropping down to her fidgeting hands as her voice lowered. _"And she called him a lot of names too. I know she probably doesn't mean all the stuff she said but… some of the names were really too much."_

It was now midnight of the second day Brad was staying over and Danny's mind continued to churn with thoughts of the turn of events as he stared up at the blank ceiling. Kwan wasn't to blame for Casse's public humiliation but the irrational side of him was still screaming that Kwan still played a large hand in it by letting Dash pressure him into asking Casse out in the first place.

But then the irrational side of him was also throwing in an extra two cents that Casse was too loose-tongued, speaking out on impulse without thinking, and needed to learn when to keep her mouth shut. Though the irrational side of him had put it in a more colorful way, Danny omitted the colorful language and breathed deeply to calm himself.

He was still angry. Angry at Dash who had done the humiliating act, angry Kwan who had the intention of deceiving Casse, angry at Casse for not thinking about her siblings' feelings, angry at Brad and Lee for letting Casse get away with what she said and angry at himself for not being able to do anything to stop the recorder when he had the chance.

A sigh escaped his lips and turned over to his side, meeting Brad's peaceful sleeping face. They were back to camping out on the floor. Danny propped himself up on his elbow, resting his cheek on his palm and studied his friend's face for a moment. He frowned when he caught sight of Brad's hand fisting the pillow casing tightly, his brows creasing down into a pained expression as he tried to burrow his cheek deeper into the pillow.

'_Maybe he's having a nightmare.' _He blinked and reached out, but his hand hovered just a few inches away from touching Brad's shoulder, unsure of what exactly should be done. While Danny hesitated, Brad's fist tightened and his body proceeded to curl into a tiny ball as he tried to hide his face into the pillow. Danny released a tensed sigh before bringing his hand up to his friend's face and gently pressed his palm against Brad's forehead. He slowly rubbed the blonde's forehead before bringing his hand down to squeeze the other's tensed shoulder.

It took a while of gentle massaging before Danny felt Brad's muscles relax from under his hand, the blonde uncurling slightly from the ball he had curled up into and his face returning to a more peaceful expression. Danny released another sigh before taking his hand away and turned onto his back, stretching out like a cat and gave a mighty yawn. Sleep was starting to fog his mind and his eyes were drooping shut.

He released another yawn before burying his head into his pillow and fell asleep.

* * *

Maddie didn't quite know what to think when she peered into Danny's room with the intent on bringing the boys out of their sleep and down to the kitchen where she wanted to talk to them. The boys were curled against each other, both wrapped snugly in the nest of blankets on the floor in the middle of the room. She rubbed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, forcing herself to calm down and not overreact to the disturbing, yet strangely cute scene before her. _'I should not overreact, I should not overreact…'_

Her internal mantra was cut off when she saw Danny snuggle closer to Brad and nuzzle the blonde's chest. Her maternal instincts flared when Brad wrapped his arms around Danny's waist and pulled the shorter boy closer, burying his nose into the mop of black hair. She didn't care if the boys were doing it unconsciously or if Brad was her son's best friend – this was her baby boy! Her baby boy was still too young for this!

She marched forward and pulled at the blankets hard, dislodging the boys from the tangle of limbs and causing them to bang their foreheads against each other. Simultaneous yelps of pain sounded as the boys untangled from each other, shot up from the floor and clutched their throbbing heads. A pang of guilt stabbed Maddie's heart, she hadn't counted that they would smack against each other and hurt themselves.

"Boys, I need you up and down in the kitchen in ten minutes."

"Mooom! It's too early!" Danny whined and flopped back onto the floor, his head cushioned with his pillow. His eyes were squeezed shut. "And it's not even the regular time we get up for school!"

"Up and in the kitchen in ten minutes. I mean it you two." Her hands were shaking and she flung the blankets onto Danny's bed before quickly striding out of the room. Tea, she thought, tea would be good right now as she trooped down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Maddie wanted to praise a higher entity for the wonderful man known as her husband when Jack handed her a cup of tea just as she entered the kitchen. She almost inhaled the entire cup of tea in one go as she sat down at the table. Jack's hand rested on her shoulder and squeezed lightly, making her look up to meet her husband's worried gaze.

"Mads? Is something wrong? I thought you were going to wake the boys up so that we could talk to them."

"I… I did wake them up." She shifted her gaze to her empty tea cup and felt Jack's gaze train on her, waiting for her to continue. She breathed in deeply before speaking, her hands toying with the cup idly. "Jack… what would you think of Danny… if he was gay?"

An awkward silence followed and Maddie felt Jack's hand slip from her shoulder. She didn't know if it was the shock of the sudden question that had gotten to him or if he was going to ignore the question. But she blinked when Jack pulled up one of the chairs from the table and sat closely to her, resting his hand on hers.

"What brought this up sweet cakes?"

"I… well." She fumbled with her words a little, her eyes still trained on her tea cup while Jack waited patiently for her. She took in a deep breath and started. "I caught the boys in a… well, _compromising_ position when I went to wake them up."

"…What kind of compromising position?" Agitation pounded in Maddie's veins and she exploded, waving her hand about exasperatedly.

"The kind of position that couples usually get into! Snuggling, cuddling up against each other, hugging closely –"

She carried on her rant for a short while and when she finally stopped, she blinked when she saw Jack's amused expression from across her. "Feeling better Mads?"

She sighed. "A little." She admitted, letting her husband's gentle squeezing soothe her hand muscles. "But really Jack, what else am I suppose to think? What am I suppose to do?"

"Think that our son has grown up and support him all the way." He leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Maddie's forehead. "But really Mads, boys being touchy feely with each other equates to being gay? You didn't care about such things when Vladdy boy and I met you in college, especially when you were protesting for homosexual rights and tried using the both of us as an example."

"I was eighteen!" She protested, a wild blush streaking across her cheeks as she recalled their first meeting. She had thought that Vlad and Jack were gay because of how often they kept on touching each other. "And I didn't know you back then!"

"Mads." Jack snorted and bumped his nose against hers with a wide grin. "You thought I was gay just because I liked having physical contact with my friends, girl and boy. Don't you think that Danny might have gotten that particular aspect from me and may not necessarily be gay just because you caught him snuggling with one of his best friends?"

"You're overreacting sweet cakes." He chuckled and got out of the chair, grabbing her empty tea cup and headed for the kettle. "But you can start giving him and Brad 'the talk' if you want just in case. I already gave Jazzy-pants 'the talk' so it's your turn. Look on the bright side, at least you get to embarrass them."

"The point of 'the talk' is not to embarrass them Jack." She scolded lightly, the sides of her mouth twitching up into a smile as he gave her an 'innocent' grin. "And I was supposed to talk to them about these last minute sleepovers; it's getting out of hand."

"Well, here's your chance to kill two birds with one stone. Here come the sleepy heads." Danny and Brad stumbled into the kitchen, both boys were still clad in their rumpled sleep wear. Both had broken into teary yawns as Jack slid the second cup of tea on the table in front of Maddie. "Come on boys, be a little more energetic! It's morning and it looks like it's going to be a mighty bright day."

"How can you expect us to be energetic when we've been kicked out of bed at least an hour earlier than when we do wake up on a normal school day?" Danny groused, dropping onto the chair Jack had sat on earlier with Brad dropping down onto the chair next to him. Jack chuckled and lumbered to the fridge. "I don't even need to go to school until next week."

"That's because you got suspended for brawling young man." Maddie reminded sternly, catching Danny halfway through another yawn and caused him to abruptly snap his mouth shut and lower a guilty gaze to the table. Jack chuckled lightly and pushed a plate of donuts on the table in front of the boys before scooting over to his wife's side. The boys grabbed a donut each and proceeded to munch down on them as Maddie continued speaking. "And we need to talk about some things."

Danny and Brad continued munching on the donuts, both nodding their heads at Maddie with sleepy expressions. Maddie shook her head in exasperated and studied them for a moment. The boys didn't seem to mind the closeness they had with each other (Now that she came to think of it, Jack had no qualms with being physically close to Vlad when they were younger) and she straightened her posture, staring down at the half-asleep teens. "I think it… should be time for you to have 'the talk'."

"…The wha?" Maddie elbowed her husband lightly as he chuckled at Danny's sleepy response.

"What you mother means is, 'it's time to learn about the birds and the bees'." Maddie's lips broke in an amused smile at her son and his best friend's reaction to Jack's clarification.

Both boys had stopped biting down on their donuts, their eyes wide and blinking owlishly at Jack and Maddie as if they had grown an extra head each. The small bite of donut that was in Danny's mouth teetered on his bottom lip, it then dropped out of his mouth and onto the table. Brad still had his donut in his mouth, having stopped in mid-bite with the donut stuck between his teeth. An awkward silence followed, the boys staring at them incredulously until Brad finally dislodged his teeth from donut.

"Well… this is awkward." Danny dropped his donut on the table, his face coloring a bright red as he stared at her with a mortified expression. "I don't have to be present do I?"

"MOM! You woke us up…for this?!" Brad awkwardly patted the back of the mortified boy with his clean hand and slowly brought his donut back to his mouth. "Couldn't you like… embarrass me with this talk when none of my friends are around?"

"Actually, I thought it would be good to give both of you the talk at the same time." Brad's mouth halted and hung open as he stared at Maddie. Danny gave her an incredulous stare. "Because of all your sleepovers, I've… found a few things."

The boys had abandoned the donuts, their half eaten/bitten donuts lying forlornly on the table as their cheeks flared a bright red. They exchanged confused glances with each other before turning back to Maddie. Neither of them seemed capable of speaking up at that moment to protest against the sudden need for 'the talk'. She cleared her throat and rested her clasped hands on the table.

"Now, the two of you have been getting pretty close in the past few months and you've been having… a lot of sleepovers since then." The boys just blinked at her. "And normally in 'the talk', it revolves around… boys liking girls and vice versa. But this doesn't mean that boys who like boys, or girls who like girls will be excluded from this talk."

"Wait a minute!" Danny threw his hands up and formed a 'T' with them, his expression mixed with bewilderment and horror. Beside him, Brad's eyes had gone wider and his head had tilted to the side as he blinked at Maddie. "Mom. Do… do you think we're gay and that…" Danny turned to blink at Brad before turning back to Maddie. "We're dating or something?"

"Well if you want to put it that bluntly, then yes."

"…Mom. Just a few days ago you were asking me if there was something going on between me and Lee, and now you've jumped into thinking that Brad and I are dating?" He stared at her and thumped his head on the table, narrowly missing his half eaten donut. "Make up your mind mom!"

"Of course I'll get suspicious when I find my son cuddling up against one of his best male friend in the morning." She returned easily. Danny raised his gaze and blinked at her, his chin still resting on the table. "That and you seemed pretty indifferent at the thought of dating Lee when Jazz mentioned it. What's there not to conclude?"

Brad choked and turned his head to the side away from Danny, his shoulder trembling lightly with his hand clamped over his mouth firmly. Maddie raised a brow when Brad suddenly yelped and scooted his chair away from Danny, her son glaring daggers at Brad who had returned to clamping his hands over his mouth.

"Mom. Then let me make it clear now." Maddie idly realized that Jack had disappeared and allowed her eyes to sweep around the kitchen quickly. She caught sight of his large posterior sticking out from the fridge and realized that her husband was 'hiding'. "I am not, at least at this point of time, gay. Nor am I looking to be in a relationship. I'm not even interested in anyone for crying out loud!"

"No, you must be asexual if you're so indifferent at the thought of dating my sister." Danny scowled and launched himself at Brad, intent on dishing out revenge at the tease. Brad quickly scurried out of his seat and dodged the swipes. He yelped and ducked when Danny grabbed one of the donuts from the table and flung it at him. "At least you're not pansexual!"

"I'm going to kill you Angeles!" Danny chased Brad around the kitchen, dodging past Maddie and Jack as he tried to grab the blonde. Maddie allowed the boys to run around, chuckling lightly at their antics and berated herself for jumping to conclusions. She swore that she heard Jack sing out a soft 'I told you so' when he cleared the half eaten donuts from the table.

Maddie watched in amusement as Danny lunged at Brad and succeeded in wrapping his arms around the other's neck, leaping onto Brad's back as if he were getting a piggy back ride. Brad yelped and swung his arms about like a windmill in an attempt to regain his equilibrium with the sudden weight that attached onto his back. His attempt failed and Brad fell forward with Danny clinging onto his back.

A loud thud resounded in the house and Maddie quickly got up from her seat to check on them. Danny was sitting triumphantly on Brad's back, pinning the other boy down on the ground. A rush of footsteps from outside the kitchen caused Maddie to look up to see Jazz hurrying down, her sleep clothes unkempt and her hair sticking out in various directions. She stopped a few steps above the foot of the stairs and leaned over the banister to stare at the boys. Jazz blinked and rubbed her eyes.

"Um… what are you two doing?" Brad squirmed from beneath Danny while Danny looked up and waved at Jazz.

"Oh. Morning Jazz. Mom woke us up early and I'm just extracting some revenge on Brad for calling me an asexual."

Jazz blinked at them again. "O…k." She turned her gaze to Maddie. "Mom? Why did you wake them up so early? Danny's not due back in school until next week and it's like… about half an hour before our usual waking time to get ready for school."

"I just wanted to have a talk with them Jazz." Maddie responded coolly, her gaze trained on the boys as Brad tried to throw Danny off his back so that he could get up from kissing the floor. Danny however, was still fighting to keep his perch on Brad's lower back with a maniacal grin spread across his lips. "And I'm not quite done with them either. We only got through one half of the talk before they started rough housing."

"Oh… ok. Well I guess boys will be boys." Jazz shrugged lightly and covered her mouth as she yawned. She turned to go back up the stairs but leaned over the banister again to speak to the boys. "And Danny, you might want to get off Brad's back because it looks as if you're going to rape him or something."

Much to Maddie's amusement, Danny had immediately sprung away from Brad at Jazz's comment and lifted his head to shoot a glare at the empty staircase. Brad crawled into a sitting position and leaned backwards, a crack and a few popping sounds emitting from his body as he bent his back.

"Oww…" He groaned as he slumped forward and pounded a fist on his back. "Danny you're fat."

"Boys." Maddie warned before Danny could refute. "I'm not done yet. Get back to the table and sit down."

"Yes Mrs. Fenton."

"Yes mom." The boys chorused solemnly, scrambling to the table to avoid invoking her wrath. Danny paused when he reached out for the chair and turned to Maddie with a raised eyebrow. "Wait… what do you mean you found us cuddling in the morning?"

"When I went to wake you up just now." She explained, gesturing him to sit down as she walked back to her seat. Danny didn't sit and just followed her movements, Brad mirroring his actions though he was already seated. "You were snuggling into Brad's arms like an affectionate puppy so I thought there was something going on."

The boys blinked at her before turning to face each other. After a moment, they started edging their chairs away from each other. Maddie chuckled lightly as she sat back on her seat. _'Oh these boys…'_

"Well, since you boys don't want to listen to 'the talk' now, I'll let it go for now." Her eyes twinkled when Danny and Brad released simultaneous sighs of relief and swore she heard Jack mutter a disappointed 'aw fudge bucket'. "But, we have to do something about these last minute sleepovers. It's getting a little ridiculous that Brad's staying over so often."

"Now, I may not know exactly why he always comes over since you've already shot the idea of the two of you dating out." She raised her hand to prevent the boys from speaking up. Danny and Brad closed their mouths and let her continue. "Brad, if there's something going on at your home, I don't think it's good that you're running away from the problem by coming over here. Tobias may let you do what you want, but you have to understand that you can't keep running all the time."

"You don't have to tell me what happened; I have a few theories after what I've seen in the last few days." She gave her son a stern glare, as if to tell him that she knew what he had been doing. Danny shrank back at her glare while Brad lowered his gaze to the table. "You can't continue doing this. I have a feeling Lee is affected by whatever it was that happened as well, but she's not running from the house is she? You're leaving her to deal with whatever the problem is, alone."

Maddie allowed her words to sink in a little before she continued. "I'm not here to ban you two from having anymore sleepovers, but to ask you to at least give some consideration to others. Danny, ask Tucker to come over to stay with you two. I'm sure you two aren't fighting that you don't invite him over anymore. You're giving me the impression that you've been fighting with Tucker and Sam so much that you don't want them over anymore."

"Oh." She smiled when Danny blushed lightly and rubbed the back of his head. "No, no. It's not like that mom. I mean, Tuck and I are still best friends."

"Then you have to show it a little more." Maddie chided gently, noting that Danny had omitted talking about Sam. "It looks to me as if you're sticking to the triplets and leaving them behind or that Brad has a problem with Tucker and doesn't want to be close to him."

"And Brad." She turned to the blonde who had his mouth opened to protest her earlier statement, giving him a pointed look that made him close his mouth and stare down at the table. "You might not know how to deal with some problems but running away from them is not going to help you. You're just delaying the confrontation that needs to be done. Our house isn't a safe haven and Danny can't continue protecting you by shutting out the people you have a problem with forever."

Brad shrank back, his body sliding down from the seat as an embarrassed blush streaked across his cheeks. Maddie released a quiet sigh before finishing off.

"Brad, pack all your things and bring them with you to school. There will be no sleepovers for two months, starting today." A meek nod from the blonde was enough response to Maddie before she turned to regard Danny seriously. "And Danny, you are grounded until the end of next week for getting yourself suspended from school. That means no video games, TV, going out or having friends over."

"But mom!"

"No buts." She said firmly. Danny sank down on the chair and stared gloomily at the table. She sighed and shook her head sadly, immersing herself in her thoughts.

Change scared Maddie. Her children changing scared her. When Danny first started getting interested in girls when he hit puberty, she was afraid that she wouldn't have a part in his life if he found 'the right one'. Irrational of her usually calculative mind, but this was her baby. Her babies were growing up and were already beginning practicing flying out of the nest. It was only a matter of time before they left completely.

The thought of them leaving scared her. She didn't want them to go; she wanted them to stay as they were, her little babies snug in her nest where she could protect them and watch over them.

She released a mental chuckle; she was being hypocritical. Even though she said that it wasn't possible for Danny to continue protecting Brad forever, she still wanted to protect her babies.

"Mom?" Maddie snapped out of her reverie and found both boys watching her curiously from the other end of the table. "Are you –"

"It's nothing sweetie." She sighed and shook her head before pointing to the stairs. "Now, Brad you're going to have to pack your things and get ready for school. Danny, you should go up and help him. After that you're going to stay in the house and Brad, you should tell your sisters and Tucker that you're all not going to be allowed to visit Danny while he's grounded and give his homework to Jazz. Am I clear?"

"Yes madam." Without any arguments, the boys stole another donut each before scurrying out the kitchen and up the stairs. Her tea had gone cold and Jack had disappeared to their basement once she had started to lecture the boys about their sleepovers. She sighed and stared at her reflection on the surface of the brownish liquid.

The boys, no, all of the kids were hiding something. While Maddie knew that there were some things that were best left as secrets, she couldn't help but feel bitter and wondered if her children didn't trust her enough to talk to her about their problems. Their relationship with Sam was almost non-existent; Danny was still evading the topic whenever she brought it up and Jazz would stay silent.

She felt a gap that was wedged between her and her kids since Danny's accident the year before. That was when they had started to change and instead of closing the gap, it had grown wider as time passed. It felt as if her children were becoming strangers to her.

Maddie sighed and rested her forehead against her hands. She didn't know what she could do to bridge the gap between herself and her kids. She felt her heart clench as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, allowing her mind to wallow in the past where she everything about her children and still held them close to her.

* * *

Danny sighed and stared up at the ceiling, counting the gray spots that flickered in his vision. He knew that he deserved the punishment for getting suspended from school, but couldn't help but feel bitter and conjure up a whole variety of reasons to explain why he wasn't at fault.

'_Great.__'_ He groused as he turned his body to stare at clock on his wall. 12 o'clock._ 'Now that I'm grounded, the ghosts are going to start rampaging around town and I'm not going to be able to continue training Lee.'_

Loud knocks on the door jolted Danny out of his thoughts and he crawled out of bed. He stuck his head out the window and frowned at the sight of Dash, with his nose covered in bandages, by his doorstep. Danny jerked his head back into his room, his lips curving into an angry scowl as he strode over to his bedroom door and overheard his mother open the door to greet Dash.

"Hello Dash." Danny blinked. Was it him, or was there a colder note in his mother's tone? "What brings you here? I don't think you have any business here since Jazz terminated her tutoring sessions with you a few months ago."

"Um… Hi Mrs. Fenton." Danny's lips dropped into a frown. Dash never had problems sucking up to his parents or smooth talking with them. So, why did he sound so nervous then? "I uh… I was kind of hoping if I could speak to Fentu- I mean, Danny."

"Is it something very important?"

"Uh, well. Kind of. I really need to talk to him."

"Gee, that's too bad because I sure as hell don't want to talk to you." Danny lazily rested his elbows on the stairway banister as Dash and his mother turned their heads to look back at him from the door. He returned Dash's stare with a cold glare. "Go back home and gloat there Dash."

He ignored Dash's shout of 'oh come on, just ten minutes!' and slipped back into his room, flopping back onto his bed with a thump. He tuned out the noises from the hallway by slipping on his earphones and blasting music into his ears. About one song later, loud knocks on his door sounded above the noise of the music. Danny ignored it, knowing that it definitely wasn't his mother because she'd call out to him once she knocked. He closed his eyes just as the door creaked open and Dash slowly strode in.

After another song, Dash made an exasperated noise before speaking loudly over the music.

"At least tell me what the hell it was I did that pissed you off this badly!"

Danny's eyes flew open and he abruptly sat up on his bed, shooting Dash a 'are you deliberately being dense or are you just completely stupid' look. Dash stared back at him evenly. After a few moments, Danny plucked the earphones from his ears without breaking eye contact with Dash.

"What, you suddenly became amnesic or something?" He finally spoke out, spitting his words bitterly at Dash who's even expression morphed into a confused look. "One of your biggest stunts in history and you don't remember it? Please, don't play dumb with me and go gloat somewhere else like with your A List group where you can jeer and laugh at us."

"I'm serious Fenton! I don't know what the hell it was that I did that made the rest of the A List proclaim me to be some kind of king and why my best friend suddenly doesn't want to talk to me anymore!" Dash ran a hand through his hair, ruffling and gripping a tuft of it tightly before turning back to Danny with pleading eyes. "One minute I'm walking home with Paulina for a tutoring session and then the next minute I'm lying on the floor in the corridor of the school with my nose is broken and facing a completely pissed off you looming over me. You've got to believe me!"

"Why should I?" He challenged, glaring fiercely at Dash as he folded his arms across his chest. "Nothing you've done so far is worth making me give a thought about believing what you say now. In fact, after what you did two days ago, I'm starting to regret ever pleading with Lancer on giving you a second chance for that C.A.T stint you did on me."

Danny watched as Dash paced by his room door like a restless caged animal. The jock was running his hands through his hair, fisting and unclenching various times as he paced. Danny continued to glare at Dash before angrily turning his gaze to the wall. "I guess it was too much to ask for you to change while on suspension." He muttered bitterly.

"I'm trying to change!" Dash stopped his pacing and faced Danny, snapping angrily. "It's not as easy as it looks when I've grown up being taught that showing compassion was a sign of weakness and that anyone else who didn't have money or were eccentric weirdos were lower classed than my family."

"Gah. Fine be that way; don't believe me then. I don't blame you for not wanting to believe me though." The blonde threw his hands up in exasperation at Danny's glare and stuffed his hands sullenly into his pant pockets. "But I really don't know what happened to make you mad. I have changed Fenton. I'm forcing myself to change, to see your point of view, because I owe you that much for giving me a second chance."

"I'll see you in May I suppose. Later Fenton." With that, the sullen blonde exited the room and shut the door quietly behind him. Danny stared at the closed door for a moment, concentrating his ears to hear the front door creak open and shut. Once he heard the creaks, he fell back onto his bed and glared at the ceiling with an expression mixed with anger and confusion.

'_What the hell was he trying to get to?'_ Danny groused as he tried to shove his anger away to give proper thought to Dash's visit. _'He can't remember? That can't be right, especially when he was happily gloating about his triumph in my face in school and I'm pretty sure he was there, and wasn't some kind of illusion or a ghost impersonating him. The broken nose proves it. So what the hell?'_

He sighed and pushed away the pesky thoughts, his anger clouding over his rationality. Nothing was making any sense! He turned onto his side and rested his head on his pillow, staring at the wall blankly while listening to the ticking of the clock.

Danny lay on his side for a while, his mind blissfully blank of thoughts and emotion as the minutes slowly ticked by. Suddenly he jolted into a sitting position and twisted his head to face the closed door, his eyes blinking rapidly as thoughts of his current predicament returned and began to whirl in his mind.

'_The Fenton Dream C__atcher! The last time I went through that thing it separated my ghost half from me and Tucker from his ghost half when Desiree gave him ghost powers. The ghosts aren't going to lie low just because I'm grounded and Jazz can't cover for me. I need to be in two places at the same time… only in different forms. Maybe… just maybe…'_

He paused and contemplated the idea further, trying to calm the adrenaline that was pumping in his veins at the thought that he might have come up with a solution to his problems.

'_If I can manage to separate my ghost half from myself… Lee might want to do the same __because it would probably turn her back to normal. But is it really safe enough? Could there be an after effect if we're separated for too long? Tucker's doing fine since his ghost half was separated so I guess it might be ok… but he never gained the powers like we did…'_

He found himself running around in circles, refuting each of the positive points of his idea with dangerous negative ones and examples to boot. The adrenaline of the sudden excitement was wearing off and Danny touched his chin thoughtfully as he went through the many possible scenarios that could happen if he went through with the idea. The positive weighed evenly with the negative and he tried to find another thought that might tip the scales in either favor.

'_I won't know unless I've tried it huh…'_ He mused and shifted his legs into a lotus position, hunching forward to lean his free elbow on his knee as he continued to think deeply. _'Trial and error… if it works, Lee won't have to worry about the ghost powers, neither would I for that matter, and we'd be able to go back… to being normal. No more ghost fighting, no more obligation, no more lying or hiding from the parents. Maybe even our separated ghost halves could continue fighting. They'll become separate people from us, probably like some kind of manifestation or extension of us, but they won't need to worry about parents, friends and identity when the ghosts appear. The people could still be protected from the other malicious ghosts!'_

The scales were tipping in favor of the idea, Danny running through the best case scenario if what he thought could be done. The adrenaline had returned in his veins, excitement building up again as each positive point was made. It wasn't looking like just a simple solution to his current predicament; it was beginning to look like a permanent solution to a majority of his problems and as a stopper to Lee's internal conflict.

Danny twiddled his fingers together, his eyes dancing with glee and excitement at the possible prospect of being able to wash his hands clean off from fighting and lying. No more dragging his friends into the line of fire, no more getting hurt or fearing when a new enemy would appear. He was beginning to like the idea even more than when he first thought of it.

His eyes darted to the clock. 1 o'clock. Two more hours until school would be let out. He needed to give Jazz a fair warning before he tried going through the Dream Catcher; Danny predicted that she would completely flip if she saw two of him, granted they would be different forms of him, running amok at the same time. And the rest of them, he added idly after a moment's pause, they'd probably chew him out for giving them heart attacks if he didn't give them enough warning but since he was grounded, he'd have to get Jazz to pass on the word.

'_I need to write everything down.'_ He got out of bed and scooted to his desk, fishing for his stationery before hunching over the paper. _'If this works out, everything can go back to normal. But first I need to make sure that it's safe enough for Lee to go through… she's been through way too many life and death situations and if this turns out dangerous…'_

He shuddered at the possibility of the situation becoming disastrous before quickly shaking the feeling off and penned down the possibilities of the idea. He needed to confirm a few theories before giving Lee any hopes of separating her ghost half from her.

Now all he needed to do was plan…

Jazz stared down at the piece of paper before bringing her head up to stare at her determined brother with an incredulous look.

"Are you out of your mind?!" When Danny shook his head in response, Jazz blew up. "Danny, it's too dangerous and even though you've written out a list of what good might come out of it _IF_, I stress the if here, _IF_ it works the way you think it might work out to be, it's still too risky!"

"But there's still a good chance that it'll work." He argued, pointing to the piece of paper in Jazz's hands. "I went through it before and Tucker's just fine after what happened to him."

"But you merged back with your ghost half immediately after you got separated from it." She refuted, waving the paper about exasperatedly before slapping it down on Danny's bed where she was sitting. "And Tucker is not on the same boat as you or Lee so he's not counted. Face it, it's too dangerous and we don't know the long term effects of this… idea of yours. I say no."

"Come on Jazz." Danny wheedled, shooting her wide puppy eyes of pleading. "We won't know until we've tried! It's like science; we need to test the theory out so that we can prove it or throw it out."

"No! What happens if something goes wrong? This isn't a game where you can just restart it with a press of a button!"

"It's just until next week." Jazz groaned and slapped her hand over her eyes as Danny assaulted her with faux teary eyes, widening them even bigger as he jutted his lower lip out. He allowed the lip to tremble slightly for added effect. "Please? If anything goes wrong halfway you can just drag me back to the Dream Catcher and toss me back through it. The ghosts aren't going to idle around just because I'm grounded and I still have to help Lee out."

"Pretty pretty pretty please?" Danny scooted his chair closer to his sister and rested his chin on her shoulder. Jazz peeked from between her fingers and made a grumbling sound from her throat as she was met with big pleading blue eyes. "With lots of sugar on top?"

"If you're so set on this, why even ask me for my opinion?" She groused, shoving Danny away from her. He toppled off his chair and landed on his side on his bed beside her. "You don't make any sense Danny."

"Hey!" He pouted at her and sent a wounded look in her direction. "I would still need to tell you because I know you'll freak if you see two of me at the same time and I also need you to help me tell the rest since I'm completely grounded and none of them are allowed to come over."

"So, I'm just a convenient messenger girl then." Danny spluttered and shook his head wildly, his eyes wide in horror as he tried to reason. Jazz giggled quietly before patting his head to stop him from rambling and pulled him into a hug. "I'm just joking. But I really think that this is a bad idea Danny."

"What could go wrong?" Jazz gave Danny a pointed glare when he slid out of her arms and smacked the back of his head with a scowl.

"Don't jinx it." She warned as they both got up and strode out of his room. "I'm grateful that you want to give me a heads up, but don't ask for my opinion if you're not going to listen to it Danny."

"I'm sorry?" He offered quietly as they snuck past the kitchen where their parents were before quickly making their way to the basement. "I guess I just wanted another opinion despite being set on going on with it."

"In other words, you were just trying to make yourself feel better." Jazz rolled her eyes and pointedly ignored the wounded expression Danny tossed in her direction as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "I really hope you know what you're doing."

"I think I do at least." The older Fenton made a noise of disgruntlement but stood to the side as Danny dragged the Dream Catcher out from the corner and set it in front of her. He eyed the height of the device a few times, his eyes glinting with a hint of doubt before he shook himself, transformed into his ghost form and floated upwards towards the net. "Well… Here goes."

Danny threw himself forward with his eyes squeezed shut and felt the strings of the Dream Catcher run through his entire body. There was a sharp yank in his head and he yelped at the pain that throbbed in the aftermath of it. He then found himself tumbling forward and impacted hard on the floor face first. Beside him, another thump sounded and a yelp of pain followed soon after. There was a sharp intake of breath close by and Danny forced his eyes open.

His hands were no longer gloved and he glanced down at his body once he propped himself up on his elbows. He was back to his human form.

Beside him, the white haired teen groaned and crawled up to his knees, the black fingers of his gloved hand rubbing his temples rhythmically. The other boy finally brought his head up and turned to stare back at Danny with wide glowing green eyes. Silence enveloped them as they stared at each other until the sound of Maddie's voice echoing from the stairway jolted the three out of their stunned stupor.

"Jazz? Danny? What are the two of you doing down at the lab?" Phantom emitted a small squeak before he vanished on the spot and Jazz quickly pushed the Dream Catcher back to the corner as she hollered back up the stairs.

"Nothing mom! We were just looking at some of your inventions and Danny's just being his usual clumsy self!" Jazz rattled a few of the glass apparatus and allowed the tink and chiming sounds to echo up the stairs. The visible duo held their breaths as shuffling noises echoed from the top of the stairs and released their breaths when the noises faded away. Phantom reappeared back at the spot on the ground where he had landed and sighed.

"That was close."

"You're telling me." Jazz's eyes flickered back and forth between Danny and Phantom. "So ghost half Phantom, regular human half Danny?"

"If you mean that as a way of differentiating us, then yes." Phantom chirped as he got up to his feet and gave a little hop. Once he was airborne, he floated up and hovered a few feet off the ground with his legs folding into a lotus position. He smiled widely at Jazz and waved. "Hi Jazz."

"Uh, hi." She awkwardly returned the wave and sent a curious look to the silent Danny. "Danny? Are you ok?"

"Peachy." Jazz's eyebrow shot up at the cold tone he used as he got up from the floor and patted the dust off his clothes. Phantom watched Danny intently, a frown marring his face as he folded his arms across his chest. Danny looked up at them, his gaze icy and his lips spread in a thin line. "What?"

"I think you just underwent a personality change or something." Jazz stared at her brother's human half hard, her hands resting on her hips as she scrutinized him. "I knew this was a bad idea."

"But it's not too dangerous – at least, not now that is." Jazz and Danny shifted their gazes to Phantom who blinked at their stares and twiddled his fingers together as he continued to float in the air. "If Danny becomes unreasonably violent, then *that's* when it'll become dangerous."

"What do you mean by that?" Jazz questioned sharply, staring sternly at Phantom who threw his hands up in a pacifying gesture with his eyes staring widely at her.

"Just a feeling – I am a part of him after all." The ghost reasoned, lowering down to table height and rested his hands on his knees. "He's just literally split himself apart and now he's a little… unbalanced."

"And just how do you know all of this?" The suspicion oozed through her tone and Phantom quickly back away from the menacing older sister.

"Hey! I practically live in his head, like a subconscious or something. But I'm not the only one in there too you know. There's another there, he just hasn't completely manifested yet and now that I'm not there to balance Danny out, he's going to be influenced by the other him."

"Who's this… other me you're talking about?" Phantom turned to regard Danny solemnly. Danny folded his arms across his chest and tapped his foot impatiently on the ground; Jazz flitted her attention between the two halves of her brother but stayed silent.

"Everyone has a good and bad side to them, no one is completely 'good' nor are they completely 'bad'. Like light and dark; one can't exist without the other and to create the dark, there must be light and vice versa. But then again, you can never be sure what exactly 'good' is or what 'bad' is." Phantom pressed his hand against his chest, gesturing to himself. "Let's just use the basic definition of them as perceived by society, and possibly yourselves, in general. I'm the manifestation of what you might call your 'light' or 'good' side. Because you've had 'good' intentions when using your ghost powers – most of the time anyway – when you transform to your ghost form, this appearance that you see now, this 'me', is what you become. The 'Phantom'."

"Isn't it just coincidental?" Jazz tapped her finger on her chin thoughtfully but looked straight at Phantom. "I mean, Tucker's said it before that they were just playing around with our last name and threw it 'Phantom' as a joke. Plus from what I remember them telling me, Danny came out looking like you after the portal accident."

"I wouldn't say that it's entirely coincidental, between the naming and appearance thing, but that's something that's way over my understanding. If you want, go find the Sorceress or Clockwork; they probably have the answers but I don't know if they'll even tell you." Phantom sighed and his body spun upside down for a moment before turning back upright. "So it's likewise for the 'other you', but only reverse the situation. He's the manifestation, or would be manifestation, of your 'dark' or 'bad' side; your darker emotions to be more precise. And he would be, when he completely manifests, the 'Shadow'."

"Wait a minute." Jazz shifted her gaze to Danny who was staring incredulously at Phantom. "Wasn't that… the name of your alternate future self who was controlled?"

"Doesn't look entirely coincidental anymore does it?" Phantom nodded his head sagely as he floated around the basement, nimbly twisting in the air to avoid hitting any of the apparatus and weapons left lying around. "See, he's your 'dark' half and when you use those powers like how your alternate self used it, regardless if he was controlled or if it was by his own will, you transform into Shadow. Well, at least I think that's how he'll look like, but I'm not completely sure about that."

"Shadow and I are like the Chinese yin and yang, dark and light, the opposites. But it doesn't mean that I can't be nasty or that Shadow can't be nice. Like I said just now, there's no such thing as pure light or pure dark, there's always an inkling of the other somewhere. The only matter is whether or not they want to reach out for it is another story though."

"Like Lee for instance." The siblings blinked at Phantom who nodded his head to confirm what he just said. "Yup. I mean it. See; remember the kidnapping incident and the tape recording? Lee said that she'd go far enough to kill if it meant protecting her siblings so she's willing to reach out to her darker half if it comes down to it. I mean you all do too, though probably in different ways, will reach out to that darker half of you and whether or not you'll be consumed by that darker half to be well, 'evil' or 'bad' or whatever it is you want to call it, is again another story. It's the same with those… 'evil' people; it'd just be a reverse of what I just said."

"How come you know all of this and Danny knows squat?" Danny threw Jazz a withering look but the red head ignored it and concentrated on Phantom.

"Hey, I'm just the subconscious, or one of many subconscious' if Shadow's counted as a subconscious too; I see the tiny details that people usually miss and make my own assumptions." Phantom sighed, twisting out of the way of the Specter Speeder and flew over it. "I may be a manifestation of Danny's 'light' side, but I'm also my own person when separated from him."

"But in any case; Danny, just don't listen to that little voice that's taunting you at the back of your head." Phantom stopping floating in the air and touched back down quietly on the floor on his feet. "He'll try influencing you to do a lot of things, most of them unpleasant like shooting your mouth off at your mom or completely busting Valerie's chops as the Red Huntress. It would probably be a good way to see how well you fare in controlling yourself without me but at the same time I'm really skeptic about this entire… episode."

"Hear hear." Danny threw Jazz a dirty look as she raised her fist in the air in agreement to Phantom's words.

"You… you…" Danny spluttered, his mouth opening and closing voicelessly as he struggled to voice the correct word. "You guys are mean!"

"Nice come back little brother." Jazz teased lightly, striding over to him and ruffled his hair with a grin. She didn't notice the angry scowl that curved on his lips or the arm that had stopped in mid air with the intent of brushing her hand off his head. But Phantom did and the ghost folded his arms across his chest as he frowned at Danny. "I'll be sure to tell you 'I told you so' if this entire thing backfires and since I'm the designated messenger girl, I'd better go and warn the others about your ghost half running around Amity while your human half is stuck at home."

"Should I come with you to prove to them that you're not bluffing them?" Phantom twiddled his fingers together again, his heels bouncing on and off the floor. "Well even if you may not need me to prove it, I thought I'd go and help Lee out for her training session for the day and then go for a patrol around to make sure none of the ghosts are running around."

"That's a good idea." Danny mumbled, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Plus you don't have to come back here to sleep and you can virtually just stay out without needing to worry about curfew, lying to parents or completing homework."

"You sound quite bitter about it." Phantom noted, bouncing off the floor completely and hovered. "But it's not like I will be able to stay out forever and never return. Despite everything, this is my home too and I'm no hobo. I like to have some place to return to at least. Besides, sleeping out in the open is a cry for 'come and get me in my most vulnerable position' and the park benches look really uncomfortable."

Jazz snorted and smothered her giggles with her hand while Danny rolled his eyes at Phantom, the ghost boy giving them a wide innocent grin in return.

"Piece of ham." Phantom made a mock expression of shock and pain as he clutched at his heart as if he were wounded. Danny threw a rude gesture at him, earning a disapproving glare from Jazz and a raised eyebrow from Phantom. "Well go already. Mom's probably going to come down soon because we've just spent like, more than half an hour down here already. I'll just have to lock myself up in my room again."

"Again, you sound bitter." Phantom pointed out again, earning an annoyed face from Danny. "I think you might be channeling Shadow without knowing so… I can only suggest you try to avoid face to face confrontations and from speaking up. Either that or… well, try to control that bitterness maybe?"

"…Do I really sound that bitter?" This time, Danny blinked at Phantom in confusion before turning to Jazz who nodded her head. He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his messy black tresses, ruffling them with an edge of annoyance. "Ugh. I don't get why I am feeling annoyed and bitter."

"Like I said, you're probably channeling Shadow without knowing it." His ghost counterpart soothed gently, hovering forward and reached out to pat Danny's shoulder reassuringly. "Hey, look on the bright side; since you've basically been grounded into solitude, you won't snap out at anyone or do anything stupid."

"Thanks a lot." Danny scowled and swung his fist at Phantom, who quickly ducked out of the way and slipped over to Jazz. "Very reassuring. Are you sure we're the same person?"

"I've already mentioned that I'm my own person when I'm separated from you." The other responded coolly, peeking out from behind Jazz's shoulder as he hovered at her back. "It would be the same with Shadow *if* you get separated from him too, but that's not quite a good idea even though it will balance you again if I happen to be separated at the same time. I'm not too sure about what the consequences would be but I wouldn't want to test that out at all."

"Don't give him any ideas Phantom." Jazz chided, flicking her finger at the bleach haired teen's nose and causing him to yelp and slap his hands over his reddening nose. She ignored Phantom's retaliatory wounded puppy expression. "Anyway, try to stay out of mom and dad's way if you're starting to feel any kind of negative emotions like hatred, annoyance and bitterness just to name a few. It will be tough for me to try covering that up for you if I'm not around to know what it was you did or said."

"Like I said, I'll just lock myself up in my room." Danny's voice wavered, as if he was struggling to control the unpleasant tone that was threatening to leak out from his mouth. Phantom frowned at him. "Go on, I'll be fine."

"Are you a hundred percent sure?" This time, Phantom levitated towards Danny and stuck his face closely to his, their noses just a few inches away from each other as he stared straight into Danny's eyes with worried bright green. "You know, it's not too late to merge back. I could just carry you up with me and we could go through the Dream Catcher again, or I could just zip back in like the last time. Jazz, Brad and Tucker could sub in for you to keep the ghosts in line if they attack."

"…What are you, my maternal side?" Danny pushed Phantom away from him, the annoyance palpable in his voice as he glared at his ghost half. "I don't want them to get into trouble from subbing in for me against the ghosts just because I'm grounded. You should know that if you're a part of me."

"True, but I'm also being rational."

"Ok, that's enough you two!" Both boy and ghost halted in their exchange and turned to Jazz who massaged her temples with her fingers as she released an agitated sigh. "Geez, it's like watching a ping pong match. Phantom, it's Danny's idea so let's just go along with it for a while ok? If it gets really bad, then we force you guys to merge back. No complaints Danny."

"Yes Jazz." The two chorused solemnly, both exchanging a glance with each other before Phantom floated back towards Jazz.

"Boys." She muttered, shaking her head while Phantom took the opportunity to turn invisible. "Just… try to stay out of trouble Danny. Better yet, stay out of mom and dad's way if possible."

"I know, I know! Stop nagging already." Jazz gave Danny a skeptic look and he returned it with an annoyed glare. "Look, the more you nag at me, the more annoyed I'll get and I thought that we're supposed to avoid annoying me in case I blow a gasket or something?"

"He's got a point." Danny scowled while Jazz gave a jump at Phantom disembodied voice that echoed lightly in the lab. "We should probably leave him to his own devices and just hope for the best. You can always check up on him later Jazz."

"You know, it's a little creepy when you do that."

"Huh? Oh, you mean the disembodied voice thing?" Phantom's chuckle echoed eerily around the lab, causing Jazz to shiver lightly while Danny rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Sorry Jazz, but that's something way beyond my control. I guess invisibility equals creepy disembodied voice, though I'll never be able to explain to you, or even myself, why my voice sounds less creepy when I'm visible."

"And exactly how much longer are you guys going to dawdle?"

"Don't get your boxers in a twist." The invisible ghost chirped as Jazz raised her hands in a surrendering gesture and turned to walk up the stairs. One of the Fenton Thermos' made a disappearance at that point. "Remember: in room at all times unless it's for meals and why not take your aggression out on street fighter?"

"Yes _mother_! Stop nagging already geez." Another chuckle bounced off the walls of the lab at Danny's exasperated exclamation and all went silent as Jazz and Danny made their way up the stairs. They quietly slipped past the kitchen again, only peeking in to check up on their parents and saw them talking with each other quietly at the table.

Jazz offered Danny a small wave as she stepped out the front door and he caught a glimpse of a black fingered hand waving at him from her shoulder before it vanished into thin air. Once Jazz closed the door, he trooped up the stairs quickly and slid his room door shut when he stepped into his room.

Danny released a sigh and ran a hand through his locks. He paused, taking his hand away from his hair and stared at it. It was shaking but it wasn't just his hand; his entire body was trembling, as if something he was suppressing was battling against him to be let out. He stared at his hands in odd fascination, turning it over to inspect the back of his hand before striding over to his bed and flopping front first onto the mattress with a soft 'thump'.

He smacked his forehead against his pillow a few times before rolling onto his back and proceeded to thump his fists on the mattress, humming a strange tune at the same time. Danny repeated the action a few times, still trying to ease the tension that was wrecking through his body but to no avail. By that time, someone could be heard knocking at the door and Danny concentrated on the voices while still thumping his fists on his mattress.

His fists clenched tighter and stopped thumping against his mattress, his eyes widened before narrowing in anger and his body tensed even worse than before as he heard his mother's voice from downstairs.

"Vlad? This is a surprise; what brings you down to Amity Park?"

"I thought I'd just drop by for a visit my dear. Oh and, these are for you."

"Why… thank you." His mother's voice sounded confused and a rustle of paper could be heard when he concentrated hard enough. His heart began thumping harder and louder against his chest. "The roses are… lovely. Won't you come in for a cup of tea?"

"I hope the roses are to your liking Madeline." His body quivered at the false sweetness in Vlad's voice and heard a strange echoing sound pounding at the back of his head. "And I will, thank you very much. Are Jack and the kids at home?"

"Jazz went out about an hour ago. Jack's in the kitchen and Danny should be up in his room; he's been grounded." Footsteps sounded along with his mother's voice and following her sentence was the click of the door snapping shut. His fists shook violently as he curled to one side, squeezed his eyes shut and tried to force himself to calm down.

All the while, the voice he heard whispered words encouragingly and echoed sinisterly in his head.

'_Take him out. Take him out. Let's make him pay, make him run, make him scared shitless and __teach him never to mess with us. Let's punish him! Claw him, taunt him, break him! Get him to stay away, get him to beg for mercy. Let's tear him apart!'_

_

* * *

  
_

"No! I'm not interested!"

"Aw come on, please?" Lee groaned and buried her face into her hands as Phantom hovered his face a few inches away from her and gave her large pleading eyes. He even jutted his lip out in a pout for good measure. "There isn't going to be any harm in trying it out."

"I don't want to." She responded stubbornly, taking her hands away from her face to glare at Phantom and crossed her arms over her chest. "Danny's accepted that I don't want to do anything beyond the basics, so why are you so hard on about it?"

"Because I'm curious." The ghost responded honestly, leaning in closer to bump the tips of their noses lightly as his bright green eyes stared into her crimson ones. "Besides, Danny just refrains himself from pushing you further when in real fact is that he's really itching to see what else you can really do. He feels guilty about what happened and so he just keeps quiet about it. Come on Lee, it's not going to hurt and you might never know if it'll come in handy."

"No!" She repeated, her cheeks coloring a light red at the closeness of their faces and leaned backwards away from Phantom. "I don't care if it would 'come in handy' in the future; I don't want to use these powers. Period."

"What if I said 'pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty please'?" She shook her head, her blonde locks brushing against her cheeks. Phantom pouted again and thought for a moment. "With lots of sugar on top?"

"That only works on Casse."

"Rats."

The two were situated in Lee's room with no one else present in the Angeles house; everyone having their own agenda for the day. Jazz had gone to find Brad and Tucker about Phantom once she had finished explaining the situation to Lee, who had been the only one around in the Angeles house when she got there. Casse was unsurprisingly not present nor did Lee know where the youngest triplet had vanished off to.

Plus, Phantom had introduced himself as 'the possible alternate version of Danny' to Lee when Jazz prompted him to become visible.

Lee had, predictably, flipped.

And Phantom received a whoop on the head courtesy of Jazz.

The training had gone on as per normal once Jazz had left, that is, until Phantom suggested developing her other abilities which led to their current situation of arguing. Neither of them was willing to back down from where they stood.

"But you're using them now."

"That's because I don't want to start falling through the floor nor have any of my limbs disappear halfway when I'm doing something!"

Phantom was undeterred and slithered forward, bumping the tips of their noses again with determination shining in his eyes. He stared into her eyes again, blinking at her with his lips curved into a curious pout. "Why are you so afraid?"

"Why are you so insistent?" She returned, tilted her head away from him and shifted her body sideways. Phantom then shifted and rested his chin on her shoulder, still staring intently at her face as she continued to try shuffling away from him. "You know, this is really uncomfortable."

"Ah right. Sorry." He withdrew away a little but still hovered closely to her. "But really, what are you afraid of? It's not like the powers are going to come out and bite you in the ass just for using them."

"Gee, really? Because it looks to me as if everything that Danny's done that involves his powers is always coming back to not just bite him in the ass, but to thoroughly kick it into the next century too." Lee muttered sarcastically, resting her cheek on her palm with an annoyed scowl. "The Red Huntress is one of them."

"Well, let's put it this way; Red Huntress is an emotionally unstable and vengeful person who lacks the proper training in the use of weapons and hand to hand combat." Phantom floated to the side to look at Lee's face from the front. "She can be considered a minor threat if only she didn't expose innocent civilians while on a rampage. We are perfectly capable of avoiding and defeating her hands down, but Danny's just too nice to do it to her considering the fact the reason why she became the Red Huntress was partially because of Cujo."

"Wait." She sat straight up and stared at him. Phantom paused and grimaced when he realized he had slipped up. "You guys know who Red Huntress is? I thought you, or at least Danny, weren't going to keep any more secrets from us?"

"Come on, hear me out at least." She folded her arms across her chest as he explained. "In this case, we're dealing with someone else's identity here. It's not something that can be freely exposed regardless of our closeness with each other. Her circumstances are a little… different, although I wouldn't say her way of dealing with her situation is reasonable or understandable, but you'd have to have some kind of respect for her identity even if she is one of our enemies. If you found out who she was on your own and then questioned me, then sure that's fine."

"I… do have a few suspicions." Lee admitted grudgingly. "But I wasn't sure so I just kept quiet about it."

"Well, since we're already on the topic, why not tell me who you think is Red Huntress."

A pause. "Valerie Gray?"

"Bingo." She sighed and silence enveloped them for a moment before Phantom prodded her shoulder with a finger. "So really. Why are you so afraid?"

"Can we please just… end this session?" She turned her face away and refused to look at Phantom who withdrew his hand from her shoulder. "I don't want to continue this argument."

"Ok." He didn't pursue further, no more questions asked and left it just like that. He rose in the air and unfolded his legs, watching her carefully from his line of vision. "Then I guess I'll go on patrol now. I'm sorry that I made you uncomfortable, but you aren't alone in dealing with these powers and you can't just shove them aside you know. And you shouldn't start thinking about doing what Danny did with the Dream Catcher because we don't know what kind of long term effects it will have on us."

"But really," Phantom whispered softly as he half-phased through her bedroom door. "Why are you so afraid?"

He phased through her door and floated down the stairs, catching sight of the digital clock sitting silently on the table at the side of the corridor. 6 o'clock. He activated his invisibility, phased out of the house and took to the skies, sighing as the crispy cool breeze brushed against his cheeks.

As the breeze carried him around the town, he spotted Tucker and Brad trotting down the street below him, both immersed in quiet conversation. Brad looked strangely small and meek, his shoulders slouched forward with his hands stuffed into his pockets. Tucker seemed to be his normal self and whatever Brad had told him made him sling his arm around Brad's shoulders, poking the blonde's cheek with a finger with an exasperated scowl on his lips as he spoke. Phantom studied them from the sky for a moment and resisted the urge to eavesdrop on them, allowing the gusts of wind to carry him along.

He spotted Jazz a few moments later, walking with some of her school friends out from the mall. A smile graced his lips as he watched her, floating downwards to study the group of four girls and almost laughed when he overheard them chattering about potential careers and colleges.

'_Well at least Jazz has some other friends.'_ He chuckled lightly, his smile growing wider when Jazz whipped her head around and earned curious looks from her friends.

"What's wrong Jazz?"

"I thought I heard something." Phantom shoved his fist into his mouth and quickly rose up higher into the air as Jazz raised a suspicious eyebrow. "I guess I must've imagined it."

"You've been working too hard big sister." One of them laughed and bumped shoulders with Jazz. "How's your little brother by the way? He's really changed from last year; still a little shy and bashful but he's sure grown a backbone strong enough to stand up to Dash."

"He didn't just grow a backbone." Another tittered with a grin. "He grew some muscles too if he could break Dash's nose. What the hell have you guys been doing in your spare time girl?"

"He's fine; grounded and annoyed, but fine." Jazz shook her head and released a mock exasperated sigh as she rolled her eyes skyward. "And my mom's been teaching us martial arts for self defense remember?"

"Better watch out or little brother's going to fly out of the nest sooner than you think." The other four exchanging meaningful glances with each other. "You probably won't let him though, wouldn't you Jazz?"

Phantom didn't stick around to hear Jazz's response to her friends and glided up through the air, weaving around the buildings as he continued his patrol. _'Too quiet.'_ He murmured mentally as he flew up and down before circling the main street. He glanced at the clock face at one of the buildings. 7 o'clock. _'Or am I just being paranoid?'_

He flitted around the town again and took out a few animal-like ghosts that were creating ruckus at clothes stores that sold fur/skin coats around the main street and mall. A column of black smoke caught his eye when he capped the hissing ghost snake and flew over towards the source of the smoke once he had secured the Thermos on his belt. His widened as the burning building entered his vision and focused on the figure that was leaping out of one of the top windows in an attempt to flee from the flames.

He shot towards the screaming falling figure, adding a burst of speed by angling his body to drop faster and caught the teenage boy just a few feet above the pavement. Phantom quickly pulled up their bodies to prevent them from squashing onto the pavement and dropped the boy on the road a fair distance away from the burning building.

"Others…" Phantom glanced over to the boy who was coughing and wheezing heavily. "There… there are others in the building…!"

"Ok." The boy looked up and Phantom found himself staring into frightened brown eyes. He bent down and gripped the boy's shoulder firmly but gently. "Just stay here. I'll be back."

He shot towards the building, activated his intangibility and phased through the wall. He kept his intangibility on as he weaved through the corridors of each floor to find the trapped people. A couple was huddle in the corner of a room, the young woman whimpering in the man's arms as the wooden beam above them creaked and snapped. Phantom reached them, disabled his intangibility and held out his hand to them, internally wincing as they shrank away from him.

"I'm not here to hurt you." He tried, pushing his hand out further to them. "I just want to help you get out. Please, trust me. We don't have time!"

The young man stared at him before reaching out to Phantom's hand, grasping it firmly and let the ghost pull the couple to his body, activating his intangibility just as the ceiling gave way. The young woman shrieked and buried herself deeper into the young man's arms as Phantom raced out of the building and deposited them out on the pavement opposite of the burning block.

"I have go in again. If you can, call the fire brigade and police."

"Wait!" Phantom halted in mid jump and turned his upper body around to blink at the young man. "There's an old man who's supposed to be on the floor above where we were and a little girl on the top floor of the building. Everyone else who lives in that building aren't in."

He nodded and gave a quick two fingered salute in appreciation before flying back into the building to look for the two remaining occupants. He found the old man first, lying prone on the floor with his body trembling violently as he coughed and spluttered. Without wasting any time on showing himself, Phantom scooped him into his arms and quickly flew out.

The young woman had finally composed herself and gestured to him when he landed next to her, using her knees as a cushion for the old man's head and ripped a section of her sleeves to pad gently on his burnt skin. Phantom exchanged a glance with the young man who nodded his head and showed him a cell phone, as if to signify that he had called the respective squads to help with the fire.

He made a move to return to the building, but that was when Valerie chose to make her appearance, attacking him with her new (and far more dangerous than before) weapons once she caught sight of him.

Phantom released a cry of pain when one of the shots nailed his shoulder; the power of the energy shot burned through his uniform and ate at his skin. He stumbled in the air in the aftershock of the pain but quickly regained his equilibrium and narrowly dodged the next shot that had been aimed at his head. He clutched his bleeding shoulder, grimacing at the pain that shot through his entire body and grunted when his back hit against the wall of the burning building.

"I've got you now ghost!"

"No! Not now!" He snapped out with a grunt, bracing himself with the soles of his feet planted firmly against the wall with his hand still clutching his shoulder. The wall began to crack lightly from beneath his feet. "There's a little girl stuck in there! Shoot at my ass later!"

"You're not fooling anyone with that lie! You probably set that fire off and want to make yourself look like some hero." She hissed, charging her weapon and fired three consecutive shots at him. Phantom quickly dove out of the way but the impact of the shots against the wall was far greater than he had anticipated. The force of impact was enough to throw him off balance in the air and Red Huntress wasted no time in firing another shot at him, this time catching him at the side of his stomach.

"Well I'm not going to let you get away with it."

Another cry of pain escaped his lips as he plummet to the ground and landed harshly on his back on the heated pavement with a crash. The energy of the shot, just like with his shoulder, burned the fabric of his uniform and chewed mercilessly at his flesh. He clutched his side as his face scrunched up in agony, rolling to his side as he felt the dampness from his gloves as the fabric soaked up the blood from his side.

"Leave him alone! There's a little girl in there that needs to be saved!" Red Huntress ignored the shout from behind her and charged her weapon again. Phantom rolled away in time and the shot splattered across the pavement, the droplets of the scattered energy splattering on his cheeks and burned his skin lightly.

'_I don't have any time for this! If I want to get that girl out I'll have to ignore Valerie__ and this goddamn pain.'_ He staggered to his feet and took off from the ground, flying upwards towards the top floor of the burning building. He flinched when another shot grazed his knee but continued his journey upwards with Red Huntress hot on his heels and charging her weapon again.

"You're not getting away from me this time ghost!"

By this time, he could hear the sirens in the distance and the building structure was crumbling at an increasing rate. Phantom dodged the falling pieces of the walls, his mind concentrating on reaching the top rather than activating his intangibility to just fly through them as they fell. When he reached the top, he could see the girl's curled form faintly from the outside of the window, the heat of the fire distorting his vision.

Concentrating his ears, he could hear the little girl's sniffles and cries over the crackling of the fire.

"Hang on, I'm coming!"

He broke through the debris that blocked the window, not caring of the wooden splinters that danced across his wounds and stretched his hand out to the little girl. The little girl brought her head up and turned to look at him just as he burst through, one hand clutching a worn and frayed teddy bear while slowly bringing her free hand up and reaching out for him as he got closer.

Just as he was getting closer to her, a flash of bright green shot past him and grazed his cheek. His eyes widened as the green shot slammed harshly against the little girl's chest, burning through her clothes and flesh with the force of impact strong enough to blow her backwards and into the crumbling wall. No sound escaped the little girl's lips when the shot had hit her, nor when she had smashed against the wall. Her eyes were wide and blood slowly trickled from the corner of her mouth as her body crumpled onto the floor in a heap.

"**NO!**" He screamed, lunging forward the grab the body as the ceiling began to cave in. Phantom shook and quickly dodged the falling debris, forgetting about his intangibility as he blazed out of the building with fear and adrenaline pumping in his blood.

Firefighters fought the raging flames from the ground, the jet of the water barely reaching the top of the building while the paramedics took care of the injured four he had saved earlier. Policemen were pushing the crowd of onlookers a safe distance away from the burning building and some were pointing at Red Huntress as she cursed and flew around the building with her weapon charged and ready to fire.

Phantom burst out of the building as the structure groaned and collapsed, the foundation of the building having been eaten away by the fire. Red Huntress shouted and took aim at him again but he ignored the cries, racing at one of his fastest speeds to the paramedics at the ambulance. A shot pierced through his already wounded shoulder from behind but his face gave no indication of him feeling the pain, the fear in his eyes dominating his facial expression completely.

The paramedics jumped when he suddenly appeared by them, green and red blood splattered over his uniform and face as he shakily tried to hand the little girl over to them.

"She… got shot. Fired behind me –" Before he could finish, one of the paramedics and taken the girl from his arms and they got to work on her. Faintly he could hear a man screaming in the background and Red Huntress's angry shouts from above him, but his eyes were fixated at the tiny form of the little girl on the stretcher as the paramedics worked on her.

The little body shook violently as the blood gushed from the wound and the teddy bear, its head burnt away from the shot, dropped lifelessly onto the ground when the little girl raised her hands. She reached out helplessly to Phantom, as if she wanted him, before her hands suddenly just dropped down and hung limply from the sides of the stretcher.

Vague screams entered his ears, but still his eyes were still focused on the unmoving body on the stretcher as the paramedics rushed to resuscitate the girl. Phantom's body trembled but didn't react when a policeman grabbed a hold of his shoulder and pulled him away from a shot that Red Huntress had aimed at him. The spot where the shot had landed on the road smoked darkly. More shouting, but nothing seemed to get through to the ghost, his attention set solely on the bloodied body.

"There's absolutely nothing… she's dead!"

"He was trying to save her! It's that crazy nut case's fault!"

"Clear!"

"You're a murderer ghost!"

Red Huntress's accusation slammed into his head and finally, Phantom snapped out of his daze and looked down at his bloodied hands. The mix of red and green blood penetrated his vision and he stared at his shaking hands, never registering the policeman's hand that was still on his shoulder. The policeman shook him, trying to catch Phantom's attention, but to no avail. Suddenly, everything hit him at the same time.

In the next moment, Phantom vanished on the spot and Red Huntress looked down to her scanner to find him, only to have her attention diverted from it by the rain of rocks that were pelted at her. The teenage boy from the building continued to pelt her with rocks, his face filled with fury as he shouted curses at her. The crowd then erupted into chaos, half of them shouting accusations against Phantom and the other half arguing against them. In the chaos, Phantom had taken off from the area completely.

Phantom flew away from the site in terror, his arms wrapped around his violently trembling body tightly as he flew. He flew as far away as he could from the site and didn't realize that he had instinctively gone to Angeles house in his daze of fear. He phased through the front door and hurtled up the stairs in a flurry, flinging himself through the door of the first room he saw.

Lee released a small yelp of surprise when Phantom suddenly came phasing through her bedroom door and stiffened at the sight of blood, both green and red, that caked his uniform and skin. The moment she hopped off her bed, Phantom had rushed straight into her arms, knocking her backwards and onto the floor, and clutched onto her top tightly, sobbing hysterically into her chest.

Awkwardly, she wrapped her arm around him and used her free hand to gently peel his uniform from his shoulder to look at his injury. When she tried to pry him off her, he clung onto her even more and buried his face deeper into her chest. Unable to do anything else, Lee hesitantly patted his mattered hair softly and allowed him to continue crying on her.

* * *

Maddie was completely baffled with her son's behavior. Just a week ago in the morning he was quiet and polite, just as he had always been, but when Vlad had arrived in the late afternoon of that day, his attitude had taken a drastic one hundred and eighty degree turn. He had been alarmingly hostile towards Vlad, making many sarcastic remarks in response to whatever Vlad would say and had even been outright rude at one point during dinner that night that made her send him up to his room.

Danny's behavior towards Vlad continued to worsen as the days passed. He had tripped him on various occasions, one incident causing Vlad to fall down the stairs – Maddie thought it was miraculous that Vlad hadn't broken any limbs in the fall – and another prank was spilling any kind of liquid, soda, water or even some of the highly concentrated ectoplasmic samples that could burn, at the crotch area. Vlad suffered a burn on that particular spot when Danny had used that particular liquid but he would deny it whenever she asked (Jack had told her that Vlad *did* get his sensitive part burned when he brought the other to the hospital to check it out).

Jazz hadn't been comfortable with Vlad's presence in the house either, but she had kept herself in check and only stiffly replied to the questions that were directed at her. After that, she completely avoided Vlad as much as she could. Maddie couldn't understand why her children didn't like Vlad.

And she was particularly curious to know why Danny had dubbed Vlad as a 'fruitloop'. That seemed to be the only thing that would get a reaction, even if it was the curve of his lips into a scowl, out of Vlad.

But she hadn't given it too much thought as of late; the police had started coming down to Fenton Works to interrogate Jack and herself about their weapons. She hadn't understood why the police were suddenly so interested in their work, especially when she knew that they had dubbed them as 'Crazy Couple' and never took them seriously for their field of study until one of the officers explained to her about the recent violence that the Red Huntress had displayed over the past few days.

The police wanted to know if they were supplying Red Huntress her weapons, since they were the only ones known who worked with ectoplasm and made weapons with that energy. Jack had demonstrated to them that their weapons were designed only to hurt ghosts and had taken extra precaution in making sure that none of the weapons would hurt humans. Her blood had gone cold when the officers finally gave them the other reason why else they were being investigated.

A little girl was dead; shot in the chest with ectoplasmic energy so strong that it had burned her flesh and eaten it until it reached her heart. Ghosts were not completely ruled out the police had said, but only one ghost had been present and the four victims of the fire had insisted that the ghost had been saving them from the fire when the Red Huntress showed up. Other eye witnesses had been questioned as well but the blame of who had shot the little girl was split equally between the ghost and Red Huntress.

And just the day before, a young man was killed; his car having exploded after a shot of ectoplasmic energy rammed into the engine. Again, Red Huntress and the same ghost from the earlier incident of the burning building had been present. Although this time majority of the eye witnesses had pointed the finger at Red Huntress as the culprit, the people relaying that Red Huntress had been shooting blindly at the ghost who was simply minding his own business.

'_Please understand Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. The father of the girl __and the young man's family and fiancée wants to bring their murderer to justice and even though Red Huntress insists that the ghost had done it on both accounts, she continues to evade us in bringing her in for proper questioning. This… ectoplasm, or ectoplasmic energy as you call it, is dangerous. There is a chance that we will have to shut Fenton Works down if anything else like this happens again.'_

For the first time in her life, Maddie felt completely out of touch with reality and was confused with the sudden changes in her children that had crept up from behind her.

Now that there was quiet in the house she took her time to think, idly stirring her cup of tea as she rested her chin on the back of her hand. She sighed and dropped the spoon. _'I can't concentrate.'_ She thought mournfully, dropping her head to rest her forehead on her hands. _'I don't even know what to think about. The kids hating Vlad? The threat of our house, our work getting shut down because someone is running around rampant and using ectoplasm charged weapons to kill people?'_

Abruptly she got to her feet, ignoring the cooling tea on the table and strode out the kitchen. She walked to the mouth of the staircase to the basement and stood there, listening to the sounds of metal clinking against each other and caught various words that her husband mumbles as he worked. He was determined to prove that their work was harmless and that they had nothing to do with Red Huntress. Jack worked endlessly to ensure that every single one of their already created weapons were safe against humans and was unwilling to give up his life's work without a fight.

Maddie leaned against the mouth of the door and allowed herself to listen to her husband work, silently cheering for him even though she couldn't find the strength in herself to set herself to work like he was doing. Jack hadn't been blind enough not to notice the hostility his children had against his best friend and Maddie knew that he was using this as an excuse to keep his mind off that and concentrated completely on his work.

The sounds of footsteps padding on the staircase from the top floor caught her attention and Maddie wandered over to the door of the living room. She caught sight of the back of Danny's jacket as he disappeared into the kitchen and saw Vlad following close behind him. She leaned against the wall, unsure if she should eavesdrop or go to the kitchen. Because of Danny's hostility towards Vlad, Maddie didn't like the thought of leaving them alone in a room.

"Come now little badger, your behavior is quite unsightly."

"Why the hell should you care? Oh wait, I forgot. You're putting this act up because you're still trying to woo my mom and act all nice and friendly to us."

She frowned at the amount of sarcasm that dripped from Danny's voice and paused as his words registered in her mind. _'Woo me? Vlad knows perfectly well that I'm married to Jack. Why does he want to woo me for?'_

"That's beside the point little badger." The creak of the refrigerator door opening and the sounds of her old ectoplasmic samples squealing entered her ears. Vlad's voice then rose above the noise of the high pitched squeals. "Your behavior is appalling! Have you become a street punk with no manners? I'm sure Madeline has taught you better than that."

"What's it to you?" Maddie shivered lightly, feeling uneasy at the sneer her son had released. "You don't just 'drop by for a visit' on a random day, especially since you've never done so in the past I-don't-know-how-many frigging years since my parents got married. Hell, I didn't even know you existed until last year. You're definitely up to something and don't think that I'm going to let you get away with it."

'… _He has a point.'_ Maddie mused silently and rested her chin on her hand. _'Vlad never really kept in contact with us since the portable portal accident in University and he only got to know the kids in the college reunion last year. And it really isn't his place to question Danny's behavior since it's only really his second time meeting him like this…'_

"You're not answering me properly Daniel!"

"And I'll repeat again, what's it to you?" Maddie peeked out of the living room and saw Vlad and Danny's shadows by the kitchen door. Vlad's shadow looked stiff and riled up while Danny's shadow posture was relaxed, leaning against what she thought might be the wall as he drank his soda. She had a feeling that Danny was enjoying being elusive and not answering to Vlad's questions, if the smugness in his voice hadn't given enough indication. "What's the matter _Vladdy boy_? Nothing going your way while you're here? Not getting enough attention from my mom?"

"That is not the point!" Vlad's shadow had his hands thrown up in exasperation, his voice mirroring the gesture. "You are being disrespectful little badger and –"

"Hey, you watch what the hell you call me." Danny's shadow tossed the soda can away and pushed away from the wall, the clank of the can echoing in the air as he approached Vlad with a pointing finger. "You've gone and given me a nickname when we're nowhere near being close. I don't know anything else about other than your unhealthy obsession with my mom and you being a complete utter fruitloop, and you don't know anything about me other than being your 'precious's' son. Plus I'm not a fucking animal, so stop calling me one."

"There's no need to use such vulgar language Daniel!"

"Yea right." Maddie pulled her head back into the living room as Danny snorted, his shadow showing him stuffing his hands into his pant pockets and heading for the kitchen door. "And this conversation is over. Stop pursuing an already married woman, go back to Wisconsin and buy yourself a cat you crazy fruitloop."

"And I hope the burn is enough to prevent you from creating any future spawn too!"

His light footsteps padded across the floor and sounded above her until she heard a room door clicking shut. Maddie peeked out again to see Vlad's shadow pace around the kitchen and heard some of his mumblings.

"This is ridiculous! He's gotten even more unpredictable that I thought. If he's not going to react the way I think he would, I'll have to scrap the plan and reorganize everything…" Maddie frowned. "Oh that little pest annoys me!"

'_Plan? What plan did he have that was based on Danny's behavior?'_

"Sweet cakes?"

Maddie flinched and turned around to see Jack watching her curiously from the door to the basement. He wiped his hands on a cloth and strode over to her, bending down to meet her eyes.

"Mads? What are you doing?"

"Nothing. Just thinking Jack." She mustered up a smile and got on her toes to plant a kiss on her husband's cheek. Maddie raised her hands and strokes his cheeks with a soft expression before tilting her head to the side and looked into his eyes with curiosity. "Oh? Taking a break from working?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk with you about something." He chuckled and bumped their noses together lightly with a smile. "I was thinking about decommissioning some of the weapons and giving them, but not all, to the police so that they can do their own analysis on them. What do you think?"

"Hmm." She peered into his eyes, noting the seriousness mixed with hopefulness in them. Maddie allowed a smile to grace her lips; _'He must have been thinking about it for quite a while. It's not so simple to just do our own analysis if we want to prove ourselves...'_ "I think that's a good idea. Which weapons do you think we should decommission?"

"Well the Foamer for one; the kids are still smarting about me foaming the triplets on their first visit here." Laughter bubbled from Maddie's throat at the roll of Jack's eyes. "And probably a few of the ecto-guns we have so that we cut down on the number of weapons we have overall and maybe even the Dream Catcher; not like it does much anyway and we'll get some space in the lab again."

"Feeling squished?" Maddie teased as she prodded Jack's nose. Jack blushed lightly as she grinned. "Now that's why I've been telling you to try dieting and exercise a little more so that you won't feel that way in small spaces."

"Not my fault my family's all large sized and are big eaters!" He protested, his ears coloring a bright red as Maddie giggled. "I'm glad that both Jazzy-pants and Danny didn't inherit that particular trait from my side of the family. As much as it is good to enjoy food and to eat, I don't think I want them to get ridiculed for their sizes just like I had when I was younger."

"Now come on." She chided gently and rested her hand on his cheek. "I'm sure Vlad must have stuck up for you when it happened."

"…Not… really." Her eyebrow rose at Jack's hesitant response and sent him a curious look. Jack sighed and straightened up, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Actually he was the first person to make fun of my huge size as a kid; he thought I was a few years older and mentally retarded for being in the same grade."

Maddie's lips dropped into a frown. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

"It didn't seem important?" Jack shrugged lightly, his hand still rubbing the back of his head. "Anyway, it's all in the past so I didn't see a point of bringing that old story up."

He bent down and kissed her cheek. "I'll go back downstairs and start work again. I'll decommission the Foamer and the spare guns first. We can decide whether or not to keep the Dream Catcher later."

She watched him as he strode across the living room and lumbered down the stairs. Maddie gazed at the door to the laboratory before turning her head and peeking out to the kitchen where Vlad's shadow indicated that he was sitting down at the table with his head bowed into his hands.

'_So… I don__'t really know you at all. Who exactly are you Vladimir Masters?'_

_

* * *

  
_

"You look terrible Phantom." The said ghost poked the top half of his head out of the bundle of blankets in the empty space of Lee's room and stared at Jazz with tired eyes. Bandages were wound around his forehead and peeked out from beneath his rumpled hair.

"You'd probably look the same if you have recurring nightmares like mine." He responded tiredly, pulling the blankets over his head again and wiggling into a fetal position underneath it. "Why are you here again?"

"Because you're coming over to our place looking like you just got chewed up by a bunch of rabid animals – chewed, spit out, chewed again and then clawed at for good measure – and then cling onto Fairy like you've been traumatized for life." Brad pointed out, crawling over to the nest of blankets and poked Phantom's curled form. "We know the recent deaths caused by ectoplasmic blasts have something to do with it, but we only have the biased view – that is against you – from the News and you're not even talking about it."

"And you're not exactly eating well either." Lee chipped in; swatting Brad's prodding fingers away and gently peeled the blankets away layer by layer to reveal Phantom's mess of white hair. "You're not eating or sleeping well, you come back with a whole lot more injuries than normal and you're not talking to us. How can we not worry?"

"Casse doesn't seem to worry."

"You can't seriously be taking her into account Phantom." Tucker fired back, gesturing for Lee to move away before he roughly pulled the blankets away from Phantom. The ghost scowled and glared at him, the dark rings coloring around his eyes. His body sported more bandages beneath his worn and torn uniform. "She's not exactly on good terms with any one of us right now, so we don't know if she is worried or if she's just being ignorant about it, and neither is Sam for that matter. They aren't counted."

"You're outnumbered here." Jazz warned as Phantom opened his mouth to respond to Tucker. Phantom closed his mouth and glared at the floor sullenly. "Now I'm starting to see the similarities between you and Danny; you're both stubborn mules."

"Almost all of my attributes *are* from Danny." Phantom corrected, rolling onto his stomach and crawled over to Lee where he face-planted into her lap. Brad scowled at him from his seat. "I am a part of him."

"Which reminds me." Phantom turned his head out to blink at Jazz curiously. "How's it going so far? Avoided confrontation with the parents?"

"Not… exactly." The other three pairs of eyes turned and focused on Jazz as she hesitated. "You see, Vlad suddenly dropped by and is staying over for a while. So well… just to be brief, Danny's been plain nasty to him since he arrived and mom even sent him up to his room when it got out of hand during dinner."

"Wait." Phantom pushed himself off Lee's lap and stared at Jazz. "Plasmius is staying over at Fenton Works, like now? When did this happen?"

"Ironically it was the same day we used the Dream Catcher, only he came over after we left."

"Ooh… now that's bad; and it's been a week already." Phantom commented as he pushed himself to his knees and wobbled slightly before falling backwards to sit his butt on the ground. "Maybe it's time to cut this split short and merge back together to lessen the damage."

"Not until you tell us what happened." Brad and Tucker chorused, sending stern glares at Phantom who flinched and quickly crawled behind Lee to hide from them.

"Scary." He muttered, peeking out from Lee's shoulder and eying the other two warily as they folded their arms over their chest and continued to glare at him. Jazz turned her head to one side and muffled her giggles behind her hand. Phantom sent an annoyed scowl in her direction. "Look guys, I don't want to talk about it ok?"

"Phantom, it's either we deal with a traumatized you or a traumatized Danny; so it's one way or another that you or Danny will have to tell us what happened."

"And you might feel better after letting it all out."

Phantom groaned and dropped his head onto Lee's shoulder as Tucker and Brad continued to list out reasons why he should talk. Lee chuckled lightly and patted the top of his head while Jazz snickered from her seat.

"Ok already! If I talk, will you guys leave me alone?!"

"Told you we'd get through him."

"Now that's a completely 'duh' fact. He's got the same reaction as Danny."

"Ladies, I present to you the comedic duo Tucker and Brad." Phantom grunted, causing Jazz and Lee to fall into pearls of laughter while Tucker made mock bows and Brad rolled his eyes skyward. "Ugh. Anyway, Valerie was blinding shooting at me during both those incidences. During the first incident, she fired a shot at me from behind that missed and hit the little girl instead. I was dodging her the second time round when she fired three consecutive shots, of which one missed me completely and hit that car. I don't know what kind of setting she's using, but her weapons are even more lethal than before because the amount of energy in the shots burns my uniform to bits and eats through my skin if it hits."

"And it looks like it's either affecting your healing capabilities or the injuries are much more serious than usual." Jazz noted, pointing to the bandages that covered his body. "Though now that you've finally said something, I'm starting to think it's more of the latter than the former."

"It is." Phantom rubbed his forearms gingerly and lifted his head up from Lee's shoulder. "Another reason why I haven't gone back to Fenton Works; I'd probably be spilling blood all over the place and that would alert the parents."

"But this splitting idea has… really gone way over our heads. I think I'd be more than happy to just be an influencing voice in Danny's head than to be a separate entity from him right now." He sighed and plopped his head back onto Lee's shoulder. "I'm starting to think that if Danny and I hadn't been split, none of this would have happened and no one would be dead."

"Not like either of you knew what was going to happen." Tucker released a sigh and folded his arms behind his head. "It was just bad luck that everything just clashed together like this. Plus, there's also the possibility that the other four fire victims could have died in the fire if you hadn't busted them out. But we do have to do something about Valerie's revenge streak. It's been going on for way too long and it doesn't look like she's going to stop until she manages to finally kill you or Danny when you guys merge back again."

"It's really… frightening though. What's been happening I mean." Lee brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Phantom lifted his head up and turned to gaze at her curiously. "It's like a sudden shift from something that seemed harmless and no one really gets badly hurt to a dangerous game of staying alive and no one is safe, human or ghost."

"Or hybrid."

"Or hybrid." She amended, nodding to her brother. Phantom looked at her for a moment before tilting his head, bringing his mouth close to her ear and whispered into it.

"Is this what you're afraid about? Getting killed if you use the powers?"

Lee didn't get a chance to reply to him when Tucker's PDA suddenly came flying in their direction and smacked Phantom soundly in the face, causing him to fall backwards and away from Lee. He caught himself just before his back landed the ground and pushed himself back up into a seating position, the PDA falling off his face and revealing a reddening nose. Phantom clutched his nose and whimpered, shooting Brad a glare.

"What was that for?!" His voice was muffled behind his hands and his words garbled slightly. Brad simply dusted his hands off, a strangely satisfied look crossing his face. Tucker moaned about his abused PDA and fisted his hat in mock agony while Jazz stifled yet another bout of laughter that threatened to bubble from her throat.

"Keep your distance." The blonde warned as he folded his arms across his chest and stared evenly at Phantom who blinked at him. Silence followed until Phantom finally figured out what Brad meant. He scowled, throwing Brad a dirty gesture before deliberately moving to rest his chin on Lee's shoulder again. Phantom then stuck his tongue out childishly at Brad who returned the rude gesture with both his hands.

"Boys! Behave yourselves." Jazz scolded, amusement present in her voice as Lee warily eyed her brother and Phantom as they continued to glare at each other. "Phantom should come back to Fenton Works so that we can merge him back with Danny; I don't think I can handle him in his 'dark' mood any more. We'd better hurry back though; I heard our parents talk about decommissioning some of the weapons they have and giving them to the police because of the recent violence. I think the Dream Catcher was mentioned too but I'm not so sure."

"…Why didn't you say so earlier?!" Phantom jumped up and hovered in the air, scuttling to the door and glaring at Jazz. "If they decommission the Dream Catcher, there's no way I'll be able to merge back with Danny!"

"Whoa, whoa. You could try to just zip back in him? I think that's what happened the last time he accidentally went through the Dream Catcher."

"That's different!" The ghost argued, flapping his hands about in agitation. "We were separated for like what, less than five minutes? Or even maybe less than a minute when we merged back again. Now we've been separated for just a little over a week, and there's a high chance that instead of merging back, I'd be overshadowing him!"

"He really wants to merge back doesn't he?" Tucker whispered to Brad as Jazz tried to pacify Phantom.

"Can you blame him?" Brad responded quietly, shrugging at Lee who tilted her head at both of them as they whispered. He pointed to Phantom and Lee nodded, staying silent. "He had to witness two deaths that the police believe he caused even though Valerie's the obvious culprit. I'm actually surprised he lasted for a week after the first incident."

"Give him some credit. I'm sure he still would have continued on anyway because he sure to have gotten Danny's strong sense of responsibility."

"Let's be a little more realistic Tuck. We're talking about death here, seeing people die because we – or well mostly the heroes – fail to save them or are the reason why they are killed." Brad turned his head to watch his sister as she went to help Jazz calm Phantom down. "Not everyone can face death or stand to see it happen in front of them unless they've really been conditioned for the situations; strong sense of responsibility doesn't matter. I never gave it a thought until now when it actually happened; that could also be the reason why Fairy doesn't want to use the powers."

"Good point." Tucker conceded and turned his face to follow Brad's gaze. "I don't see Danny as the next Superman or Batman, but I'm starting to see what you mean. Before we met you guys, there was never a dangerous situation that would result in anyone getting killed. Now that I come to think of it, the level of danger already rose up when Jazz and Lee were kidnapped by the Injustice League."

"If Danny hadn't met the Sorceress and made that wish…"

"We'd be in a whole different situation and world won't we?" The blonde nodded and Tucker expelled a sigh from his lips. "I recently started going through various 'what if' scenarios if everything came out differently and I realize that even though I've known Danny since our diaper years, I can't completely predict how he would react and change in those scenarios. Hell, I'm not even sure how I will react to them. Thinking about it and going through it are two different things, and I can't go on to say I'd react as such because I might react differently when the situation does come up."

"Do me a favor and drill that into my little sister's head." Brad sighed and dropped his gaze to his hands. "She claimed that she wanted to be a superhero when we were younger and it looks like she's still set on it. We told her that it was an unrealistic dream but again, she ignored what we said. It's like she wants to be some wannabe martyr, claiming to do things for the 'better' of the world; and since Lee got the powers, she's gotten jealous that Lee has the chance to be what she wanted to be."

"Wait, Casse? Jealous of Lee?"

"Why do you think she's been trying to egg Lee into using the ghost powers for 'good' and listing out the 'cool' things she could do with them?"

"Hmm…" Tucker pondered for a moment. Jazz and Phantom had already taken their leave from the Angeles house and Lee had disappeared from the room while he and Brad had been talking. "I'm starting to understand what you mean when I look back at what Casse's been doing and saying."

"That reminds me." The darker skinned boy peered at the other curiously, Brad still having his gaze trained down at his hands on his lap. "How are you holding up? After hearing that your younger sister pegs you as a closet gay just because you just haven't found a girl you're really interested in?"

"I don't mind the gay thing so much; it's not the first time someone pegged me as gay."

"Well those other people aren't your baby sister."

"The gay thing doesn't bother me." Brad insisted, raising his head up and lifted a brow at Tucker. "You have problems with gays?"

"Who me?" Tucker pointed to himself and laughed. "No, no, no. I don't have any problems with gays. As long as I'm not being hit on, it's fine with me unless of course, I become attracted to another guy. But I find it hard that you're not fazed by what Casse told Kwan."

"It's not the gay thing." Brad paused and turned his gaze back to his hands. "…It's the comparison she made between me and Dick."

"Ah." Tucker nodded his head. "Say no more."

Silence enveloped the two boys until Tucker piped up again.

"I'm kind of grateful that we've been banned from Danny's place until the end of the week though; we wouldn't need to witness the clash between Danny, in his current grouchy self, and Plasmius. That sure isn't a pretty picture."

"Even though I haven't met Plasmius before, I'm inclined to say 'Hear hear!'."

* * *

"Ok, I admit that I was wrong. It doesn't look like you're able to merge back with him by just zipping into him."

"I hate to say it but… I told you." The green glow in Danny's eyes faded as Phantom stepped out of him and sighed. After a moment, Danny shook himself and scowled at Jazz and Phantom.

"Give me a little more warning next time before you do that!" He snapped, rubbing his arms furiously to quell the goose bumps. "Don't overshadowed people not remember what happens or know when they get occupied with a ghost? How come I felt you in there? While we're at it, you could even talk to me!"

"Maybe it's because we're one the same?"

"Guys, we don't have much time left; I don't know whether if mom and dad are really going to decommission the Dream Catcher but we need to just merge you guys back now in case they do."

"Phantom, invisible now please." Phantom straightened his posture and sent a mock salute in Jazz's way when she pointed at him and swiftly activated his invisibility. "Danny, please try to control yourself; at least not to snap at Vlad when we pass by the kitchen."

"Only if he doesn't say anything to us." Danny folded his arms across his chest and scowled at the door. "Otherwise, I make no promises."

"Fair enough. Come on."

Quietly they descended from the stairs, Jazz peering over the banister to make sure that all three adults were in the kitchen before motioning for Danny to move forward. They quickly dodged the kitchen door and hurried through the corridor, into the living room to release their held breath before heading down to the basement. Phantom had gone ahead of them and had taken out the Dream Catcher, hopping from one foot to the other impatiently while waiting for them.

"Sorry for being impatient, but I don't like being in the same place as Plasmius."

"You're not the only one uncomfortable with him around." Jazz consoled as she hopped from the last step, Danny following close behind her. "Now, let's get this over with and hope that nothing else happens."

"You're going to jinx it that way." Danny muttered idly as he eyed the Dream Catcher warily. "Do you even remember which side we went through? I don't know if it matters which side we went through or not but I've got this feeling that it does."

"…I sure wouldn't want to see Shadow out here." Phantom visibly shuddered and mirrored Danny's wary gaze at the Dream Catcher. "Jazz? Do you remember which side we went through?"

"Uh…"

The three teens stared at the Dream Catcher with apprehension. Phantom floated to the net and peered around it while Danny and Jazz inspected the stem and base. Their inspection carried on for a little while, each of them resting their chins in their hands as they thought.

"Kids? What are you doing down there?"

"Gah!" Phantom squeaked as he exchanged a panicked look with Jazz at Jack's sudden call. Danny just picked at his ear with his little finger's nail. "We'll just have to count on your praying Jazz!"

"And have lots of luck." Danny idly muttered as Phantom snaked his arms beneath his armpits from behind and hoisted him up into the air to one side of the Dream Catcher net. "May we come out in one piece."

The sound of footsteps echoing from the top of the stairs startled them and Phantom quickly plunged himself and Danny through the Dream Catcher. Unfortunately, the ending result wasn't quite what they were hoping for.

Jazz ended up seeing two human Dannys emerge from the other side of the Dream Catcher. The Danny that had been holding the other Danny from the armpits suddenly flailed his arms wildly about before crashing face first onto the ground while the other Danny remained floating. Both Dannys started and stared at each other before looking over to the stunned and mortified Jazz.

"Oh my god…"

"I don't see anything wrong with letting the kids go through the lab Vlad. They know the safety procedures and don't touch the work bench at all."

Three heads jerked upwards as the voices and footsteps got louder. "Daniel is really unpredictable and there's no telling what kind of mischief he'll be up to. I don't think it's wise to leave them in the laboratory alone with such dangerous weapons Madeline."

The footsteps halted and suddenly Maddie's voice toned down to a dangerously quiet volume. "…Are you questioning me on how I've raised my children Vladimir Masters?"

"N…no! No! I'm just being…cautious. Teenagers these days are always unpredictable Madeline."

"Quickly! Before they come down, go back the other way!" Jazz hurriedly whispered as Vlad tried to pacify the angry Maddie. From the bottom of the stairs, the shadows of the three adults were visible, Maddie with her hands on her hips while her upper body jutted forward as if challenging Vlad's shadow that was leaning backwards away from her. Jack's larger shadow on her other side with his hands held up in a pacifying gesture.

The floating Danny nodded and grabbed the fallen Danny up, throwing them both through the Dream Catcher again from the side they had come out from prior. Unfortunately, all it did was revert them back to how they had been before jumping through the Dream Catcher. This time, Danny crashed onto the ground while Phantom stayed afloat.

"See? They're making a ruckus down there! They're definitely up to something Madeline; there's no mistake!"

"Who are you to judge my children just because they make noise in the lab? Jack and I make ever louder noises when we're working!"

"Hurry! Go to the other side and go through it again! It should merge you guys back to normal." Jazz ordered, turning her head to watch the shadows closely. Danny stumbled to his feet and plodded to the other side of the Dream Catcher; annoyed at Danny's slow pace, Phantom simply plucked him up into the air by the back of his jacket and scurried to the other side of the Dream Catcher again.

Jazz released a breath of relief when one single human Danny emerged from the other side of the net and soundlessly planted his feet on the ground just as the adults approached the bottom of the stairs.

"Kids, what was with the crashing noises?"

"That… was just me dad." Danny sat down on the floor, folding his legs into a lotus position as he rubbed the back of his sheepishly. "I kept on tripping on something and landed on my face a few times… Oh. That's why I have this uh, red mark on my cheek; so don't worry about it mom."

"You know that Danny's clumsy dad." Jazz chipped in, discreetly winking at her brother from the side. "But he also twisted his body around so that he wouldn't hit anything else, just the floor. See? Nothing in the lab is broken."

"And why exactly are you two down here in the first place?" Danny and Jazz exchanged confused looks with each other before facing Vlad.

"Uh, it's our house so we can do what we want? We come down to look at what mom and dad invent but we don't touch the weapons or anything; just things like the Dream Catcher and the Thermos. In any case, why are you being so nosy?"

"Fruitloop's lonely." Danny teased, curving his lips into a mocking grin as he folded his hands behind his head. Yet his words had no bite in them, just playfulness. Vlad's eyebrow twitched violently. "You really need a cat to keep you company in that huge castle of yours Vlad. It's big and empty so really; get married and have your own family already."

Jazz clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the giggles as Vlad's fingers twitched by his sides. Maddie tilted her head to the side and watched Danny closely. His lips wore a cheerful, impish grin and his posture was relaxed. She continued to watch him for a moment before expelling a short breath and curved her lips into a smile.

"Right. Why don't you two go back upstairs then? Jazz will need to look at your cheek Danny. Oh, put the Dream Catcher back first though."

"Aye aye mon' Capitan." Jazz burst into laughter at Danny's mock salute to their mother as he got up to his feet and swiftly pushed the Dream Catcher back into the corner. "So let's go Jazz."

"Adults to themselves time?" She teased as Danny threw her another grin.

"Uh huh, and more sibling time for us."

They exchanged playful banter as they trooped up the stairs. Once their footsteps faded, Maddie rounded up on Vlad.

"You! How dare you try to judge my children like that! I'm beginning to see why they dislike you so much; you're being overly nosy into our business, especially when we only got reacquainted last year! We sent you so many letters and you never replied them since the accident and you didn't even send some sort of reply when we invited you to our wedding. What kind of best friend are you to Jack if you didn't even give a thought that he wanted you as his best man?"

Jack stayed silent, slowly shuffling away and headed to the work bench to stare at the tools with his back facing Vlad and Maddie. Vlad let his lips curve into his smooth smile again, regaining his composure from the earlier mock from Danny.

"I thought I had already told you that it must have gotten lost in the mail Madeline."

"What? No telephone call? Email or at least a letter to let us know that you've moved or something?" She hurled back, stabbing his chest with a finger. "I'm beginning to question who you really are Vladimir Masters, but I know that you are definitely not the man Jack said was his best friend in University."

"Get out. Get out of my house and stay away from my family. If you think your money is going to be able to shut us down or anything else, you'll be in for a big surprise then."

Vlad stared at Maddie as she pointed up the stairs. He turned to Jack but the larger man still had his back facing them. Mustering up what was left of his dignity, Vlad slowly walked up the stairs. Danny and Jazz sat quietly on the upper staircase, Danny holding onto Jazz and kept them invisible as Vlad stormed to the guest room. He emerged a few minutes later with his luggage and stormed out the front door.

Jazz and Danny peered over the banister before scurrying back into Danny's room, closing the door quietly behind them as Danny made them visible again.

"Remind me never to invoke mom's wrath." He whispered softly, trudging to his bed and flopping onto the mattress face first.

"Tired?" Jazz shifted to the bed, settling herself on the edge before reaching out to stroke her brother's messy hair. "Or do you need to talk to me about what Phantom's seen?"

Danny didn't respond to her immediately, his face planted firmly on the pillow. Jazz waited for him until he finally rolled to the side, sitting up before reaching out to her like a small child. He clutched onto her shirt as she held him in her arms, sobbing quietly about what his other half had seen.

* * *

In Clockwork's office, Danny gave a mighty yawn and stretched his limbs. A few pops and cracks sounded as he stretched before relaxing into a slouched position. He stared at the screen, his eyes softening at the scene of his alternate self clinging onto Jazz like a frightened child.

'_That'__s definitely an eye opener; Valerie actually killing people in her mad rage.'_ He visibly shuddered, his hands moving up to his forearms and rubbing them to ease the shivers. _'Blinded by rage and only seeking for revenge… not opening their eyes to what they're really doing. Man; I don't think anyone's died in my timeline, except for the alternate future thing.'_

His gaze turned thoughtful as he turned his head to look at the cabinet holding the Shadow's Thermos. Suddenly he released another yawn and rubbed his eyes, glancing around looking for Clockwork before giving up. Danny grabbed his bag and laid it on the floor at the front of the couch before stretching his body over its length.

'_I don't know how long I've__ been up watching that timeline… But I guess a nap wouldn't hurt.'_ He yawned again before turning to his side, curling up slightly as his eyes closed and his breathing evened. The screens gently shifted aside, dimming the lights down and flickered lowly as he slept. Soon, Clockwork emerged from the darkness and chuckled softly at the scene. He took out a blanket from one of the cabinets and laid it over Danny.

"You're going to need plenty of rest." Clockwork's lips twisted into his knowing smile as he turned to face the cabinet that held Shadow's Thermos. "It's about time someone rediscovered himself and returned to the place where he belongs."

* * *

**Authoress's Ending Notes:**

1) Nyeh. The last part should give you guys enough hints on what may happen in the next chapter no? 8D  
2) Thanks **Kradeiz**, **Abyss of Essence** and **Ambiance23** for reviewing the last chapter :3  
3) **Ambiance23**: Thanks for the review! I'm glad I'm keeping the story up on its toes on the dramatic side though I believe I'm lacking in the action department. Sam will come round soon – she just needs someone who will listen to her for a while before she starts to gain other opinions on the matter. The Alternate Future will be revisited pretty soon too :D I understand what you mean by Vlad's plan being 'half-baked'. It's a little far-fetched, but I was aiming for the fact that Vlad thinks that his plans are all, initially, 'perfect' until to the point where Danny reacts differently to what he (Vlad) perceived and realize that the plan wasn't quite 'perfect' as he thought. I'm not going to concentrate on outside pressure just yet, I need to balance the inside pressure with the current set of ghost villains first though ^^;  
4) Thank you to the folks who have placed this story in their favorite list ^^ I'm glad you like the fic.  
5) I've been juggling with the idea of doing bi-monthly updates now, since I'm in dire need to buck up for University. I haven't quite made a decision just yet though.  
6) I've done a slight revamp of the uniform for both Danny and Lee; they can be found on my dA page (On a side note, dA apparently seems to hate my long winded chapters and won't let me upload them to my gallery)  
7) Thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed the chapter (even though I've lacked the action part of it for a loooooong time D: ) Please drop a review if you have the time :)

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	19. Back from the Future

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress's Beginning Notes: Good lord, I am tired! I'm back working in Uni again and my assessments are terrible. I'm starting to think that I should do bi-monthly updates and stop this whole fountain of ideas that's been pouring out of my skull. If anyone's taken notice of my dA, I've begun yet another project. I haven't been able to make any coherent replies to reviews lately (brain meltdown from work) so those which have not been replied to will be done so at the end of this chapter in the Ending notes. This event is most possibly, going to take up at least 3 chapters; I'm going to try to keep it at that or even down to 2 chapters but at the rate I'm going it does not look very promising. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 16****: **

**Back from the Future**

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* * *

  
**

Clockwork watched Danny sleep with fondness in his eyes, his arms crossed over his chest with a grin tugged on his lips. He turned his head to face one of the smaller screens, a scene of a timeline flickering lightly in the dim light. He waved his staff and the small screen increased in size.

A tiny blonde girl in cute pair of overalls went racing through the streets before coming to a halt, turning around and waved her arms maniacally. Her two top sided ponytails flounced in the air as she jumped up and down, her wide blue eyes sparkling with glee.

"Nathyyyy!" She dragged the name out into a whine as she stopped jumping and held her fists at her chest. "Come on, you're so slow!"

"Slow down Olive Oil. You're going to trip and fall if you keep on being impatient." A raven haired boy in his early teens trotted in view of the screen, his hands casually stuffed into his faded jean pockets. He brushed his wavy bangs from his face and regarded the tiny girl with a smile. "It'll be worse if you bumped into someone."

"But you promised that we could go out today, get some candy and play!" She pouted, her spiky fringe tussling about in the wind.

"Hey hey, what did I tell you about being pushy?" He chided, striding forward and squatted down to her height. His red eyes stared into her wide blue. "If you carry on like that, you'll start hurting your dad and Ms Dinah. Just because Ms Dinah and your dad pamper you, you shouldn't be so pushy and ask for so many things. You don't want to end up like _her_ do you?"

"No! I don't wanna hurt daddy!" She yelped, her eyes widening further in fear. "I don't wanna become like _her_!"

"Then try to be a little more patient and less pushy ok?" He patted her tuft of spiky hair and smiled. She frowned before shyly raising her hands as if wanting to be held. The boy chuckled, wrapping his bare arms around her upper legs and lifted her up. "Well, I'm definitely going to keep my promise to you though. Why don't we get some candy first – but not too much or else Alfred will throw a fit and give us that lecture about rotting teeth again –" He smiled as the tiny girl giggled and fisted her hand on his blue sleeveless hooded shirt. "And then we'll go to the playground; ok?"

"Okay!" She cheered, pumping her free fist in the air with a wide toothy grin and attracted chuckles from amused passersby. "Can we get some peppermint ones?"

"Sure, why not? But no hard candy for you." She jutted her bottom lip out into an indignant pout as laughter bubbled from the boy's throat. He stood up and poked her nose with a finger. "You never seem to stop chewing; remember the last time you tried biting on hard candy? You almost broke your teeth and you actually lost one of your back ones at the same time. We're going to have to stick to soft candy Olive Oil."

"Muu… I'm not oily!"

"Nooo." He lowered the pitch of his voice and gave her an exaggerated look of shock. She squealed and wiggled about when he brought his face closer to hers. "Then why are you slipping from my fingers if you're not oily?"

She squealed and wiggled about again, giggling loudly as he rubbed the tip of his nose into her cheek. The screen flickered and zoomed in to the boy's grinning face. Clockwork smirked and turned to look at the Thermos holding Shadow before he waved his staff again, enveloping the Thermos in dark purple energy.

"The time for you to discover the one gift you had given to her… her reason to fight; is coming soon."

* * *

"I swear she's going to drive me into my grave at least a few decades earlier than I've been set to die in. What the fuck in 'secret identity' does she not understand?" Richard 'Dick' Grayson groused to the red head man who was leaning against the wall across him as he downed a cup of steaming coffee. "And for fuck's sake, she's going to be twenty-nine! She's acting more like some spoilt three-year-old who needs everything her way."

"Did she storm your office again?" Roy Harper sipped his coffee slowly and eyed his best friend calmly. The office was fairly large but made to look small with the clutter of Dick's personal items that littered the office. Roy was leaning against the wall, closest to the open door and Dick was settled at his desk, gazing at a picture. Dick ran a hand through his long black tresses and sighed.

"In full fucking uniform."

"Tried to force you into the League?"

"For the nth billionth time; including stamping feet. I rejected her again and this time I threw her out instead of pointing at the door." Dick paused and his expression grew dark. "Then she decided to blast a hole in my door in her fit of anger." He pointed to the door and Roy leaned his upper body forward to look at it. Sure enough, there was a large gaping hole in the middle of the door. Roy blinked. "I sent a loud complaint to the new Watchtower, via the old Titan communicator since Starfire's working there. I hope that Shayera heard me because it looks like she's the only one who can sit on her and get her to behave."

"Harsh." Roy sipped his coffee again, his expression becoming pensive before he spoke again. "She doesn't know does she?"

"That I stole Alfred from the Manor to stay here? That I've virtually converted the Manor into a superhero rehabilitation center?" Roy rolled his eyes and gave Dick a pointed look. Dick raised his hands up in a pacifying gesture. "No she doesn't; she didn't even ask. I'd rather leap and burn in Tartarus than to tell her if – I stress the 'if' here because I doubt she would – she ever asks. After what she did last year? Hell no."

Roy released a relieved sigh as Dick stood and walked to his side table and poured himself another cup of coffee. He stared into the rippling brown liquid as Dick inhaled his coffee. "So Roy, how's the new League doing?"

"We're a mess." The green eyed man admitted as Dick grabbed the plates of sandwiches and bread. Dick rested the plates on the small table next to Roy and gestured for him to sit down. "We may have your financial back-up for the new Watchtower and the new weaponry, but we're lacking good leadership. Superman's not budging from the Fortress of Solitude, Diana's refusing to return from Themyscira and the Green Lantern Corps sent back –"

"Kyle Rayner and not John Stewart?" Roy nodded as he sat down, released a frustrated sigh and ran his hand through his short cropped hair.

"Yea. Mister Smooth Talker." Dick raised an eyebrow at Roy's bitter tone. "But yea. We're still lacking leadership in the ranks and proper man power since majority of the older heroes from ten years ago aren't too keen to resume the mantles again. Shayera's taken control of the investigations department because she's not willing to go back out on the field again, even though she can still kick butt without her mace."

"Without the older and more experienced Leaguers to keep a rein on the newbies who may not know what the hell they're doing and are too bloody conceited… Wow. You guys sure are screwed."

"Why do you think they – more so her – are trying to recruit ex-Titans like you and me into the League?" Roy responded wryly as Dick snorted and rolled his eyes. "She wasn't happy when I said I was only going to be a Leaguer on a part-time basis."

"Gee, if she's just 'not happy' with you on a part-time basis, what about me flat out refusing to be linked with the League for five years?" A bark of laughter escaped Roy's throat as Dick grinned impishly. "Please tell me she isn't a part of the main committee." He begged after a moment's pause.

"Thank god she isn't." Roy tilted his head upwards as if murmuring a prayer of thanks. Dick did something similar, though it seemed as if he was bowing to his cup. "Shayera put her foot down when it came to that decision."

"She's a saint." Dick took a hearty swing of his coffee and expelled a breath of contentment. Roy finished off his cup of coffee. They sat in silence for a while before Dick spoke again. "You know, Gar's getting better. Arella and Rita managed to get him to start talking again, although it's still mixed with grunts and snarls."

"That's good." Roy poked at his sandwich before taking a small bite of it, chewing it with a contemplative expression. "Anything on Hank?"

"Three words. Fucking. Loose. Cannon. He almost went into the cave to destroy it but Tim got there in time and beat the shit out of him."

"How's the new Titan team?" Roy took a larger bite of his sandwich as Dick twirled his bread stick around his fingers. "The Manor's their current headquarters right?"

"Uh huh. They're fine, although I find it really awkward that Kon has a mix of both Superman's and Luthor's DNA." Both men shuddered simultaneously. "But other than that, I think they're doing a fairly good job looking after Gotham. Bruce is probably cursing us in his grave for letting other heroes outside of our clan protect Gotham though."

"I'm sure he'd understand the circumstances. After all, we know that he's not as heartless as he makes himself to be." Roy consoled as he patted Dick's shoulder. Dick sighed and chomped on his bread stick.

"I sure hope so. I never realized it, but his opinion always mattered the most to me."

"You had a permanent stick up your ass after the Watchtower Tragedy." Dick released a wobbly laugh and nodded as Roy pointed a mock accusatory finger at him. They lapsed into silence again, the only sounds evident in the room was their chewing of food. "So mister curator; ready to go back to work?"

"As long as I get my fucking door repaired." Roy snickered as Dick groused. Dick cleared the plates and looked at the clock by the coffee maker. "…It's been five years since the end of the war huh?"

"Between everyone else and the Master; but the Master is still at large and we're all facing another war – The war against each other." The other man corrected as he strode over to Dick's table and stared at the photograph. A raven haired boy holding a tiny blonde baby beamed happily at the camera. "You sure you're completely giving up the mantle Dick?"

"A hundred percent." Dick responded firmly, staring at the excess coffee in the pot. "I'm tired of being angry all the time and I've ignored the very person who drove Lee into taking up the fight in her own way. I want to be the uncle he needs me to be if his aunt is going to remain a spoilt child and continue to resent him."

For a moment there was silence. "… You know, she's dating Rayner now."

"…What?!" Dick turned and stared at Roy incredulously as the other man picked up the photograph and thumbed the spot where the baby was. "You're shitting with me."

"I wish I was shitting with myself." He continued to stare at the baby in the boy's arms. Another moment of silence passed by them before Dick growled and slammed a fist on the table.

"Damnit. Is she doing this on purpose to play with your feelings?"

"Either that or she just… wants to forget we had anything."

Before Dick could respond, a violent tremor rocked the room. Both men scrambled to retain their balance as the tremor continued and halted after a few moments. They exchanged wary glances with each other at the sudden beeping noise that echoed in the messy room and Roy finally pressed a finger to his ear, setting the frame back on the table.

"What is it?"

"Red Arrow, there is an anomaly surrounding Amity Park. From what I know so far, it seems that the anomaly relates to time." J'onn's monotone emitted from the communicator and Roy held up a hand to Dick. "Right now, we have Dr Fate and Zatanna pooling their efforts together to see if it was caused by magic and Shayera is investigating the matter in a different perspective. I have not dispatched any of the Leaguers, knowing that you are rather protective of your area and do not trust any of the new recruits, so I believe it would be wise if you patrolled the town just to make sure everything is alright. If you find anything, please report back to me immediately."

"Anyone I should take note of around Amity?"

There was a pause before J'onn spoke again, softer this time. "Cassandra is still in Amity Park; she remained there since confronting Mr. Grayson earlier this morning and I believe she is also patrolling the town. Most likely she is scouting for Red Huntress to end their unfinished business. I have tried to recall her back into the Watchtower but she has evaded me."

"…Thanks J'onn. Red Arrow out." Roy released the button from his ear and sighed, turning to face Dick with a pained expression. "I'd better go do a patrol. Someone obviously didn't get, or most likely ignored, the memo that Amity Park is MY area."

"Talk about being a complete brat; I swear we brought her up differently."

"Yea; but Bruce spoils, I mean, spoilt her rotten remember?"

"Point taken." Dick strode to his messed up table and flopped back against his chair. He closed his eyes and sighed. "You'd better hurry and go on patrol; Nath should be out with little Ollie today and if we want to make sure she doesn't know the kids are here with us, you'll have to distract her."

Dick paused and opened his eyes; Roy was gone. He rested his arm over his eyes and released a dry laugh.

"So, picked up one of my old habits huh…"

* * *

"Geez, what is it with the quakes? The news never said anything about upcoming earthquakes."

"We can ponder about that… after you get off me Tucker!" Tucker emitted a 'meep' from his lips and quickly got off Brad's back. Danny, in his alter-ego form, hovered just above the ground with his legs crossed in a lotus position and prodded Brad who was lying face down on the pavement. "Sod off Danny."

"So, who's heavier? Me or Tuck?"

"You're both fat!" The other two huffed indignantly as Brad crawled up to his knees and rested a hand on his back like an old man. He groaned when his back made a loud cracking sound. "Ow…"

"But Tucker's right though; I'm pretty sure that we would've gotten some kind of warning that there would be possible earthquakes happening." Danny set his feet back on the ground behind Tucker, glancing around the busy streets and changed back into his human form. "I hope it isn't some kind of invasion though."

"Danny, have you been watching too many cartoons?" Tucker and Brad eyed the hybrid warily. He blinked back at them owlishly, the pupils of his eyes outlined with a faint green sheen with the shadows cast over his face. "In the cartoons, invasions are either preceded by quakes and some kind of disaster; you can't seriously be comparing reality with those cartoons."

"You never know if it will really happen or not!" He protested as his friends gave him incredulous stares.

It had been a week and a half since Danny had merged back with Phantom and he had returned to school once his suspension had been served. School had been quite eventful when he returned; many of the kids outside of the A List had congratulated him on punching Dash and almost declared him a hero among them. It took him quite some time to convince them (he almost begged when he was at his wits end) not to declare him to be some hero just for punching a jock and to leave him alone.

When he was no longer mobbed by 'worshippers', he had spent a majority of his free time with Jazz, coping with what Phantom had witnessed when they were separated. Tucker and Brad had stuck close to him during and after school hours, keeping the mob away from him like a pair of bodyguards to a superstar. While they loomed over him, they cracked him up with their banter and made sure that the atmosphere was light among them.

Casse was now ignoring them and Sam looked as if she had completely given up on approaching them. Danny felt a little guilty as well as relieved that they were doing so; he wasn't quite sure if he could handle them around with their strained, and close to becoming non-existent, relationship. Though he didn't quite understand why Casse had begun to ignore them when she had been the one who hurt them; Danny honestly thought that it should be the other way around but neither Brad nor Lee seemed to be perturbed by it. It was now a month and a half since discovering Sam's darker and jealous self and just over two weeks since Casse's startling opinion of her siblings came to light.

Danny couldn't help but wonder why those events had taken place. Was it to reveal more of their character; the part of themselves that they usually hid? Would everyone else's darker selves break them all apart when revealed? He wasn't very sure of the reasons.

He avoided turning into his alter-ego as much as he could to dodge Valerie in her Red Huntress gear. But the problem was that Valerie ignored the other ghosts who were rampaging around and solely concentrated on scouting the town for him. Jazz, Tucker and Brad had neutralized the minor ghosts (mostly the ones with had no names to them) to spare Danny from changing into his ghost form, but they were no match for Skulker, Ember and Spectra; Danny was forced to intervene when the three ghosts joined forces.

Even with his friends and sister covering his back, it didn't stop Valerie from blindly shooting at him when she had the chance. Lee had thrown a fit when the group came back ragged and covered in blood, and surprised them with a continuous string of expletives that carried on even after she finished treated their injuries.

Surprisingly, explaining their injuries to their parents had been easier – much easier – than they had expected; pushing the blame on Red Huntress's wild rampage had been more than enough for their parents.

Though lately, Danny had become paranoid over everything that was happening; be it 'dead' birds falling from the sky (the bird hadn't really been dead, just knocked unconscious by Valerie's jet sled when she sped around the sky. Danny just assumed it was when it fell onto his head and lay motionless on the ground) to natural disasters that struck without warning. The reasons for his paranoia were viewed with much skepticism by his sister and friends.

"Seriously. Danny, you're really getting over paranoid about things." The boys quickly merged with the Friday afternoon crowd once Tucker had stuffed the Thermos into his backpack. "I'm pretty sure a sudden and short earthquake doesn't equate to an invasion."

"Our lives are already like a cartoon." Danny pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if cartoons were influenced with our reality and the sudden natural disasters could really be a warning sign."

"Houston, we have lost contact with Fenton." Brad mimicked the beep of an electronic voice as he exchanged another glance with Tucker. Danny scowled at them. "I will agree that sudden natural disasters could mean something –" Danny threw Tucker a triumphant look but Brad held his hand up to stop them from speaking up. "But I wouldn't say it automatically points to having an Apocalypse or invasion coming along. It could mean something – could be a small or big thing – or just be nothing."

"Let's take it from the guy who lived in the city with a giant bat flying around the rooftops in the night Danny." Brad rolled his eyes as Tucker pointed his index fingers upwards and made a mock expression of the stern cowl. "You're getting too paranoid. Relax a little. Don't make me sic Lee and Jazz on you."

"How cruel!" Danny feigned a look of hurt as he clutched at his heart and leaned backwards away from them. People frowned at him as he bumped into them. "Feeding me to the vicious big sisters…"

"They've been questioning your sanity lately because of your paranoia." Brad warned, raising an index finger. Tucker grabbed Danny's arms and pulled him closer to them to avoid bumping into another person. "So, you either relax or you get chewed up by them."

Danny made a disgruntled noise and stuffed his hands into his pockets, his bottom lip jutting out in a pout. Brad and Tucker exchanged a glance, shrugged at each other before releasing exasperated sighs as they continued to weave through the crowd. They squeezed themselves through the mob while taking occasional glances up into the sky where Red Huntress was prowling about on her jet sled. The people ignored her; some parents took their children and deterred away from her when she came too close, and some teenagers had gone as far as to throw rocks at her.

Red Huntress likewise ignored the people and continued scouting for her target, her rigid posture signifying her annoyance when she glanced at her wrist tracker and smacked it with her other hand.

As the boys continued to weave through the crowd, Danny yelped when he stumbled over someone, flailing his arms like a windmill to keep his balance but failed and landed heavily on his bottom. Tucker and Brad backtracked to his side, Tucker resting his hand on Danny's shoulder while Brad squatted down and peered at the person Danny had stumbled over.

The little blonde girl sniffled, her big blue eyes watering with tears and her lips trembled slightly but she didn't release a wail. She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, whimpering softly as she drew both her fists close to her body. Blood trickled down her knee and stained the top her fluffy lime green leg warmers; the little girl sniffled again and rubbed her nose.

"Hey there. You ok?" She cringed and leaned away, her eyes staring at them warily. "Are you lost?"

Her bottom lip trembled again as she gave a short nod, the tears leaking from the edges of her eyes. Tucker stood up and took a quick glance around while Brad slowly approached the little girl. Danny recovered from the tumble, glancing up and blinked at the little girl.

"I don't see anyone looking around for a little kid." Tucker voiced out after a moment when Brad had managed to coax the little girl out of her little ball. The passersby simply walked around them and continued on their way. "Who were you with?"

She bit her lip and stared at them warily, inching away from Brad. "We just want to help you." Tucker squatted down to her height and peered into her eyes. "You're going to have to talk to us if we want to find your parents."

"Not with daddy." Her voice squeaked out and Brad raised an eyebrow, his eyes looking contemplative. "'Mm with Nathy today."

"Who's 'Nathy'?" Danny prodded gently, stepping towards her in a squatted position. She blinked at him before pointing a finger at him. The three teens blinked at her and exchanged a glance with each other. Danny pointed to himself as he turned his head to stare at her. "Me?"

"No; you look like Nathy." She reached out and pulled at the side of his fringe, as if tugging it outwards. Her eyes scanned his face with fascination shining in them before settling to stare into his eyes. "But Nathy has red eyes; not blue."

"Wow, that's creepy; someone that shares resemblance to Danny." Danny threw a dirty look at Brad who smirked while Tucker politely hid his grin behind his hand. The little girl looked at them curiously, popping the tip of her index finger into her mouth. "We should bring her to the police station and get a report filed. What's your name kiddo?"

She eyed them with uncertainty, nibbling on her finger as a blush rose in her cheeks.

"Uhm…"

"I think we should give her our names first." Danny held peered at her and gave her a warm smile. "Hey there. I'm Danny. Those are my friends Tucker and Brad. What's your name?"

"Olivia." She responded shyly after a moment, diverting her gaze to the ground before speaking up again. "Can we not go to the poo-leese?" The boys snorted, covering their mouths with their hands at her pronunciation of police. "Don't like them."

A pair of wide pleading eyes caught the boys off guard before any of them could react to what she said. Her bottom lip jutted out again, her finger out of her mouth as her lip trembling slightly as she looked at them. Brad groaned and covered his eyes with his arm, muttering incoherently under his breath while Tucker and Danny exchanged alarmed looks with each other when her eyes began to tear again; she even sniffled for good measure.

"Aw geez; she looks like Casse." Brad muttered, peeking down from his sleeve at Olivia who was still giving them an unhealthy dose of teary eyes. "No! If we're going to find that person you were with, we need to bring you to the police station so that we can file a report."

She got up to her feet, wobbling and limping lightly as she made her way to Brad and latched her hands onto his pant leg while widened her eyes a little more. Brad grimaced when her teary eyes met his and groaned, slapping his hand over his eyes when she whined. "Pleaseee?"

"I think she just bowled him over." Tucker whispered to Danny, who covered his mouth with his hand to stifle his laughter when Brad finally threw his hands up in exasperation and pointed a stern finger at Olivia. "She looks a whole lot like Casse though. Change the hairstyle a little and I think we'd have a complete match."

"Now that would be creepy if it were true." Danny shuddered and turned to watch as Brad tried, and was failing spectacularly, to negotiate the situation with Olivia who was assaulting him with a pouty lip and puffed up cheeks. "Wonder why she doesn't like the police though."

"Who actually likes the police?" The bespectacled teen responded wryly as Brad scowled at the small girl and forced her to expel the air from her mouth by poking his index fingers firmly at her puffed up cheeks. She stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation once all the air had been released from her mouth. "Hey you two, as funny as it is to see you both duking it out, I think we'd better get out of the crowd before someone decides to kick us around on the floor."

Both blondes turned to look at them, Olivia taking the opportunity to conquer Brad by climbing onto his shoulders and fisted her tiny hands in his hair. Tucker and Danny muffled their sniggers with the back of their hands while Brad shot them a disgruntled look. "Looks like Brad's made a new friend."

"Danny, shut up." The other two continued to snigger even after they got up and resumed walking, Olivia scanning the crowd while sitting on Brad's shoulders. "Hey, do you mind not grabbing my hair?"

"But your hair's pretty." Tucker began wheezing, clutching his stomach as Brad kicked his shin. Danny coughed, his shoulders trembling as he controlled his laughter. Olivia ignored them and played with the black tipped ends of Brad's hair with fascination. "I wanna have my hair like yours!"

"Hell no." Olivia pouted and whined.

"Aww…"

"This is the start of a potentially beautiful relationship." Tucker quickly sidestepped and danced away from Brad when the other raised his foot to kick him again. "I didn't know you liked your women tiny Brad."

Olivia blinked at glanced down at Tucker with her index finger back in her mouth. "What do you mean by 'like your women tiny'?"

"Tucker, either you shut up or I make sure that you have no access to any kind of technology for a month." Tucker squeaked and clamped his hands over his mouth at Brad's menacing glare. Olivia watched them curiously from Brad's shoulders.

"Don't worry Olivia, it's nothing." Olivia turned and blinked at Danny for a moment, tilting her head to the side before nodding. Danny discreetly shot Tucker an annoyed glare. She looked back up and continued scanning the crowd. They walked around Main Street until a sudden growling noise attracted the boys' attention. Danny and Tucker turned to look at Olivia (Brad tilted his head upwards) to see the small girl blushing and nibbling at her fingers.

"Uhm… hehe. Sorry?"

"Looks like someone's getting hungry."

"We might as well head back anyway; her knee needs to get looked at." Danny gently prodded Olivia's injured knee, swiftly moving to the side when she squealed and kicked it forward. Brad grimaced and made an 'oomph' sound when her shoe connected to his cheek hard. "But we will have to go to the police station tomorrow to file the report little missy."

"Aww…!"

"Either you face us, or you face Brad's older sister." Tucker got on his toes and prodded Olivia's nose with a mock stern expression. Olivia's eyes went wide. "She's way scarier than the three of us combined."

"Noooo!!" She flailed her limbs about wildly, all of them connecting to parts of Brad's head while Tucker and Danny quickly shifted to the side to avoid the limbs.

"Ow! Calm dow– ouch! I swear I'm going to get you for this Tucker…!"

* * *

Casse wandered about harbor of Amity, idly grazing the palm of her hand on the cool steel railings as she walked. She stopped in her steps and turned her head to look out at the sea, the orange hue of the setting sun reflecting on her cheeks. Her hand gripped the steel railing before she turned her body and rested her elbows on the railing, gazing as the sun sank into the horizon.

The breeze whipped her hair around her face as her hands gripped her elbows tightly, her eyes closing before she bent forward and rested her forehead on her arms. She stayed that way for a while until calls overran the caws of the gulls.

"Olivia!" Casse's head rose from the nest of her arms and looked up to her side to see a raven haired boy, clad in a white and blue hooded shirt and a pair of faded jeans, walking towards her with his hands cupping his mouth as he called out. "Olivia!"

The orange glow of the setting sun overruled the pale parlor of his skin as he suddenly halted in his tracks, tilting his head as he looked at her curiously from the distance. Casse bristled slightly and turned her gaze back to the setting sun with an annoyed frown etched across her face. The boy's expression turned contemplative and hesitant, standing on the spot while studying Casse for a moment. Finally he straightened his posture and walked forward, his strides determined though his eyes showed hesitation.

"Um, excuse me?" Casse muttered incoherently under her breath but looked up to a pair of curious red eyes. The boy fiddled with his fingers before speaking up again. "Have you seen this tiny blonde girl in a pair of overalls, two top sided pigtails tied with bright green ribbons and massive big blue eyes?"

He punctuated each of the points as he described who he was looking for; bending down and using his hand to measure the height of the girl just above his knee. The two pigtail description was done by raising his hands to the top sides of his head and wiggling his fingers outward. He then brought his hands forward to his eyelids and widened them as much as he could. Casse stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. The boy released a disappointed sigh.

"Aw nuts." He scratched the back of his head, looking both disappointed and exasperated. Casse shrugged nonchalantly and turned back to the darkening horizon, the yellow and orange hue of the setting sun dimming into dark blue. The boy watched her curiously, folding his arms across his chest as his expression shifted from curious to contemplative and finally to hesitant.

"It's uh… going to sound weird and nosy coming from a complete stranger, but you look like you could use a listening ear."

"You're right; it is weird and you're being nosy." She snapped, turning her head to glare at him. He took a step back at the ferocious glare and raised his hands up in a pacifying gesture. "And since you're oh so perceptive, then maybe you already know that I want to be alone."

"Actually... that wasn't what your face was saying." Casse narrowed her eyes at his sheepish refute. The boy rubbed the back of his head while giving her a crooked smile. "My mom told me before that sometimes people feel better letting their emotions out to strangers because they can't judge or be biased against you since they don't know you personally."

"You're a stubborn and nosy butt head."

"Ouch. Isn't that kind of harsh?" Casse scowled, turning her entire body around with her fists clenched at her chest and opened her mouth to shoot another scathing remark, but the boy held his hands up and quickly backpedalled away from her. Casse halted and stared at him.

"...What are you doing?" The boy cautiously peeked out from behind his hands and looked at her nervously.

"You... were going to shoot me with some harsh things weren't you?"

Casse's eyes grew wide and abruptly closed her mouth, her fists unclenching and falling down to her sides as she stared at the boy. He blinked at her owlishly, still in his defensive stance. They lapsed into silence, Casse staring at the boy while he continued to blink back at her.

"How did you…?"

"Huh?" His expression turned confused and his hands dropped to his sides. Casse had her finger pointed at him, her expression albeit flabbergasted. They stared at each other for a moment, his face contorting into a contemplative expression. "Uh... the 'you were going to shoot me with some harsh things'?"

She slowly nodded her head. "Yea. How did you know that I was going to do that?"

The boy tilted his head and stared at her. His expression grew thoughtful as he tapped a finger on his chin.

"Uh well… you remind me of my aunt actually; she always starts shooting her mouth off and what she says are usually very harsh things. I guess I've seen it so much that I know how to see when it's going to happen?"

"Oh…"

Casse's gaze turned to the ground while the boy's shifted to the dark empty space where the sun had been. Silence lapsed between them and the boy scratched the back of his head, shifting from one foot to the other uncomfortably as he turned his head to look at the downcast Casse.

"I uh… guess I'd better get going then; gotta find my cousin." He released a shaky laugh and turned around but as he lifted a leg to take a step forward, Casse startled him by calling out.

"Wait!" The boy yelped and swung his arms around to regain his balance, his momentum thrown off with one leg hanging in the air. When his foot planted back firmly on the ground, he turned his head around to blink at Casse in confusion. "Who are you?"

"Huh? Oh!" His eyes shifted about nervously and his mouth twitched into a contemplative frown before answering her. "Um… Nath. My name's Nath; you?"

"Casse." She paused and started scrutinizing him, leaning forward as she did so. Nath leaned backwards with his lips twitching into a nervous smile and pointed at his face.

"Uh, do I have something on my face?"

"No… you look like someone I know." Nath paled but released a shaky laugh and shrugged his shoulders. "I've never seen you around Amity before; did you just move here?"

"…I guess?" Casse raised an eyebrow and Nath offered her a sheepish smile with a shrug of his shoulders. "The circumstances of why I'm here are kind of… complicated. I don't understand much of it anyway, but I do know that I have to find my cousin or my uncle's going to skewer me alive if he finds out that I've lost her."

"Have you tried the police?"

"Nah, Ollie's not going to be easy dragging to the police station; she hates the police and she'll bring out every little trick she knows to avoid the place." Nath snickered and rested his hands at the back of his head. "She probably wheedled whoever found her for her way using her big puppy eyes; that works on everyone except for our caretaker and a few others."

"How old is she?"

"Four." Casse's stomach chose that moment to release a growl; she blushed while Nath dug out his cell phone and poked at it with an apprehensive look. "Uh, my phone might have screwed up but it should be… about seven thirty now right?"

"Yea it is." She looked at Nath, her head tilting up and down as she gave him another scrutinizing gaze. "You're weird; you don't know why you're here or know how you got here."

"I blame the thing known as the supernatural." He muttered, his lips curving into annoyed pout. Casse blinked at him curiously. "My uncle says that my family has this really weird history of having this kind of stuff happen to us. I'm pretty sure my mom mentioned something about kidnapping and being related to adrenaline junkies a long time ago."

"A long time ago?" Casse echoed uncertainly. Nath blinked for a moment before responding to her quietly.

"My mom died around nine years ago; she got caught in some freak accident so I was raised by my mom's old caretaker."

"What about your dad?"

Nath paused and bit his lip. "My dad died before I was born."

"Oh…" She leaned back against the railing, clasping her hands together tightly at her front and stared at him curiously. "But you said you had uncles and an aunt. What about them?"

"I… don't really have a very close relationship with my aunt; after my mom died, she just became forcefully polite to me and all. Not that she was around a lot after that though…" Nath muttered his last sentence out darkly and lowly, Casse tilted her head and strained her ears to hear but Nath quickly raised his voice and continued. "My uncles are busy working so they don't really spend a lot of time at home. It's mostly just me, my cousin and our caretaker."

Casse studied him for a moment until her stomach released another hungry growl. Nath blinked at her blushing face and burst out laughing.

"Methinks someone's hungry." He sang out, ducking out of the way as Casse's fist shot out to smack him. Casse glared at him though a little too ferociously, making him backpedal away from her and raise his hands up in a pacifying gesture. His face contorted into an alarmed look. "Whoa, no need to be so testy; it was just a joke."

"Well I don't like getting teased by a total stranger who doesn't know why or how he got to this place." She immediately sniped out, folding her arms across her chest.

"Yikes." Nath took another step away from her. "So I guess I'll just leave you alone now and haul my butt around town to find my cousin. Nice uh… meeting you Casse."

Before Casse could stick her head out of her rut of impulsive anger and comprehend what he had said, Nath had zipped off and disappeared down the darkened streets. She stood there, staring at the direction where he had taken off into and her shoulders slumped forward in dejection.

Finally she trudged off, dragging her feet across the ground and slowly made her way through the streets. In her moody state, she didn't take notice of how she was walking and tripped over her feet. Casse didn't manage to catch herself in time and scratched her elbow roughly against the floor as she landed on her front with a thud. She whimpered softly and got to her knees, hissing as she checked her bleeding elbow. She didn't notice the jagged rock that had embedded itself in her skin.

Without dusting herself off, Casse stumbled to her feet and continued on her way. The blood on her elbow trickled down her arm and her wristbands absorbed the liquid. The lights to the living room of her home were dulled by the shade curtains and she could see the silhouette of her brother looming over something. She sighed as her stomach released another growl and checked her cell phone screen. 8 o'clock; she was about an hour late for their regular dinner time.

Casse fished her keys out from her pockets, halting them from tinkling against each other by fisting them tightly and slowly unlocked the door. She frowned when she heard an unrecognizable young voice chattering happily, mixed with Lee's amused voice and Brad's exasperated yet fond tone from the living room. The door didn't shut as quietly as she had hoped and some shuffles were heard before the soft padding of footsteps sounded from the living room.

"Casse?" She ignored her sister's tentative call and headed for the stairs, reaching out for the banister until a firm hand gripped the shoulder of her injured elbow and forced her to halt in her steps. Immediately she turned her head to deliver a scathing remark but her mouth hung open and the words escaped her mind. Lee took no notice of Casse's goldfish expression and continued to inspect the exposed flesh of her elbow intently.

"Come to the living room; I'll dig out that rock and bandage that scratch. Have you eaten dinner?" Casse's stomach chose that moment to release another growl, an instant answer to Lee's second question. Casse closed her mouth and just stood at the foot of the stairs while Lee simply shuffled to the storeroom beneath the stairs. She continued to stand there until Lee's quiet voice floated from the storeroom. "We have… a guest over. Try not to say anything you don't mean please."

She gnashed her teeth tightly and accidentally hit the banister with her injured elbow. Casse hissed as a bolt of pain shot up her arm and her hand flew to the upper section of her elbow to ease the pain. She lightly brushed her fingers over the elbow and grimaced at the feeling of something sharp digging inside her skin. With an annoyed scowl, Casse quietly padded to the living room and halted at the door, blinking at the scene before her; the scowl on her lips dropped at that moment.

Happily nestled on her brother's lap and munching on a bowl of assorted fruit was a tiny blonde girl clad in what she then realized was one of Lee's spaghetti strap tops, the straps tied up to fit the girl's small figure and the waist was secured with a ribbon. Her hair was down and visibly damp, as if she had just gotten out from a bath, but the girl's fringe still stuck out in spikes. The first thought that came to her mind was how much the little girl looked like herself when she was younger. All other thoughts came to a halt when the girl suddenly poked a piece of strawberry and gleefully offered the piece to Brad.

Casse's fists clenched tightly when Brad let the little girl drop the piece of strawberry into his open mouth and tweaked her nose with a grin once he had swallowed the fruit.

"Hi hi!" Suddenly, Casse found a pair of tiny arms waving exuberantly around in the air at her and stared at the cheerful girl in Brad's arms. "Are you Miss Casse?"

"You make it sound as if she's an old lady." Brad teased and poked the girl's cheek as she puffed them up. She protested loudly, twisting her upper body to glare at Brad and waved her fists in the air. Casse bit her bottom lip as Brad released an exaggerated sigh of surrender, turned the girl's head back to the table and rested his chin on top of her head. "Now why didn't we just drop you at the police station…?"

"Because no matter how much you deny it, you and I know that you're a complete sucker for puppy eyes just like Uncle Bruce." Brad threw Lee an annoyed scowl as she trotted back into the living room with the first aid kit in her hands. The little girl released a muffled giggle, her mouth filled with fruit. Lee shot Brad a meaningful glance as she sat down at the cushions. "Just admit it and carry on; it'll stop haunting you afterwards."

"Come here Casse." Casse didn't move and continued to glare at the oblivious little girl who was finishing up the bowl of fruit. She didn't notice Brad sending her a warning look or the blood that was dripping down her elbow and onto the floor. Lee sighed and tapped the top of the first aid kit loudly. "Casse."

She jerked and tore her eyes away from the girl to look at Lee. The older Angeles shook her head slightly and repeated herself. "Come here."

Casse soundlessly settled herself opposite of Lee and concentrated her attention on her bleeding elbow, trying (and failed) to ignore the excited chatter of the little girl as she spoke to Brad. Lee worked quietly but took a few fond glances over to the duo when the little girl seemed to trump Brad at their word game, though it was apparent that Brad was just letting her win.

"How the heck did you get that piece of rock in your elbow?" Brad sounded faintly incredulous but mostly forcefully polite when Lee had dislodged the rock from Casse's elbow with a pair of tweezers and proceeded to disinfect the wound. Casse chose not to respond and remained silent. Lee easily cleaned up and bandaged the wound; once she was done, she set the first aid kit to one side and headed to the kitchen.

The next thing Casse knew, the little girl appeared right on her lap and stared into her eyes with a curious gaze. Startled, she shoved the girl off her lap and glared. The girl fell onto her bottom with a thud and her bottom lip began to tremble when she looked up to meet Casse's glare. She flinched when the girl sniffled and took off, running back to Brad at the table. After that, an exasperated glare was sent her way as Brad tried to pacify the upset girl.

Jealousy continuously stabbed at Casse as Brad made funny faces at the girl and succeeded in making her laugh.

Brad retreated upstairs when Lee emerged from the kitchen and laid the food out for Casse; the little girl immediately sliding off his lap, raced to Lee and clung onto her pant leg. Casse grinded her teeth as she ate, watching her sister coo and cuddle the giggling tot from the corner of her eye. Her fork viciously stabbed a piece of vegetable when the girl rubbed noses with Lee in an Eskimo kiss; her blood boiled when Lee returned the gesture with a grin and tickled the girl's sides after pretending to pause for a moment.

Casse took off to her room once she had finished eating, leaving the dirty plates on the table and shut her door loudly. Lee's calls to her had met deaf ears. Her hands clenched together tightly and her teeth ground against each other as she glared ferociously into space.

'_It's not fair! How can they give __some strange kid so much attention and act as if they've known each other for years?'_ She curled into a tight ball by her door and whimpered softly, jealousy singing in her heart. _'It's not fair…'  
_

_

* * *

_

Jazz sighed and trotted down the empty streets, her books and bag of groceries tucked neatly in the crook of her arm.

'_I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late…'_ She inwardly cursed herself for not checking the time, having been too immersed in studying at the library until the librarian approached her and pointed to the clock. It had been 10 o'clock then; now it was 11 and it was a fine time for her cell phone battery to run dry. _'Mom and dad are going to kill me…'_

She released another sigh and continued on her way, her shoulders tensing as she ran through the possible lecture scenarios her parents would lay out on her once she got home. Their worry was understandable; with Red Huntress recklessly roaming around the streets and given the last time she and Danny came back home covered with cuts and bruises? Jazz thought they were lucky that their parents still hadn't set a curfew on them but they were told to inform them when they were going to be home late.

Luck was just not on her side today.

Just as she was reaching the junction, a figure sitting on the front steps of a house came to view. She stopped walking and squinted her eyes. She walked closer to get a better view of the figure then rubbed her eyes and blinked.

"Danny?" The boy almost jumped from his seat, looked up to turn his head in her direction and stared at her. With his facial features now shown under the light of the street lamp, Jazz took note of the differences and marveled the similarities the boy had with her brother. "Oh, I'm sorry; I thought you were my brother. You look a lot like him."

"Uh… hehe… I don't know if that's a good or bad thing." The boy laughed out awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head with a hand. Jazz tapped her bottom lip; the younger looking teen was tense and his posture screamed out that he was uncomfortable.

"Say, what are you doing here at this hour? Aren't your parents afraid that you'll get shot at since Red Huntress has been on a reckless rampage lately?" He just blinked at her owlishly.

"Um…Wha?" Jazz frowned and wrinkled her nose in thought.

"…Are you even from around here?"

"No, no… I mean; Yes! I mean – aw nuts…." Jazz covered her mouth to hide the growing smile on her lips as the boy groaned and messed up his hair in annoyance. "Wait, wait! What I mean is that no, while I do know about a Red Huntress I didn't know she's been on a reckless rampage as of late and yes, I do live in Amity."

"Took you a while to get everything straight huh?" The boy sighed and leaned back against the stairs.

"My mom said my dad was a little slow to take in some stuff; guess I inherited that aspect." Jazz noted his words, frowning lightly as her mind churned with various possibilities of the boy's family. "Hey! I could say the same for you then; why are you out here at this hour?"

"Library; I was studying and lost track of time." She responded easily, gesturing to the books tucked beneath her arm. "What's your excuse?"

"Uh…" She waited as his face scrunched up in thought, noting his eyes shifting around uncomfortably and the biting of his bottom lip. His shoulders were stiff and his body radiated hesitation. "My little cousin's gone missing. Small kid, blonde hair, two top sided pigtails and massive blue eyes. Her dad, my uncle, is going to kill me if he finds out that I lost her."

"Haven't you tried the police?" He looked at her and gave her a wry smile.

"She hates the police; I know her well enough that she'll avoid them like the plague and she must have conned whoever found her into not bringing her there. Police is kind of the last resort."

"Well, she could be smart enough to go back home on her own."

"That's… not possible." She raised an eyebrow at him as he fidgeted with his hands. "It's a long story; plus I doubt the idea."

"Ok then." Jazz shifted her books a little and let her eyes sweep around his body to inspect him. _'He's hiding something… but it kind of looks like he's having trouble trying to make any sense without giving whatever it is he's hiding away. But it sure doesn't seem like he lives around Amity if he says it's not possible for a kid to find their way home. Here's hoping that being a Good Samaritan will pay off…'_ "So, do you need a place to stay for the night?"

"Eh?" Jazz balked inwardly at his stunned response; the boy resembled Danny a little too much for her comfort. "Ah… but will your family be alright with a total stranger? I mean… not that I don't appreciate the offer but –"

"It seems too good to be true?" Slowly, he nodded his head. Jazz studied him again and tilted her head slightly. "Well my parents are eccentric and as long as you're harmless, they'll be fine with it; same with my brother though minus the eccentric." She paused, taking in his hesitant expression. "You're still skeptic about it aren't you?"

"Well… would an encounter with an unfriendly local be enough excuse as to why I'm being skeptic?"

"The local you met must have been pretty rude then." _'I guess he really doesn't live around here; but who would be the unfriendly local?' _Jazz walked forward, adjusting the items in her arms and held out her free hand to him. "Hopefully I can change your mind about the locals around here. I'm Jasmine Fenton, but call me Jazz."

For a brief moment, Jazz thought she had seen an expression of shock mixed with longing in his eyes before it vanished the next instant. He slowly reached out and took her hand, shaking it lightly with a shy smile.

"Uh… My name's Nathaniel An… uh, Bradley." Jazz schooled her face to stay neutral at his slip up. "Normally it's shortened to Nath though; everyone thinks it's too much of a mouthful to call me by my full name."

"Right." _'Interesting.'_ Jazz allowed her hand to slip down from his and pulled it back up to let her books nestle in her arms. "Well it's better to sleep in a house than out in the open; you never know if there's some epic battle happening at night and you get caught in it because you're sleeping outside."

"'Some epic battle'?" Nath raised an eyebrow at her, dusting his pants as he got up and following alongside Jazz. "The way you say it, it sounds like it's a daily occurrence."

It was Jazz's turn to raise an eyebrow at him. _'Bingo.' _"This is Amity Park, ghost central. If you live here like you told me you did, you would be able to go home even without your cousin and you would know about the night battles that happen."

Nath flinched, now aware of his mix ups and stopped walking; Jazz stopped a few steps ahead of him and met his conflicted eyes coolly. "Look, I might not know what your situation is but what I see now is this kid who looks like he doesn't fit in the crowd and needs shelter. I can't offer you much, but all I can do is put a roof over your head for the night and you can go back to finding your cousin in the morning. I don't like the thought of seeing you, someone who has an uncanny resemblance to my brother, sleeping out in the open; it's like an invitation for danger."

"You…" He shifted his feet around awkwardly and stared down at the ground. "You're not going ask me to spill everything to you?"

"What can you tell me?" Nath remained silent. "You don't look like you know what you can and can't tell me. I don't see a point grilling you if you don't know what you can or can't say. I've come to accept that weird things happen among my family and friends; maybe you're involved in the one that may be happening right now."

She allowed her words to settle and turned around to begin walking again. She stopped and looked back at Nath who was still standing on the spot. "Aren't you coming?"

He brought his head up and stared at her. After a moment, he hesitantly began moving forward and followed a little behind her as she led the way. "…You're awfully calm about this."

"Like I said, I've come to accept the fact that I'm bound to get stuck in weird situations, one way or another and whether I like it or not." Jazz paused, hearing a 'vroom' sound echoing in the air and grimaced. She grabbed Nath's wrist and hurriedly pulled him along with her. "We'd better hurry; Red Huntress's in the area."

"Eh??" Nath released a short cry of confusion as Jazz literally dragged him along with her. "But but… I don't know what to say to your parents!"

"Just leave my family to me; I already have a plan, so all you need to do is to just look pathetic enough for my parents to pour globs of sympathy on you and let you stay for the night."

"…I think I just entered hell without knowing it…"

"It's either my house of hell or the outside hell of getting shot at and dying a painful death." Nath grimaced and sighed dejectedly, finally catching up to Jazz's pace so that she didn't drag him.

"One way or another, I'm still going to hell."

* * *

"We still don't know what the anomaly is; there's no point investigating if we don't have a clue as to what we're looking for!"

"Too bad Shayera's not here to hear you out GL, she's already down there scouting the town." Green Lantern sent a scowl in Flash's direction and the cheeky speedster quickly flitted out of his sight. Superman cut in just as Lantern was about to make another comment.

"Shayera was already down there when we contacted her about the anomaly; she said she would come back up to the Watchtower once she did a full scan of the town." Lantern grunted in response, leaning back against the chair with his arms folded over his chest and a scowl marring his face. Flash studied his fellow founder for a brief moment before a mischievous smile graced his lips. He zipped over to the back of Lantern's chair and started to sing.

"GL's jealous of Shay's new boyfriend!"

"This is *not* the time to discuss the outside relationships that League members have." Flash squeaked and quickly dashed back to his seat at Batman's bark. Lantern, although he wisely kept his mouth shut, kept a glare trained on Flash. "Even though I agree with Lantern that we should have some leads before proceeding forward with investigations, the increase in activity in Amity Park is another point that we have to consider; we might just have to proceed with investigations without those clues."

"You're only saying that because your godkids are there." Lantern regretted his words once they had left his mouth and felt the famous bat glare trained intently on him. He grimaced. "Sorry."

"But Batman is right; up until just a few months ago, no villain had taken any kind of interest in Amity Park and it seems that there are some internal conflicts that have arisen there as well." Five heads turned to gaze at J'onn who regarded his fellow founders calmly. "We must proceed with caution. We do not know if the anomaly is a sign of a preemptive strike by any enemy."

"Does anyone get the feeling that someone's trying to draw our attention to that place? Or at least that group of kids who always seem to get involved with what happens there?" Flash piped up, sending Batman a nervous look before carrying on. "I mean, you think the two things could be linked?"

"If they are linked, then there's got to be some kind of conspiracy on the loose." Diana pointed out, shooting Batman a meaningful glance. "If Bruce Wayne's godchildren are targets of a conspiracy against him, then we'd better keep a closer eye on them."

"Then it wouldn't just be his godchildren; their group of friends would be targeted too. They've gotten quite close."

"Exactly how did we get to the topic revolving around his godkids?" Lantern grunted and rested his chin on his palm, an annoyed scowl marring his face. "Weren't we supposed to discuss about that anomaly around the area they live in and not about them?"

"Flash did bring up a valid point; the children might be targets of a conspiracy, but it is uncertain whether or not it is a conspiracy against Mister Wayne is another matter." Lantern shot J'onn an annoyed glare. "Perhaps we should begin allocating a rotation of League members to patrol that area."

"And the next thing we know, Shay might come up to us to tell us to get off her turf." Diana and Superman sent Flash slightly confused looks while Lantern scowled. Batman and J'onn remained impassive. "Oh come on! She's dating that Mensa genius who lives there and she's spending almost all of her free time there; she's bound to have made it her turf like Bats roosts in the roofs at Gotham."

"Flash…"

Just as Flash released a small squeak of fear, their communicators released a series of beeps and diverted their attention from their discussion. Superman immediately answered the call. "You find anything Shayera?"

"…_I'm pretty sure I found something that's related to the anomaly. But I don't think you're going to believe me until I bring them up to the Watchtower with me."_ The founders exchanged wary glances with each other at Shayera's hesitant tone.

"Well, bring what or whoever it is you found up to the Watchtower then."

"…" Silence filtered on Shayera's end until she spoke again. _"Make sure Green Arrow's not anywhere near the pathway to the conference room."_

Lantern raised an eyebrow and tapped his communicator. "Now what for?"

"_It'll be self explanatory when we get up. Now are you going to trust me or not?"_

Flash shot Lantern an annoyed look as Superman responded to her. "You already have our trust Shayera. I'll go and make sure that Green Arrow's not around. Superman out."

"Nice going GL."

After a round of arguing among them with Lantern defending his actions, Superman had slipped out of the conference room to ensure that Green Arrow was nowhere near and meet Shayera at the Central Command. His lips quirked into a semi-amused smile when she appeared at the transportation deck with two cloaked figures, both of figures seemingly arguing with each other while Shayera eyed them in bemusement. She gave Superman a helpless shrug when a pale hand shot out from the shorter figure's cloak and pulled the taller one down to their height.

With his super hearing, he could pick up their whispered words.

"Will you stop being such a fucking brat and let me handle the talking? And by right you weren't supposed to stick your nosy little butt in to this mission!"

"That place is my second home; of course it becomes my business if something's happening there!" As Superman slowly approached them, he could distinguish their voices; the taller one was obviously male with his deep voice and the shorter one a rather imprudent sounding female. He heard the man snort and raised a brow at the short bark of laughter; his brow lifted higher at the sarcasm that literally dripped from his next words.

"Of course, of course… everything becomes your business little miss nosy parker, because you want to become little miss bloody martyr and be hailed as little miss hero to the world…"

"I do NOT you son of a b—"

"Excuse me." Superman cut off the woman before she could release a string of curses. He eyed them with a skeptic gaze, quickly glancing at Shayera who looked equally bewildered. "I believe you two should know the origins of the anomaly that's appeared in Amity Park… am I right?"

"Yes." The man responded immediately, his gloved hand shooting out from beneath the cloak and clapped it over the woman's mouth. An audible growl sounded from her but his hand only tightened over her mouth even as she tried to pry it off her, her snarls of protest muffled. "In fact, we need to discuss about this anomaly because it's also affecting where we come from and some of… our people were dragged into this area."

"Alright, then we'll take it up with the rest of the founders. Will you be able to explain to us what the anomaly is in detail?"

"Definitely; but only to the seven founders." The man's cloaked head turned about to glance at his surroundings before hesitantly speaking again. "…Is Green Arrow around?"

"No." Superman blinked and his lips curved into a confused line. "As by request, I believe it should be yours, I've made sure that Green Arrow isn't around the route to the conference room."

"Thank you Superman." He did a quick glance of them and gestured to Shayera to walk alongside with him as they lead the cloaked duo to the conference room. He heard a short yelp from the man and a string of curses following the yelp.

"What do you think?" Shayera did a quick glance behind them to look at the duo at Superman's soft query; both their guests had resumed arguing in low tones and the Thanagarian bit her bottom lip.

"The girl is definitely familiar. The man not so much but he sounds like someone I think we should know of." She murmured quietly. Superman raised a brow; a silent action in asking for a further explanation that Shayera was quick to pick up. "She reminds me of Casse. You know; Tobias's youngest daughter? Their voices sound the same and they have the same pitch when they're whining and being indignant."

"You do know that that doesn't sound very promising." Now it was Shayera's turn to raise a brow at Superman. "Casse is a very spoilt girl who will argue like there's no tomorrow and believe she's in the right unless her father, godfather and siblings prove it to her otherwise."

"And who exactly is to blame for that trait?" Superman turned his gaze to the front and snickered softly while a smirk graced Shayera's lips. They reached the conference room without incident, though Black Canary had done a double take at the two cloaked figures when she passed by and raised a brow at the two founders.

The remaining five founders scrutinized and lifted wary brows as they entered. Once the door was shut and the security lock was activated, Shayera and Superman turned to face the duo.

"We're going to need names and for you to take off the cloaks if we want to have a proper discussion." The woman didn't hesitate to bring the hood back; the man however, slapped a hand on his covered face and muttered a string of curses before turning his body to look away as the hood fell back. Flash's jaw dropped and the rest stared at the woman as long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes greeted them.

"…Yom shigeruth. No wonder you sounded the same… you're her!" The man groaned and threw his hands in the air in a gesture of exasperation before spinning on his heel to face the older Casse and snarled.

"Woman! Haven't you heard of tact?!"

"Stop stalling and just do it already! You want to get this over and done with then stop dawdling!"

"That's one of the reasons why none of the former Titans can stand you; you don't think ahead before acting! What's the next mess you want me to clean up? Your crazy rampage if you spot Red Huntress?!"

"Screw you!" The founders exchanged bemused glances as the two continued to argue. "I can do this mission on my own!"

"You weren't even briefed you crazy wannabe martyr! Do you even know who we're looking for or what and how the anomaly was created, and by whom?" When Casse didn't respond, the man folded his arms over his chest and straightened his posture, as if triumphant. "I knew it."

"If you two are done arguing, can we start this discussion?" Both flinched at Batman's sharp bark from the table. The Dark Knight pointed a finger at the man. "And you. Off with the hood."

A sigh was heard from the man as he unfolded his arms and rested them on his hips for a moment before bringing his hand up to pull the hood back. "This will explain why I requested that Green Arrow not be around."

A mop of red hair and a black mask that covered over his eyes. He shifted the cloak to reveal the red version of Green Arrow's uniform along with the bow and quiver attached to his back. The rest stared at him and Batman simply nodded his head curtly.

"Speedy; or have you changed your alias?"

"Changed. My alias is now Red Arrow." His lips quirked into a small and sad smirk. "Does it explain enough?"

"Yes." Batman's sharp gaze shifted to Casse and the woman shivered lightly. "And you. What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm just like you." She scowled when Red Arrow released a disgusted snort and muttered incoherently under his breath. She swiftly kicked shin. "I'm a part of our Justice League."

"More like League of Misfits." She aimed another kick at Red Arrow but he calmly took one step to the side away from her and her kick hit air. The lens of Batman's cowl narrowed dangerously and he released a low but audible growl.

"Your Justice League lacks competence if you two are wasting your time arguing with each other instead of focusing on your mission." Red Arrow and Casse were immediately silenced with Batman's sharp snap. "What year are you from."

"2019. If you want to be more precise, it's March 2019." Red Arrow responded dutifully and swiftly straightened his posture into attention. Casse however, grunted and folded her arms across her chest with an annoyed scowl on her lips.

"Exactly 14 years into our future." Superman and Shayera had taken their seats and the rest of the founders gave Batman full use of the floor, wisely keeping silent as he grilled Red Arrow and Casse. Batman then pointed a finger at Casse, staring firmly at her before turning to Red Arrow. "Who was the fool who let her into the League."

"Herself."

"I'm standing right here!" She threw her arms up and stamped her foot, glaring at both Batman and Red Arrow as they looked at each other. "Stop talking as if I'm not around!"

Batman ignored her and stared at Red Arrow harder, his cowl lens narrowing down into a dangerous slit. "Explain."

"Our Justice League had been disbanded in 2009 in the aftermath of an event and was re-established in 2017 but formally went back to action publically in 2018." Casse growled and clenched her fists tightly as Red Arrow continued speaking. "Of the founders, only Flash, Shayera and J'onn returned to head the League but majority of former heroes refused to resume their mantles and since they were short of manpower, she just declared herself as a League member. She has had no proper initiation or training."

"Wait a minute." Diana exchanged a look with Superman and Lantern. Casse continued to stew at being ignored. "What happened to the three of us? And Batman?"

Red Arrow's lips thinned, his eyes drooping slightly in hesitation. J'onn frowned lightly before turning to his fellow founders. "I believe this issue should not be pressed. It is unwise if we were to learn too much of our future."

"I'll say." Shayera shot a glance to Batman and Lantern. "Alright. That aside, what can you tell us about this anomaly?"

"Time holes." Red Arrow returned to his firm and decisive posture. "Someone's been messing with the time and space continuum and opened up time holes around Amity Park in our time. We've managed to save a few people from being dragged into the time holes but we're missing two residents from Amity Park. I was briefed to jump into a time hole to find them and make sure that they didn't do anything to mess with the past while waiting for my side to finalize a route back to our time and close the time holes."

"Can you track them?"

"Yes; I have a device that can let me track them and I can communicate with my time with a separate device." Casse turned her head away as Red Arrow gave her a sidelong glance. "She however, isn't equipped with them and was never briefed."

"I see." Batman trained a hard glare at Casse before turning back to Red Arrow. "How long will it take for your side to finish closing the time holes?"

"I can call them and ask them now." Red Arrow fumbled with his waist pouches and pulled out a device that resembled a PDA. "They've already confirmed that the time holes were opened by magical means so Dr Fate and Zatanna are working to close them up. But we're lacking magical members in the League so it might take a while."

Suddenly, a beeping noise emitted from the device in Red Arrow's hand and the red head blinked at it. "Talk about timing…" He pressed a few buttons and spoke into it. "Red Arrow here. Go ahead."

"_Red Arrow."_ The voice that came through mixed with radio wave crackles caused the founders to stare at the device before turning to look at J'onn. The Martian simply raised a brow. _"Another civilian has been reported missing from Amity Park. He should appear on the tracking device."_

"Another one?" Red Arrow dug into another pouch and pulled out a different device, activating it. He scanned the screen before speaking into the communicator. "J'onn, who is it?"

"…_Mr. Grayson." _Red Arrow's jaw dropped open and he did a double take at the tracking device before turning back to the communicator.

"You're shitting with me."

"_It is unfortunate that I currently lack the sarcasm __and wit to be 'shitting' with you." _The red head winced at the low monotone and sighed. _"We will keep you updated if anyone else falls into the time holes. As of right now, Zatanna and Dr Fate have sealed a sixth of the time holes appeared in Amity Park."_

"Right. I'll keep you posted when I find our missing civilians. Thanks J'onn."

"_Good luck Red Arrow."_ The device did not switch off at J'onn's last words. Instead, an angry female voice sounded through, causing Casse to visibly wince.

"_And you have my permission __to do whatever you need to do to complete your mission without interruptions. Ask the League to throw her into a cell, keep her sedated, anything! That girl is going to be in big trouble when you all get back."_

"It's my home!" Casse leaned forward and argued back into the communication device. "Of course I should be involved!"

"_You were not picked to go on this mission; it was meant to be a one person mission to retrieve missing civilians and I'm very sure that Red Arrow is more than capable of doing this on his own."_ The harsh snap caused Casse to recoil and Red Arrow simply thrust his arm with the device out towards her to finish listening to the other Shayera's rant._ "Don't question me young lady, you're already threading on thin ice for going against orders and acting like Hawk the second. Amity Park is Red Arrow's turf, not yours; so stop making excuses as to why you go there. We already had multiple complaints from Grayson that you're making yourself a nuisance to him by going down to his office to badger him."_

"_Enough is enough."_ All eyes trained on the device and Shayera cast a thoughtful gaze to the troubled Casse. _"If Red Arrow reports that you're giving him trouble in completing his mission, you are going to be expelled from the League; and even if you don't, you are going to go under a series of re-evaluations when you get back. Am I clear?"_

When Casse failed to respond, an impatient and annoyed bark emitted from the communication device. _"AM I CLEAR CASSANDRA?!"_

"I heard you the first time round!"

"_Then answer me. I don't have psychic abilities that can tell me whether or not I made myself perfectly clear to you."_ The other woman snapped, causing Casse to bite her lip and turn her head away. _"Arrow, report when you can. Watchtower out."_

The flat lining sound echoed in the room, signaling the end of the transmission and the occupants of the conference room remained silent. Once Red Arrow switched off the device, everyone stiffened as Batman's low and dangerous growl sounded.

"Making a nuisance of yourself and disobeying orders." The remaining founders exchanged wary glances with each other before turning to stare at Batman, whose icy gaze was trained intently on Casse. Silence followed until he address Red Arrow, his gaze still trained on Casse. "She said we could do anything am I right?"

"Yes."

"Good." With that, Batman abruptly got to his feet and strode over to them. He caught the hood of the cloak and threw it over Casse's head before roughly grabbing the back of the cloak. "She's going to be sent into our high security cell without any of her weapons and I might just put her through some… training simulations." Batman turned his head slightly to glance at Red Arrow. "Is that fine with you?"

"Go ahead." Red Arrow pocketed the communication and tracking devices, sending Batman a shrug before folding his arms over his chest. "As long as I can go about my mission without having her screw it up."

"I have never screwed any of your missions!" The woman snapped angrily as she struggled to get out of Batman's tight grip. He released it for a moment before grabbing the back of her neck. She snarled. "Let go Uncle Bruce!"

Red Arrow slapped a hand over his eyes and groaned while everyone else at the table stood up slowly, regarding Casse warily. Batman remained impassive although he did pull back the hood of the cloak to give her a sharp glare. Casse continued to struggle until she felt the gazes of all seven founders trained on her while Red Arrow continued to hide his eyes behind his hand.

Casse returned their wary gazes before realization dawned on her. She groaned.

"Shit."

* * *

Danny yawned and stretched his limbs, his legs reaching out to the other end of the couch. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, releasing another yawn before gazing at the flickering screen in front of him.

"Ah, Danny. Did you have a good sleep?" He jumped slightly before turning his head around to see Clockwork float towards him. The hybrid studied the time manipulator and frowned.

"Is it time for me to go already?" The other ghost released a hearty laugh and shook his head.

"Time? Dear me no; time is quite the luxury you have right now." Danny raised a brow at Clockwork, who simply chuckled as he came closer. "There's something I need you to do for me Danny, but the time for you to do it is not now."

Danny stared at Clockwork in silence. "You are one confusing ghost Clockwork." He paused before looking straight into Clockwork's eyes. "Do I get a hint of what I'm supposed to do for you?"

"You get to decide whether what I say is of any use to you. All I can assure you is that it will involve one who must return to where he belongs." He groaned and smacked his hand over his eyes while the Master of Time smirked. "The time has yet to come so, why don't you continue watching the timeline? You've missed quite a bit of it already."

"What? Aww… No way!" Danny scrambled into a seating position and shifted his bag to the side. He took a glance at the screen that flickered with the scene of morning, where the alternate Danny, Jazz, Tucker and another boy were walking down the streets. He stared at the screen and raised a brow. "Huh… that guy looks too similar yet he can't be another alternate me…"

Clockwork's smirk grew wider and slowly floated back to the cupboard. He stopped when Danny suddenly hollered from the couch. "Holy shit! Clockwork, that kid… Isn't he Shadow's – "

"A fine observation Danny." Danny threw Clockwork a dirty look from the couch. "You should realize now what you will be getting yourself involved in. Watch carefully; the time to act is coming very soon."

* * *

"You know, you can stop thanking us for helping you."

"I can't help it. Not a lot of people are nice enough to allow strangers into their homes to stay, even for a night, and still fuss over them on food and health."

"Which rock have you been living under?" Jazz, Danny and Tucker stared at Nath who took a nervous step away from them. "Better yet, which unfriendly town or city? It has to bite that no one's empathetic enough to help another person."

"Well, because of the stuff that's been happening around, everyone's wary and more concerned about their own safety I suppose."

"That reminds me." Tucker glanced over to the Fenton siblings before turning back to Nath. "You survived Mr. Fenton's third degree? I remember Danny saying something about Jazz holding your hand and you almost peeing your pants when he started glaring at you."

"Danny!"

"What?" Danny gave the irate Jazz a noncommittal shrug while Nath released a shaky laugh and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "It's true! Dad was glaring at him because you were holding his hand the whole time and Nath looked just about ready to bolt when dad scrutinized him up and down like some bloodhound."

"I'm sure you found out after the scrutinizing that despite Mr. Fenton's large and intimidating size, he's quite the marshmallow when you get to know him better and if you're nowhere near Jazz." Tucker continued talking to Nath while Danny and Jazz immersed themselves in sibling bicker. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton didn't start introducing you to all of their weapons did they?"

"Yea, Mr. Fenton stopped glaring at me after Jazz let go and when Mrs. Fenton started to smother me." Nath leaned forward and stole a peek at the Fenton siblings from Tucker's other side. Tucker followed his gaze and used a hand to cover his grin as Jazz pinched the side of Danny's cheek and pulled. "Though Mr. and Mrs. Fenton did start up the conversation about ghosts, Jazz and Danny dragged me upstairs just before they got down to details."

"Lucky you." Both boys exchanged smiles. "You know, it feels coincidental that we found your cousin and later you."

"Could be luck?" Nath shrugged and giggled when Danny danced away from Jazz's reach and leapt onto her back. "In any case, I'm glad that it was you guys who found Olivia but I'm pretty surprised that she didn't give you any trouble; she can be a handful and it's tough to get her trust."

"You're joking." Nath blinked as Tucker stared at him incredulously. "She took to Brad pretty quickly and latched onto him like a leech. She wouldn't even let go of him when we reached his place."

"…Well, that was before she met his sister Lee." Tucker added after a moment's pause. "Olivia started clinging onto her when they were introduced. Lee and Brad liked Olivia well enough that they were pampering her with attention when we left and Brad can be a tough nut to crack at most times."

"Oh… really?" Tucker gave him a sideway glance at his subdued tone. Nath had his gaze trained on the ground in front of them before lifting his head up and forced a smile. "I'll have to thank them for looking after her and letting her stay for the night. I just hope Olive Oil didn't give them too much trouble."

"I think they were pretty glad for the distraction."

"Distraction?"

"We're out of the loop Jazz." Tucker and Nath stopped their conversation and turned to look at Jazz and Danny, the Fenton siblings having finished with their bickering and were trying to catch up with what Tucker and Nath were talking about. Jazz rolled her eyes and rested her elbow on the top of Danny's head.

"Gee, and I wonder whose fault it is because it sure isn't mine."

"Hey!"

Tucker and Nath watched in amusement as the Fenton siblings resumed their bickering for the rest of the way to the Angeles house. Nath fidgeted nervously as Danny rang the bell; his nervousness didn't go unnoticed to the other three. The red eyed boy's shoulders stiffened when Lee's voice called out after the ring and he unwittingly took a step backward when she opened the door.

"Good morning guys." Nath sidestepped and hid behind Jazz's taller frame. Lee paused and tilted her head, blinking at the mop of black hair that stuck out at Jazz's sides before continuing. "Olivia's conned Brad into letting her fiddle with his guitar, under his supervision of course, down in the living room. Come on in."

"Hey Lee, the hidden mop behind Jazz is Olivia's cousin Nath. Remember I called you last night telling you that Jazz found him?" Lee's mouth formed an 'o' and nodded her head in understanding as Danny plucked his shoes off and set them neatly to the side. "I don't know why he's hiding from you though."

"You make it sound like he's a lost puppy." She chided, stepping to the side to take a good look at Nath who stepped in behind Jazz. Lee gawked for a moment before shaking herself lightly and studied Nath closely. "Wow. You weren't kidding when you said the two of you shared a lot of similarities. If I didn't know you as well as I do now, I would have said you guys were twins."

Nath gave her a nervous smile once he had taken off his shoes and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah… Mr. and Mrs. Fenton said something similar, but it was more along the lines of 'if you were our son, you could be Danny's twin'." He hesitantly offered his hand to her. "I'm Nathaniel Bradley, just call me Nath. Thanks for looking after my cousin."

"Even your names are similar." Lee giggled and shook Nath's hand. "I'm Amilee Angeles, call me Lee though and it's no problem; Olivia's been a real sweetheart."

"…That leaves me worried." The other four peered at him curiously as Nath released Lee's hand. "She usually has an ulterior motive if she's being sweet to strangers."

"She can't be that bad." Lee argued, jerking her head towards the living room. "All she's been is curious with the house and us."

"Ah." Lee held her hand up and pressed her index finger to her smiling lips, pointing to the open door of the living room. Danny, Tucker, Jazz and Nath crept up behind her and peered over her shoulder to see what she was smiling about. Olivia was happily nestled on a cushion at Brad's feet, her arms wrapped tightly around his legs as she peered up at him from the floor. Brad's guitar was leaning against the side rest of the chair.

"Please?" Brad just stared at her and Olivia's face turned into a teary puppy face. "Pretty pretty please?"

"I may play musical instruments, but I don't sing." Danny choked and giggled, Tucker muffled his laughter by stuffing his hand into his mouth while Jazz pressed the bottom portion of her face into Danny's hair, stifling her giggles. Lee's smile grew wider and Nath's expression contorted into one of horror. "I probably sound like some old fart with no tune."

"I don't care." Olivia jutted her bottom lip out and crawled up to her knees, resting her chin on Brad's knees. "I wanna hear you sing."

"I'll give you nightmares and I'll probably make you deaf."

"Not scared of 'em." The tiny girl declared proudly as she puffed her chest out. Brad bent down and stared at her; Olivia just stared back at him with puppy eyes. He caved in after a moment, leaning back against the chair and groaned.

"Why do I even bother fighting back…?"

"Miss Lee said you were a... a… 'complete sucker for puppy eyes'." Brad glared halfheartedly at the triumphant girl as she crawled up and plopped her bottom firmly on his lap. "Please?"

"She calls you Miss?" Lee peered to her side where Nath was situated at his whisper. She nodded and Nath groaned lightly, covering his eyes with a hand. "Oh god, I hope you don't feel insulted that she calls you that."

"Brad put his foot down when she called him mister." Nath moaned lightly, peeking out from between his fingers as Lee giggled softly. "But I don't mind; she's just being polite."

Danny, Tucker and Jazz exchanged looks with each other but turned their attention back to the living room where Brad was tapping his foot and humming a light tune. Olivia didn't look pacified with the humming and assaulted Brad with another dose of puppy eyes. He grimaced but continued to hum for a moment before finally breaking into a song.

"If he says that his singing, the one we're hearing now, is making us deaf, I'll eat my hat." Jazz and Lee giggled at Tucker's exclamation. "Dude, this is great blackmail. Lee, can I record him please?"

"Stop being so mean Tucker."

"I second Tucker's plea!" Lee shot Danny an incredulous look while the other boy grinned from ear to ear. "I mean seriously; I would've thought that he would only do rock songs or something to do with electric guitars, but hey – who knew he could do lullabies?"

"I heard that you twit!" Danny leaned forward to stick his head into the room and stuck his tongue out at the semi-irate Brad who was scowling at the group from the chair. Olivia giggled. "You guys are either doing this on purpose or are just really bad at being subtle."

"Hey, what goes around comes around." Danny pointed to the kitchen and to Lee as the group stepped into the living room, as if to refer to the time Brad and Tucker had purposely made themselves known to Lee and Danny when they had their conversation. Olivia's eyes brightened when she caught sight of Nath.

"Nathy!" She leapt out of Brad's lap and scrambled over to her cousin. Nath caught her and hoisted her up onto his hip as she threw her arms over his neck. She began to babble to Nath happily, going through every detail of her night stay much to everyone's amusement. Brad took the opportunity to keep his guitar while Olivia was distracted, smacking the back of Danny and Tucker's head with his free hand when he walked past them and out the living room door.

After making sure that Olivia was still occupied with babbling to Nath, Danny and Tucker threw Brad's retreating back brief rude signs and earned smacks on the top of their heads courtesy of Jazz. They turned to focus on the duo when Olivia began pleading with Nath.

"Please? Can we stay here? Please please please please pleaseeeee?" She assaulted her cousin with her widest puppy eyes including pouty lip and her hands fisting the front of Nath's shirt into balls. "It's sooo much cooler and nicer!"

"What? You don't like living with me? With Al and your dad?" Nath gave Olivia a mock sad look and faked a sniff. "I'm not that terrible am I? Al's going to be so sad if he hears you like living someplace else when he looks after you so much."

"Noooooo!!" Nath grimaced when Olivia began slapping his cheeks with her hands. Brad returned to the living room and raised a brow at the scene. The rest simply snickered. "Alfred and Nathy can stay here too!"

"Hey, hey. This ain't your place Olive Oil." Nath scolded lightly and flickered her nose with a finger. Olivia wrinkled her nose and whined. "You can't just say 'we can stay here too' when this house belongs to someone else and we'd be giving them trouble staying here any longer."

"But…but…"

"Olivia." He warned gently, giving her a firm look. The little girl's bottom lip trembled, making the onlookers wince slightly. Nath however, was hardly fazed by the appearance of the trembling lip. He stared at her harder. "No."

"Bu… but but…" Olivia's eyes began to water and she sniffled. Nath gave her a harder stare.

"No."

"You know Nath…" Nath looked up as Lee slowly approached him and Olivia sniffled louder. "I don't think it would be any trouble for her or you to stay here for another day; it is the weekend so there's enough time."

"As long as we keep those damn eyes from showing, I'd be glad to survive the weekend." Jazz, Danny and Tucker threw Brad amused looks at his low mutter, the blonde boy quickly turned his head away to avoid looking at Olivia's puppy eyes. Nath frowned.

"You've already taken care of her for a day and a night; that's more than enough. She's just being spoilt and wanting her way." Nath turned his firm gaze back to Olivia and regarded her solemnly. "You're turning into _her_ like this you know Olive Oil."

"Her?" Lee echoed uncertainly. Her question was left unanswered when Olivia's eyes grew wider, this time in horror, and she wailed loudly, startling everyone else as she clung onto Nath's shirt tightly.

"Nononononononono, I don't wanna be like _her_!"

"HEY! Do you mind?!" The occupants of the living room balked at the annoyed shout that came from the upper floor. Pounding footsteps echoed in the house as an annoyed Casse stomped down to the living room and glared at the tot, ignoring everyone else present in the room. "This isn't your house where you can scream and wail all you want!"

Olivia cringed and her grip on Nath's shirt tightened. Nath likewise cringed, but for a different reason. Casse's glare trained on the girl and Jazz slowly swept her eyes back and forth between her and the other two. The older Fenton sibling frowned and studied Nath's face closely. She spoke up before Lee could chastise Casse.

"Hey Nath, that unfriendly local you were talking about last night… it wouldn't happen to be Casse would it?"

"What?"

"Unfriendly local?" Lee and Brad chorused simultaneously as they shot Jazz and Nath surprised looks before turning their attention to Casse who stopped glaring at Olivia. Danny and Tucker quickly scuttled out of the way as Brad rounded up on Casse. "What the hell have you been doing?"

"None of your business!"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh boy." Danny's mutter could be heard by Jazz, Tucker, Lee and Nath but was drowned out by Brad and Casse's argument. Olivia's eyes followed Brad and Casse's movements in wide eyed fascination as Danny gave the exasperated and torn Lee a sympathetic look. "Need help breaking them apart?"

"They're not going to break apart that easily Danny." Lee groaned and slapped her palm on her forehead. She turned her head to give Nath and Olivia an apologetic look but she only caught Nath's eye; Olivia was still studying the arguing two in weird fascination. "Sorry you're witnessing another one of our sibling spats; it can put you off on wanting to stay here any longer."

"I…think I can relate to how you're feeling." Nath turned his head back to Brad and Casse while Lee blinked at him. "My aunt and uncles argue like cats and dogs do and not only is it tough to break them up, it gets a little embarrassing when it happens out in public. My aunt usually instigates the argument though and my uncles get fed up with her pretty quickly."

"And it escalates to an all out shouting war that can be heard from five streets away?"

"Not quite; a little worse I think." Everyone, sans Olivia, Brad and Casse, gave Nath curious looks that prompted him to explain. Outside the Angeles house, columns of light flashed for a moment before dimming away. "My aunt gets… violent, when she's angry."

Before Tucker could open his mouth to say something, loud knocks sounded from the front and caused Casse and Brad to stop their argument and stare at the front door. When neither of them went to open the door, Lee blew her bangs from her eyes and strode through them, pushing them further away from each other as she headed for the front door. The teens exchanged wary glances with each other when awkward silence followed the creak of the door.

Lee returned to the living room with Shayera, Batman and a red clad archer who had his face partially hidden under his hood. He did however, release a sigh of relief once he caught sight of Olivia nestled in Nath's arms and Olivia wasted no time in releasing a happy squeal, throwing her hands out towards him.

"Daddy!" The teens balked and threw Olivia, Nath and the archer surprised looks while Nath groaned. Shayera looked vaguely amused while Batman remained impassive.

"Olivia!"

"It's ok kid, the League knows and understands what's going on. But just remember what you call me." The archer threw his hood back, revealing his mop of red hair and mask before squatting down with a smile. "What's my little princess been up to?"

Olivia squirmed her way out of Nath's grasp and barreled straight into her father's chest, babbling excitedly to him. The remaining teenagers stared at Nath.

"Dude… you're related to one of the Justice League members?" Nath had paled at Tucker's rhetorical questions and nervously backed away from them. Danny frowned and folded his arms over his chest, his eyes rolling skyward as he thought for a moment.

"That can't be right Tuck." Tucker threw Danny a questioning gaze and the hybrid scanned the rest of the room before finally halting at the archer. "I don't think… the League had an archer member other than Green Arrow; unless he's some kind of warped version of him."

"Not quite Fenton." Danny blinked as the man got up to his feet with Olivia happily perched in his arms. Batman and Shayera watched Danny and Nath closely from the archer's side. "I'm not a warped version of Green Arrow, my name is Red Arrow and yes I don't exist, but not at this point of time at least."

"Not at this point of time…?" Jazz gawked and pointed a finger at Red Arrow and Olivia before her finger spun to point at Nath. Realization began to dawn in the rest of the teenagers faces. "You guys are… from the future?"

"Fourteen years on this day to be more precise." The teenagers jumped at Batman's sudden intrusion to the conversation. "But yet their timeline can't exist from our current point of time."

"Huh?"

"…Are we in a paradox?"

"How can that be possible?"

"Whoa, hold up you guys." Immediately the noises stopped and all attention focused on Red Arrow who simply pointed at Nath. "You see, that kid is turning fourteen in our time, which is 2019, so he's supposed to be born this year." The teens stared at Nath who blushed in embarrassment. "But after checking the records of the end of your 2004 up to now, his mother hasn't been reported being pregnant so he's not going to be born. We are, you can say, from the future of another timeline from yours."

"…You know, that sounds really familiar."

"I second that Brad. Feels like some kind of déjà vu." Brad and Tucker made thoughtful noises as they rested their chins in their hands. Nath blinked as the other teens sans Casse who just scowled, followed Brad and Tucker's lead by folding their arms over their chests and thought hard. Lee continued to have a blank and clueless look while Jazz concentrated hard; Danny pondered for a moment, his eyes darting between Red Arrow and Nath during that moment before snapping his fingers and pointing at the future hero.

"Hey wait a minute… Brad, Tuck." Both boys made noises of acknowledgement and Danny continued with everyone else's attention trained on him. "Didn't you guys mentioned somewhere at the end of November last year that you got sucked into this alternate future where… almost all of us were dead?"

"But Danny, that 'future' we saw was only 10 years from our time. How can they jump another five years when we've only gone through like what… three, four months?"

"Hold it." Beads of sweat rolled down the side of Danny's face as Batman suddenly loomed menacingly over the three boys. Brad's expression contorted into one of annoyance while Tucker looked as if he had peed in his pants. "What do you mean you got sucked into an alternate future last November?"

"We uh…" Tucker fumbled with his words and cringed under Batman's piercing glare. "Caught a glimpse of a really ominous future?"

"If that's the case, this can't be a good coincidence." Red Arrow shifted Olivia upwards to get a better grip on the slippery tot and cast a wary gaze at the teens scattered around the room. "And having these two found with you guys is something that's been bugging me too."

"Far too coincidental." Danny and Tucker quickly backpedalled away from Batman and Brad simply sidestepped away from his icy gaze. "You're getting into too much trouble for a bunch of teenagers."

"Do you think we asked and like fate to screw us up over millions of times?" Batman's head swiftly turned to the side and narrowed his gaze at Brad. Brad returned the gaze with equal firmness mixed with bull-headed stubbornness. Danny grimaced as the two did another stare down that was similar to the time Lee and Jazz had been kidnapped. Thankfully, Shayera stepped in.

"Well now what? Do we bring the kids with us or leave them alone? I agree with Batman that it's far too coincidental that the kids are involved in this and I don't think that Red Arrow's mission is going to remain as a simple extraction mission."

"I have to agree with Shayera on both points." Red Arrow scanned the room before casting a wary gaze at Casse who raised a brow at him; he turned away the next instant. "It might be better to bring them along since we don't know _who_ created the time holes that these two fell into although we know _what means_ they were made. Plus, we have to get someone else."

"Yay!" Raised brows were sent in the oblivious Olivia's way when she cheered. She squirmed out of her father's arms and totted over to Brad, grabbing onto his pant leg and gave him a bright smile. "We can play some more!"

Danny and Tucker snorted and quickly turned their heads away to hide their snickers as Brad blushed brightly. Lee and Jazz giggled quietly while Casse fumed from where she stood, glaring heatedly at Olivia. Nath gave his cousin an incredulous stare and the adults eyed the little girl in amusement.

Batman smirked. "I suppose that takes care of finding a babysitter then."

Brad scowled, covered Olivia's eyes and stuck a rude gesture at Batman with his free hand.

* * *

Danny watched Clockwork warily as he floated towards him with one of the Thermoses in hand. "Will you tell me what I'm going to do now?"

"Of course Danny." Clockwork gently set the Thermos on the armrest of the couch and pointed to it. "You see Danny, it is time for him to learn about the son he never knew he had, move on with his life and return to where he belongs. Your part in this is to be his guide, a voice of reason that will make him think of his choices thoroughly instead of standing firm in one single belief."

"In other words, make sure he isn't wallowing in his pit of guilt?" Clockwork released a hearty laugh.

"If you want to put it that way… then yes." Danny watched as Clockwork tapped the top of the Thermos lightly with his staff. "But remember, what you can say is limited and there is a restriction of how much and what you can tell him straight off the bat. One such thing is the existence of his son; another is who you are."

"Wait a minute; does this mean I have to stay invisible the entire time?"

"Yes Danny; you must understand that as you are meddling in a timeline that is not yours, whether or not by your choice or if it is a calculated event that needs to be take place." Danny nodded to Clockwork's explanation. "It is necessary that you remain invisible throughout the event, just as you did before when the timelines collided the first time."

Clockwork floated to his cabinet of medallions, plucking one off from the hook and tossed it to Danny who caught it. Once he had slipped the medallion over his head, Clockwork made a motion with his staff as he floated back to the couch, as if signaling to Danny to turn invisible. Danny quickly gathered his bag and tossed it back into the dark corner of the office before turning invisible.

Clockwork smirked as he picked up the Thermos and popped the lid open. A bright flash of light emitted from the mouth of the Thermos and a stream of green energy poured out as the lid rolled around the floor. Shadow, in his ghost form, popped out of the Thermos and rolled across the floor before settling to a stop at the base of the couch. He reverted to his ragged human form once he had stopped rolling.

His messy hair had grown below his shoulder and his skin was much paler. His elbows and knees jutted out awkwardly, lacking the flesh to cover the joints and his ragged clothes hung loosely around his thin frame. Shadow wheezed and breathed heavily as he struggled to his feet.

"Welcome to my office Daniel." Shadow flinched violently and shakily pushed himself up, only to fall back onto his bottom when his legs couldn't support his weight. He stared up at Clockwork with fear palpable in his eyes. "You don't have to be afraid. I am not here to pass any kind of judgment on you Daniel; rather, I am here to give you a second chance to rebuild and return to your life."

"I don't deserve a second chance." Shadow responded bitterly, casting his gaze down to the floor. "And I can't go back; I'm dead to everyone. They're all better off without me anyway."

"Then I believe you have misplaced your trust in the ones you vied to protect the most." Clockwork's smile grew wider when Shadow's head shot up to stare at him. "Who did though? That I'm afraid I am not able to tell you. It is up to you to decide whether or not you wish to find out and to learn of how much your world has changed in your absence. However, no matter what you decide, you will no longer be staying in the Thermos in my office." He drew his hand out and revealed the opened Thermos.

"Why should I be given a second chance? For all I've done?" Shadow slouched and leaned back against the couch, his body quivering violently. "I failed to save the ones I love, I failed to stay strong against my arch-nemesis and even fell under his control; I've killed for crying out loud! I have the blood of humans, ghosts and metahumans all over me, dead by my hands! I should be dead, not given a second chance!"

"Everyone Daniel, deserves a second chance; the chance to redeem themselves despite the damage they had once done." Clockwork raised his staff, encasing the cap of the Thermos in purple energy and brought it up to the mouth of the device, sealing it shut once more. "One cannot dwell in the past forever; if you want to wash the blood off your hands, you must move forward and live."

"I don't have any fucking thing to live for even if I go back; everyone I lived for are all dead." Clockwork's smile turned into a smirk and he turned around.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that Daniel. After all, you were – and still are – a much respected and loved person." Shadow remained silent and Clockwork floated some distance away from him before turning around again. He raised his staff and Shadow was enveloped in dark purple energy, causing the hybrid to yelp out in shock as he floated off the floor. "You will not be able to transform into you ghost form until you return to where you belong. Now you must rebuild your life, rekindle friendships and learn of your world."

"You're crazy!" Shadow – Daniel cried out as struggled in the air to free himself. Clockwork simply smiled and thrust his arm out towards the large screen which showed an empty alleyway. Daniel was unceremoniously flung into the screen, the surface rippling as he went through. Once Daniel had gone through the screen, it rippled once more before becoming still.

Clockwork smiled and waved his staff again. The scene of the alleyway dissolved and was replaced with the basement laboratory of Fenton Works. After glancing at the Thermos in his hand for a moment, he lazily tossed the device into the screen where it appeared on the work table and sat there as if it had been there the whole time. He waved his staff again and the scene changed once more.

The scene morphed into a large dark room where a tall recognizable figure stood in front of a warped section of air. The section of air twisted and swirled, revealing the group of teenagers heading out of the Angeles house.

The Master smirked wickedly as his eyes focused on Danny but the smirk faltered when Red Arrow stepped out along with Shayera and Batman. His eyes narrowed and his lips released a snarl, his hand reaching out to animatedly swipe at Red Arrow's image. He paid no attention to the remaining members of the group and concentrated on Red Arrow and Danny.

"How can he be there?!" His fist slammed down hard against the table top as he continued to glare at Red Arrow's image. "This changes everything… I have to act more carefully and faster if I want to capture that brat back to my side. If he's there, that meddlesome woman can't be far behind."

Clockwork watched as the shadow paced and muttered to himself, grabbing a few items from the table and latched them onto his belt. The Master glared at the distorted space, the light flashing from the spot illuminating his face for a moment, and straightened up. Plasmius then strode into the time hole while muttering darkly under his breath.

"I won't fail. They'll all crawl on their knees and beg for mercy once I'm through with them."

Once he was gone, Clockwork's eyes gleamed as the scene shifted back to the empty alleyway where Daniel appeared, sprawled on the floor and unconscious.

"Those two will not be the only ones who will stand in your way Plasmius."

* * *

"Are you sure that that other person you're looking for is at that address?" Red Arrow turned his head and nodded at Danny who had an uneasy expression.

"Aren't you guys friends with the Masons' daughter?" The archer blinked when the mood of the atmosphere seemed to drop a few degrees and frowned when he saw the darkened looks on the teenagers' faces. He raised a brow as he looked at each teen. "Or did something happen to change that?"

"You could say something happened." Red Arrow exchanged wary glances with the impassive Batman and Shayera simply shrugged in response. Having sensed the change of mood, Olivia tugged at Brad's pants to catch his attention and when she got it, she raised her arms up as if wanting to be carried.

Casse grounded her teeth together as Brad sighed in defeat and hoisted Olivia up, resting her on his hip. Olivia took the opportunity to play with the black tips of his sideburns and made tiny braids with whatever clumps of hair she could grab on to. Lee sidled to Brad's side and showed Olivia different methods of braiding, much to Brad's chagrin. The atmosphere immediately lightened as Tucker made a crack about Brad's new 'feminine' look which earned him a kick in the shin.

Red Arrow watched them carefully, his gaze shifting over to Casse and his brow rose at the sight of her tightly clenched fists. He followed her gaze and frowned.

"Are the kids confusing you?" Red Arrow turned to face Shayera with a quizzical look before he nodded. She returned the nod. "I'm not surprised. The kids have changed a lot since the start of the year and it was only three weeks ago that the triplets were on good terms with each other."

"What do you mean by that?"

"As in, they were still close to each other." Shayera pointed to Casse and flicked her finger to emphasize the distance she had with Brad and Lee. "Just three weeks ago Casse was clinging onto Lee and Brad like they were here last life line; now she's avoiding them like the plague."

"I see your point." Red Arrow's eyes flickered between Casse and her siblings who were occupied with Olivia. "But it doesn't look as if she wants to fully let them go and doesn't like it when they give others attention, judging by that glare she's giving my daughter."

"She's spoilt and possessive." Shayera and Red Arrow turned to face Batman who continued to look to the front. "Naturally she believes she should be the center of attention to her siblings and family; anyone else who gets their attention like that, especially a stranger, she'll get jealous."

"And I wonder whose fault it is." Batman made a low 'humph' noise at Shayera's sly rhetorical question but did not deny it. Red Arrow chuckled softly and looked up, watching Nath carefully as the boy shyly conversed with Danny and Lee, who had finally left Brad alone to Olivia's braiding torture. Tucker was enjoying himself by snapping digital pictures of Olivia braiding Brad's hair with his PDA while Jazz took over Lee's earlier position and braided the back of Brad's hair at Olivia's request.

Brad was less than amused at being treated like a life sized Barbie doll.

Red Arrow watched Nath a little longer before he lifted his head up to watch the front. Just as they passed by an alleyway, a rustling sound caught his attention and caused him to stop in his tracks. He hadn't been the only one to catch the sound; Batman too had halted and had already moved into the alleyway to inspect it. Red Arrow quickly followed him.

The rest of the group halted after they walked a few steps away from the alleyway and turned.

"Huh? Where did Red Arrow and Batman go?" Shayera huffed and rested her hands on her hips in exasperation.

"Why I ought to –"

"Shayera, come here now." The teens exchanged curious glances with each other while Shayera raised a brow. As Olivia and Jazz blinked at each other, Brad took the chance to untangle his hair. The teens followed closely behind Shayera as she made her way to the alleyway where Batman and Red Arrow were crouched over an unconscious man. Red Arrow obstructed their view of the man's features with his body as he checked the body over. Batman stood and regarded Shayera.

"We have a slight change of plans. You'll have to take this man up to the Watchtower to get treated and take the kids along with you. Red Arrow and I will go to the address and get that other person before going up."

"Why not just send him to the local hospital?" Batman raised a brow and looked down at Red Arrow.

"Move; you're blocking their view." Red Arrow turned his head to face them, his eyes focused on Nath intently before he hesitantly shifted away. They gasped when the man's pale, yet recognizable face came into view and shifted their gazes from the man to Danny. Danny stared at the thin man, his mouth having dropped open and made strangling noises. Nath paled and locked gazes with Red Arrow, who nodded his head to him and made Nath swallow loudly.

"Holy sh—"

"Oh my god!"

"Danny?"

* * *

**Authoress's Ending Notes:**

***I'd like to thank Shadowvixen (DeviantART) for helping me out with some of the dialogue problems I had. :3  
**

1) I'm not very sure if I've done this chapter well enough; any comments on sections you think I could have done better in?  
2) Some of the conflicts WILL be resolved in this event, up to a point. I can guarantee that much!  
3) Thank you to **JLBShecky**, **Kradeiz**, **Twilight Princess67**, **Enchanting Elf**, **Abyss of Essence**, **Garnet Sky**, **Ambiance23** and **draco-rex** for reviewing the previous chapter(s)!  
4) **Twilight Princess67**: :) I definitely will!  
5) **Garnet Sky**: I figured Pamela Manson would be this very proper woman who would have prejudice against many things. The show didn't have much of her for me to grasp her character so this is my interpretation of her ^^; Tobias does, doesn't he? I guess in growing up, one can make their own philosophy of living.  
6) **Ambiance23**: Thank you! I'm glad that the chapter with the mixture of those two episodes was done to your liking :) Yes, Maddie's relationship with Danny is still distant but it'll be touched on in another future chapter :) and YES! Some of the problems/conflicts will have some resolution soon!  
7) **draco-rex**: XD! Here's more?  
8) Thank you to those who have added this fic to their alerts and favorites! (I'm sorry, I've lost track of who did!)  
9) I'm probably going to halt my 2nd AT project (My head is no longer cooperating with me and is flouncing everywhere else).  
10) Thank you for the support and reading the fic! Please do leave a review if you have the chance :) If there is anything you'd like clarified, I will do my best to respond to you :)

**Cheeri!  
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C**


	20. Second Chance

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress's Beginning notes: Good god. I took so long with this chapter since I've pondered about what the reviews have said in regards to the last chapter. But reality has also taken a hold on me too so that's another reason why the chapter had been delayed. Looks like my once per month update streak is gone ^^; Anyhow, this chapter extended far longer than I expected (Plasmius refused to co-operate and Danny and Lee wouldn't shut up in my head) and I spent quite a long while deciding on what to show especially since it seems like I've ignored Sam a little too much despite having said that she was simply taking a break from the group. ...The next character who's going to suffer this fate is Casse though. But yes; I really, REALLY hope that this chapter is up to standards.  
Procrastination and art flashes were also my constant companions in diverting my attention from the chapter and onto various other things. But please, enjoy :)

*** Shadow from the Future Timeline is known as Daniel to avoid confusion between him and the current timeline Danny. Original!Danny is 'that annoying invisible guide/voice'. There will be distinctions between other characters in the last part of the chapter, but if I reveal now, it'll be spoilt. :B**

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 17: **

**Second Chance**

**

* * *

  
**

Richard Wayne was an enigma. Sam hadn't the faintest clue how to figure the man out but what she did know after a night of having him in the mansion that he was exceptionally good at smooth talking. He enamored her mother almost instantly with his suave speech and gentlemanly manners, though Sam personally thought that her mother had just been suckered with his good looks. Her father had been skeptic at first but warmed up to him after just a few minutes of engaging in conversation with him.

Even though he was engaging and outwardly cheerful to them, Sam caught glimpses of him being a completely different person when he was alone. She knew it was wrong to spy, but she was curious about him. He was almost…calculative, as if he was thinking hard on what his next move would be but he didn't seem manipulative.

Plus, trying to figure him out had become a good distraction for her; she stopped moping about her broken relationships and current predicament of being friendless.

Her parents disappeared once breakfast was over. Sam had a feeling it was another one of their 'only-god-knows' trips and was mildly surprised that they had left her alone just like that with a stranger in the mansion; from the moment her Grandma Ida told her when she got down from her room, she knew for sure that she was never going to understand how their minds worked.

Speaking of the old lady, Sam carefully glanced around the large dining room from the top of her gothic poetry book. Mr. Wayne was sitting at the far end of the long table eating his food quietly, but Grandma Ida was nowhere to be found.

'_Probably bowling in the basement again.'_ She sighed internally as she dropped her gaze back to her book. After a moment, she peeked to the side to study Mr. Wayne again and reflected on how he smooth talked his way through to her parents to let him stay for the night.

His story sounded believable enough; he had business in Amity Park but when he came over, his luggage got lost and someone stole his hand-carry bag that had all his money and his cell phone. With no way of communicating with his company and money to get into a hotel, he relied on 'Good Samaritans' to help him out; especially after he heard of the rumors of Red Huntress's rampaging terror from other Amity residents.

Now that she thought of it, his good lucks and suaveness wasn't the only thing that smitten her mother; the way he delivered his story and the way he punctuated 'Good Samaritans' was possibly another factor that could have made her parents want to look good. It was either he was very good at figuring out people's weak points or that it was genuinely his way of approaching people.

"Excuse me, Samantha?" She flinched at the use of her full name and slowly pulled her book down, hoping that she hadn't been caught studying him.

"Just call me Sam."

"Ah, ok." He nodded and pointed to his cleaned plates. "I'm not sure where the kitchen is so that I can clean up the plates."

"You could always just leave the plates here; the maid will pick it up."

"Oh…ok" He placed the cutlery together and neatly stacked the plates, gently wiping the table with the napkin. "So… where are your parents?"

"Don't know and frankly, I don't care." She noticed his brow rise at her mutter yet he didn't look very surprised. "They're probably on another one of their spontaneous trips where they go to some weird happy place and bring back horrible pink 60s dresses."

"…That's quite sudden." Sam couldn't help but roll her eyes at his exclamation. "I'm surprised that they left just like that and left you alone with me, a stranger."

"You're not the only one; I don't understand half of the things they do and I'm supposed to be their daughter." She could hear him chuckle softly at her disgruntled mutter and diverted her gaze back to her book. Just moment later, a loud series of knocks that echoed from the front diverted her attention away from her book and towards the main door. Sam heard a flurry of footsteps and the creak of the main door opening.

Silence followed and she raised a brow at the sudden quietness. She spared a quick glance at Mr. Wayne who looked equally puzzled with the silence and turned her gaze back to the door of the dining room when footsteps sounded again. A bewildered maid trotted into view and pointed to her side.

"Um, _Madame_. You 'ave some… very important guests." Sam's brow rose again.

"Are they people I know Catherine?" The maid fidgeted uncomfortably before bobbing her head to Sam.

"_Oui_ _Madame_. Very well known guests who 'ave come before." The maid fidgeted once more before continuing. "And 'ey wish for _Madame _and _Monsieur_ Richard to follow 'em out."

Her words caught their full attention and Sam eyed Mr. Wayne warily before turning back to the maid. "Catherine, would the guests happen to be wearing… costumes?"

"_Oui_." Again she looked at Mr. Wayne, who held his hands up in a gesture of 'I don't know' and pursed her lips tightly together. Costumed people meant trouble and she was pretty sure that if the League was here, her former friends would be too. Every time the League came down to Amity Park, _they_ would undoubtedly be involved.

She tried to think positively; at least she would be able to actually approach them without them dodging her, though there was still the problem of whether they were going to be willing to talk or listen to her.

But what was going on?

"Ok Catherine, could you tell Grandma that I'll be out for the day and probably won't be back for dinner? We'll be leaving now."

"_Oui Madame_. At once." The maid bowed and scampered away. Sam turned to Mr. Wayne and leveled a glare at him. All he did was shrug at her.

"You're not an ordinary business man are you?"

"Let me have a talk with whoever it is and I'll get back to you on that."

Sam stared down at her book for a moment, listening to Mr. Wayne shuffle across the room and out the dining room door before making her move. She slipped her book to her side and walked out to the front entrance, raising a brow at Mr. Wayne who was speaking to a red clad archer and Batman. A wave of déjà vu washed over her and she shook herself firmly before striding up towards the men.

"Business man huh?" Mr. Wayne shrugged at her again and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"He's not exactly lying about that." The archer commented and Sam turned to face him, scrutinizing him. He was very familiar yet she wasn't sure if he was the same person. "He used to be a business man; it's just that he got a job change in the last few years."

Sam vaguely realized that the three men were watching her closely but the interest of the sense of déjà vu she was feeling when she looked closely at the archer overruled the uncomfortable feeling. She frowned and raised her hand to her chin, continuing her close study of the archer.

"You look really familiar."

"I might be familiar." He responded smoothly. Sam's frown deepened and shuddered lightly, briefly recalling the time they were thrown into a dark future. "Would a time jump near the end of November last year be enough of a hint for you to figure it out?"

Her jaw slackened briefly and firmly shut her mouth as she stared at the archer. All the unpleasant memories resurfaced into her mind; the dark future, the wish that caused Brad to lose his voice, Shadow… Sam bit her bottom lip and whispered quietly.

"Red Arrow." He nodded to her and glanced to Batman and Mr. Wayne while her thoughts went rampant. Was the future back to haunt them? Danny never fully explained to them what had happened to him after the C.A.T; was it a loose end that needed to be tied up? But then why was Mr. Wayne here?

"We'll explain the situation as much as we can as soon as we're up in the Watchtower." Sam mutely nodded to Batman's monotone statement and stepped out of the mansion, closing the door loudly behind her once Mr. Wayne had stepped through. Batman raised a hand to his ear and spoke coolly into his communicator. "J'onn, you can send us up now."

Her vision was soon drowned in white light and the instant she blinked her eyes she was greeted with the familiar surroundings of the Watchtower Central Command. Vaguely she realized that Red Arrow had pulled up his hood and that Mr. Wayne had covered his eyes with a pair of sunglasses, though she wasn't quite sure where he had gotten it from. Silently, she followed the men through the bustling corridors of the Watchtower, her stomach churning at the inevitable confrontation that was coming up.

Sam didn't realize that the men were watching her carefully from the corners of their eyes, Red Arrow and Mr. Wayne exchanged glances with each other while Batman simply returned to the front. Her heart began to thump wildly as they stopped in front of a door and her hands began to sweat profusely as Batman keyed in a code into the panel.

She unwittingly swallowed loudly when the doors slid open and came face to face with her former friends who were settled in the middle of the room, chattering with two unrecognizable faces with them.

Once she stepped in and the door slid shut behind her, Sam swore she could feel the temperature of the room drop a few degrees and the air soon radiated with tense vibes. The chatter ceased and her hands twitched awkwardly from her sides as she felt the cold glares and slightly fearful looks aim her way. She wasn't completely surprised to see Casse situated away from the group since she had been present when Dash publically humiliated her; Sam admitted to herself internally that she felt a little sorry for Casse yet there was a larger part of her that was viciously pleased with her downfall.

The adults were observing them carefully from the side, Red Arrow and Mr. Wayne confused while Batman remained impassive. But Sam couldn't bring herself to care about what they thought; this was the first time in over a month that she was finally in proximity with any of them and they couldn't avoid her.

When her eyes met Danny's and she almost instantly regretted the action. His stare was cold and he didn't bother hiding any of the fury in them either. He shifted from his position but didn't break eye contact with her, positioning himself in front of Lee to block her vision of the other teen who had a blonde tot in her arms. The toddler looked at her curiously and tilted her head, the ponytails on the top of her head swishing downwards.

His message was clear: Stay away from them.

"Ok… so we're definitely missing something here." Sam flinched when she remembered that the men were still in the room with them. She hesitantly turned to see Red Arrow scratching the top of his head in bewilderment while Mr. Wayne crossed his arms over his chest and his brow rose above the lens of the sunglasses. Batman was still annoyingly impassive. "Are you going to clue us in on what's happened?"

"No." Danny's tone was flat and scathing. His eyes didn't leave hers yet and he pressed a hand on Lee's shoulder, shifting slightly to completely block Sam's view of her. She heard some undistinguishable noises from behind her and felt a stone drop into the pit of her stomach. "There's nothing to clue you in on."

She faintly heard Batman growl 'leave it be' from behind her but who he was directing it to, she didn't know. Sam clenched and unclenched her hands, her mind having gone blank and lost whatever it was she hoped to say. Her hands grew slack and her shoulders slumped when Danny finally sat down, turning his head away from her while still blocking her view of Lee with his body, returning to whatever conversation it was the group was having before she came in.

Even Casse turned away from her and settled herself comfortably in a corner. It felt like a final snub that was sent in her direction; Casse, who was also alienated, banished, from their group of friends, turning away her even when they were on the same boat. An unfamiliar feeling pressed against her chest but Sam refused to let her emotions get the best of her and ignored it.

So she huffed, snuck her nose in the air and strode over to another corner, ignoring everyone as she settled herself there and stewed. It was only after a few moments of stewing in the corner that she realized that she perfectly mimicked what her mother would do when she looked down on others.

It made Sam feel sick with the realization that she was undoubtedly her parents' daughter; she was acting like them even though she had sworn that she would never be like them. It felt ironic that she became so contradictive, yet she could relate her current situation to Casse's when she gave it enough thought, and to a certain extent.

They became the enemies of the people they said were important to them; their selfishness of wanting something, their desire for that something led them astray. Sam wanted Danny to be her one and only unique boyfriend, she stressed the unique so much that she got blinded and threw everything else away; Casse wanted to prove she was able and independent, but she just never realized how spoilt she was and how much she was hurting everyone around her, especially her siblings. In the end their actions didn't get them what they wanted, didn't proved anything, and they became isolated.

Kicked out from the group outcasts of Casper High. Oh the irony. As if being labeled outcast hadn't been enough, getting casted out of the outcasts had to take the cake.

She watched as the adults conversed with each other by the door. Mr. Wayne looking agitated and stunned, almost flapping his arms out awkwardly as he pointed a finger at Red Arrow and spoke to him in hushed tones. She couldn't hear their words from where she was and mentally cursed herself for taking the corner at the furthest end of the room where she could barely make out words.

Carefully, she turned her head and observed the group from the corner, making sure that she didn't look too obvious that she was spying on them. Settled snugly on Lee's lap was a blonde girl who almost resembled Casse completely, giggling about something that Sam hadn't been able to hear from the group's conversation. Her eyes flickered between the girl and Casse, taking note of their similarities and Casse's dark glares at the kid before turning her attention to the boy sitting at Lee's other side.

At first glance, she wondered if Danny had some kind of long lost twin she didn't know about, but after noting that the boy's hair stuck out in a different fashion from Danny's and his eyes were red, not blue, Sam dismissed the thought. Until she realized that despite being triplets, the Angeles siblings didn't share the same eye color or hairstyle. Suddenly the idea became more plausible but Sam squashed it down and continued to pull up reasons.

Their color affinities were opposites; Danny favored red and white while the other boy favored blue and black. She frowned as another thought crossed her mind straight after the color affinity; while he looked similar to Danny, the boy also shared some similarities with Lee. Their eyes were definitely one of them.

A clone who was a cross of Danny and Lee? Sam internally snorted at the idea and squashed it. Ridiculous.

She forced herself to turn away from them, mentally shouting to herself that if they didn't care about her, she shouldn't care about them. Despite repeating the mantra in her head, she couldn't help but steal glances their way and felt jealousy rise in her chest when Danny leaned closer to Lee. The jealousy raged even though Danny only leaned towards Lee to poke the little tot's cheeks with a finger.

The mere picture of them looking like some kind of happy family was enough to make her blood boil. A part of her felt frustrated, frustrated that Danny never took a second look at her and made his actions seem like he was courting Lee when he was just being casual.

But another part of her reasoned, he did take a second look at her; she just never noticed it because she had been blinded with jealousy. He mentioned it when he confronted her that night.

"_I liked you too you know. Before you became vindictive and hateful. I really would have liked to see how that possible relationship could have gone Sam."_

"_We might have had a chance to be something more. But not anymore."_

The words continued to mock her relentlessly in the recesses of her mind. No matter how many times she tried to insist that it wasn't her fault, that he had simply been stolen from her, his words continued to mock her and pressured the guilt that wedged in her heart.

"You know, acting like a spoilt brat isn't going to help you regain their trust again." Sam almost jumped out and shrieked. Almost. Instead her head swiveled around, trying to find the source of the whisper that ghosted her ear. No one else was paying attention to her; the group was still huddled together in the middle of the room, Casse was still glaring at the tot from her corner and the adults vanished from the room. She wondered if she was hallucinating because the voice had sounded an awful lot like Danny's.

'_Danny hates me right now.'_ She reminded herself, relaxing her body and leaned back against the wall. She took in a few deep breaths and released a resigned sigh, covering her eyes with her arm and whispered. "I must be going crazy…"

"Nope you aren't crazy. You're definitely hearing me." Sam's eyes snapped opened and again she twisted her head to find the source of the voice. She couldn't pinpoint where it came from exactly but it seemed to only be directed towards her; no one else seemed to have heard the voice. "I'm talking to you Samantha Manson and only you, because you need a good kick in the pants."

"Great, I am going nuts." She grunted, unsure if anyone else heard the voice but kept her voice low. She definitely wanted to avoid looking stupid by talking to thin air. The last thing she needed was for them to look at her as if she grew a second head. "I'm listening to a disembodied voice that wants to kick me. What next, handing out advice?"

"Oh absolutely." The cheerful chirp from the Danny sound-alike grated her nerves and she took another glance at the group, making sure that Danny was there. Now she was confused as to why there was a disembodied voice that sounded like Danny was hanging around her. "You know you're making things worse by not admitting that you were wrong."

"I've done nothing wrong." She sniped, folding her arms over her chest and glared balefully at the wall opposite her. "They stole him."

"So you treat your best friends like they're your property? No sharing allowed or something?"

"I do not treat them like pieces of property!" She hissed angrily, turning her head away when she got a few quirked eyebrows sent her way. The voice just released a low laugh.

"But you said they 'stole' him." The voice reminded coolly, almost mocking her with her own words. "That pretty much tells me that you treat them like you own them and that they don't have free will of their own to have another pack of friends other than you."

Sam opened her mouth to refute but words didn't come out. She shut her mouth and ground her teeth together. The voice trumped her.

"You're not proving to them that you're individualistic Sam. In fact, you're showing them that you're just a mirror version of Paulina and Casse; spoilt, egoistic and self-centered. You're not unique; you're a hoax, a fake. You contradict everything you say you are."

Her hands gripped her arms tightly when the voice called her a mirror version of Paulina and Casse. Yet she couldn't find anything to counter his words. She bit her lip at him calling her a fake and curled into a ball when he said she was contradictive.

Was she really just that? A spoilt kid who was contradictive? Was she really no better than Paulina? She complained endlessly about Paulina's attitude when they first met her in middle school; was it really because she hated Paulina's snobbish attitude or was just because Danny and Tucker were completely smitten by her at first sight that made her complain? Sam wasn't so sure anymore.

"Straighten out your priorities and swallow that pride of yours." She snapped out of her thoughts as the voice echoed in her ears again. His sentence was calm and cold, almost commanding. But his following sentence took a gentler note. "Be mindful; they have feelings too and you basically stomped over them because you wanted something. Casse's a very good example because she doesn't see how much she hurts her siblings when she starts egging for something she wants. If you really, really want to gain their trust again, take a look at the situation from their point of view; or else you're just going to sit here and wallow forever in self pity and hate people for childish reasons. You have to see it for yourself that it's no joke when it comes to other people's lives and take a look at who you've become. Don't moan about your feelings; have some consideration for other people."

"Now." Sam's brow raised and swore she heard hands clapping together, followed by the sound of the hands rubbing against each other. She could almost put a gleeful grin to the imaginary face of the voice with those sounds. "I have to give someone else a good kick in the pants. It'll probably help you loads to talk to someone, might be anyone you know or even a stranger because they don't know you well enough to pass any kind of real judgment on you or be biased."

"Thank god, no kicking." Sam instantly regretted her words when she felt something connect to the side of her bum. She clamped her mouth shut as the pain shot through her body and muttered a few low curses. "Ow! Damn asshole…"

"You're the one who reminded me." The voice sounded smug then silence followed. She waited a little longer but still nothing. She released her breath, sighing as she rubbed the sore spot on the side of her bum. Sam stole a glance at the group who were still conversing softly in the middle of the room and returned to staring at the opposite wall.

What exactly was that voice aiming to do? Make her think? Had he given her a sign, some guidance as to where she should head? Sam groaned when she realized that she hadn't asked when she had the chance; his words punched through everything so easily, as if he knew what buttons to press to make the walls fall and make her think. After a moment, she frowned.

How did he know her situation?

Better question yet, who was he?

* * *

Sam's childish behavior struck a chord in Tucker. Sticking her nose in the air and marching to one of the corners? Geez. She mimicked what her mother would do when she was snubbing and looking down on people, and she always claimed that she would never be like her parents.

Contradictive much? Sam looked an awful lot like Casse when she stomped off to Tucker.

Speaking of the youngest triplet, Tucker noticed that she was still sulking in another corner away from the group, glaring balefully at the toddler who was nestled snugly in Lee's arms. He eyed her carefully, noting down the ugly scowl that marred her face when Olivia happily buried her face into Lee's chest. The scowl turned even uglier when Brad leaned forward and ruffled Olivia's mop of blonde hair with an affectionate look.

Tucker glanced around their tiny group and caught Jazz's eye. The older teen glanced over to the sulking Casse before turning back to face Tucker, shaking her head slightly and rolled her eyes. He was pretty sure that Casse's attitude was definitely not impressing Jazz, given that Jazz lashed out at her about it and Casse didn't listened to her; her public humiliation was enough proof of that. But Tucker had doubts on leaving Casse alone to her own devices; he just had this feeling that the triplets' relationship was going to get worse if they left her alone.

He didn't want to think of the trouble that Casse could get into without anyone looking out for her; at least Brad stopped deliberately looking for trouble and he was capable of taking care of himself.

"What do you guys think they're doing to Danny?" Everyone blinked at Lee, simultaneously pointing to Danny (Danny pointed a finger at himself) who was sitting next to her. She sighed and swatted all of their hands away. "No! Not this Danny! I meant the older Danny; the one we found in the alleyway before we came up to the Watchtower."

"I don't know about you guys, but he sure looked like he's been suffering a butt load of sh-" Jazz slapped a hand over Brad's mouth before he could finish his last word and pointed at Olivia who looked at them curiously. Brad swatted Jazz's hand away, rubbed his mouth and gave her glare before correcting himself. "-crap."

"Were you going to say sh- shit?" Suddenly all attention was focused on Olivia, the toddler blinking back at them owlishly. Nath slapped a hand over his eyes and groaned lightly while she continued. "I hear it lots. Uncle Dickie says it a lot to her and she always calls him asshole."

"Nath, what kind of environment is she growing up in?" Everyone turned their focus to Nath who released a shaky laugh and leaned backwards slightly at the intense stares he was getting.

"Uh…well… Remember I told you that my… aunt and uncles get into a lot of fights?" They all nodded. "Well uh… a lot of them happened at our old place so… Olive Oil could hear them loud and clear."

"So…" Nath turned his head to look at Lee as she pondered her next words. "This 'her' Olivia's referring to; would it be your aunt?"

"Y…ea… That would be her."

Tucker studied Nath as the rest slowly resumed back to the topic, about the adult Danny who was being treated in the medical bay. The teen was obviously uncomfortable with them yet he was still making an effort to stay. What puzzled Tucker was why Nath hid from Lee at the beginning and then looked torn between sticking with her and avoiding her after that. He fidgeted a lot whenever Lee struck up conversation with him and gave her stuttered replies. The conflict was pretty noticeable to Tucker and he wondered if anyone else had picked it up.

Either they hadn't or they were all doing a pretty good job at keeping it to themselves.

Tucker also noted that Nath generally tried to avoid mentioning his aunt unless necessary. He wondered if the woman was really that bad that would make Nath so nervous when he was made to talk about her. Speaking of the aunt though…

"Hey Nath." The group fell silent and Nath yelped out 'yes?' at Tucker's abrupt call. "How are Olivia and your aunt related to you? I mean, are they related to you from your mother's or father's side of the family?"

"Huh? Oh." Nath hesitated, his gaze dropping down to stare at the floor while everyone waited for him to answer. "My mother's side, to both of them."

A frown creased itself on Tucker's brow. "That aunt wouldn't happen to also be Olivia's mother would she? I mean, it's just that you keep on mentioning 'aunt' so I kinda assumed that your mother only had one sister since you said that both your aunt and Olivia are related to you from your mother's side of the family. But I find it a little strange because… well. Why's Olivia referring her mother as 'her'?"

Nath flinched and stuttered. He fiddled with his fingers as he tried to speak but the words that came out of his mouth were all gibberish. Olivia however, just blinked.

"'Cause I don't like her." Tucker raised a brow, staring at the mortified Nath for a moment before turning to Olivia.

"Why don't you like her?" Olivia puffed up her cheeks and pumped her fists up in the air to punctuate her feelings as she spoke.

"She's so mean!" Tucker briefly glanced at Nath and noted that the other teen looked as if he wanted to hide. "She hurts everyone; Daddy, Uncle Dickie, Nathy and Alfred! She don't like me and she don't care about me, so I don't like her!"

Jazz suddenly pulled at Tucker's sleeve, prompting him to lean sideways towards her to hear her whisper. "Tucker, I think you should stop prying; Nath's looking really uncomfortable. He is from the future and there are bound to be things that he needs to hide but Olivia's not old enough to know that there are things that aren't meant to be said. You might not think of it this way, but I think you're using Olivia just to get information."

"Sorry." He murmured back, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he straightened his back and spoke louder. "Oh. Ok."

As Jazz opened her mouth to change the topic, Casse suddenly got out of her corner. Her lips curved into an angry scowl as she stomped towards the door and pounded it.

"I don't want to stay here anymore!" Her shout echoed in the room and everyone stared at her as she continued to pound at the door. "I want to go home!"

"Why the heck is she throwing another tantrum for?" Brad exchanged a wary look with Lee before turning back to watch their younger sister continue throwing her fit at the door. "I'm tempted to say I don't know her." He added when Casse kicked the door and hopped on her other foot, her expression twisting into one of pain.

"Maybe she just wants attention?" The rest of the group shrugged at Danny as he took one last look at Casse who was still glaring at the door and sighed. "Has she done any tantrum that's worse than the one she's throwing now?"

"You don't want to know." Lee cut in, shooting Brad a warning glance. Brad closed his mouth and huffed lightly. Nath's eyes shifted nervously between them as Brad and Lee stared at each other for a moment. "That's going to stay between Brad and myself only."

"I don't get it though." Lee raised a brow at Danny's statement. Everyone else turned away from looking at Casse throw a tantrum at the door and concentrated on Danny. "I mean, when we all first met you guys were so close you know? Ok, granted that Brad and Casse enjoyed being adrenaline junkies like us and you hated that, but I would never have expected to see this kind of… side to Casse."

"First impressions are one thing." Brad lifted at finger, as if punctuating the 'first'. "But when you start to know the person better you see their darker sides. Casse always does that. She makes herself look good in the first impressions while sticking to what we do believe in; because we do hate the high and mighty since we've grown up among them" Lee threw her brother a look at the word 'hate' but he ignored it and continued. "Unfortunately as time goes on, you get to see her own high and mighty self because of the fact that she has Uncle Bruce completely wrapped around her fingers. Only this time she's gotten completely out of hand that neither Fairy nor I can constrain her."

"Hypocrite much?" Brad shrugged at Danny.

"Maybe we all are?"

"I think she's just contradictive. There's a fine line between hypocrisy and contradiction." Everyone looked over to Jazz. Olivia snuggled deeper into Lee's embrace. "Here I'll explain: We're all bound to contradict ourselves at some point but what we have to do at that time is to admit that we're doing so. We all can't say that we'll remain the same as we grow older, that's not certain; we're bound to have learnt something that can change our viewpoint and contradict what we have said before. Either that or we do the opposite of what we say. That's contradiction."

"Hypocrisy on the other hand is having this whole string of beliefs and opinions, but in fact they don't really have those particular beliefs or opinions. Hypocrisy is kind of like lying; to hide the real you by showing everyone a fake face. It's not just being inconsistent with what is done and what is said, it focuses more of the real inside beliefs of the person."

"…They still sound the same to me." Jazz laughed at his blank response after the rest had gone silent for a few moments after her explanation. "I don't get it."

"Well those words tend to get abused very often and unless you've done in-depth research about it, I'm not surprised you guys don't get what I'm saying. Not that I'm that knowledgeable or that what I've said is right; it's just that I'm pretty sure that there's supposed to be a distinction between them."

"Wait wait…" Nath waved his hand about, catching their attention. Once he got their attention, he made funny gestures with his hands as he spoke. "So basing on what you've said, you mean contradiction refers to a person who is inconsistent because what they say is different from what they do, and hypocrisy refers to a person who purposely fake their beliefs when they actually don't have those beliefs?"

"I think it's something to that extent." A smile graced Jazz's lips. "Wow Nath, you're pretty smart to be able to figure out what I was trying to get to. Even I was having trouble getting close to that point."

Nath blushed hotly at Jazz's praise and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Danny however, continued to stare at his sister.

"I still don't get it."

"Don't worry Danny; neither do I." Lee consoled as she patted his shoulder. The swishing of the doors cut their conversation short once again, their attention shifting from their group to the door where Batman loomed over Casse almost angrily. The slits of his cowl narrowed and Casse took a step backwards.

"Explain to me why you are making this ruckus." They watched carefully as Casse composed herself and winced when she stomped her foot.

"I want to go home." The slits of the cowl shifted, as if Batman was raising his brow at her.

"That's all?" Casse backpedalled as Batman loomed dangerously over her. "You're making this ruckus… because you want to go home?"

"Uh oh." The mutter slipped out of his mouth before he realized it. Tucker winced and offered Danny a shrug as the other shot him a surprised glance. He could hear Lee sucking in her breath and holding it while Brad straightened his back, his eyes concentrating on Batman and Casse. Olivia watched them in wide-eyed fascination; Nath looked queasy and Jazz just looked unimpressed.

"Well, I think you should've expected this Batman." The raven haired man who came in with Sam commented from his position at the door. Tucker wasn't sure what his name was. The man turned to look over to their group. "Are you guys bored being cooped up in here?"

"Not really. We've been keeping ourselves busy by discussing stuff." Jazz responded smoothly. Tucker felt a shiver run down his spine as Jazz added, "Unless you're not sitting with the group and talking that is."

'_Note to sel__f; never get on Jazz's bad side.'_ Jazz made it very clear that she was angry at Casse and she was less than impressed with Sam's earlier behavior. She also didn't have any problems making it known to them and everyone that she had a problem with them. _'Women are really scary creatures…'_

"Yeowch. You're a cold one." Even though his eyes were covered with the shades, Tucker could imagine the man wincing. Before he could continue though, Olivia squirmed out of Lee's arms (Lee squawked when the toddler began squirming and let her go) and ran towards him while flailing her arms about like a maniac.

"Uncle Dickie!!" The man, Tucker assumed to be Nath and Olivia's uncle since Olivia had squealed it out, was ready for her. He caught a hold of Olivia by the waist and threw her up in the air, eliciting delighted squeals from the toddler and caught her as she fell back down.

"Hey there Sprite. You sure are busting with energy today." Olivia giggled and threw her arms around his neck, burrowing her nose into his cheek. The man laughed as he rested her on his hip and turned back to the group, specifically looking at Nath. "Hey kid, you ok?"

"Yea, I'm fine."

"Good because I'm going to kidnap you for a while for a visit to the medical bay." Tucker was pretty sure that his eyebrow wasn't the only one to rise at the man's statement. However before anyone could speak up, Casse stomped her foot loudly on the floor again.

"I want to go home!"

"Oh shut up little miss spoilt brat." Casse scowled and gritted her teeth together as the man rested his free hand on his hip and regarded her sternly. "I want you to go home as much as you do because you're really annoying." He paused before turning to Batman. "Are you sure you've prevented them from meeting?"

"This one's been in here since coming up to the Watchtower." Casse stomped her foot again, glaring angrily at the men who were speaking as if she wasn't present. Batman and 'Dickie' ignored her while everyone else glanced between them warily. "The other's been serving… detention."

"Detention? Rats. I was hoping you broke her or something. Preferably either her brain or one of her limbs so that she'll stop being a nuisance."

"Uh…Uncle Dick?" Tucker felt his head spin. Great, now he was confused whether the man's name was Dickie or Dick. But he was inclined to listening to Nath since Olivia seemed to have the tendency to call people by lengthier nicknames. The man turned over to the group, nodding his head in Nath's direction and prompted the teen to continue. "'She's' here?"

"Unfortunately yes." Olivia cringed and fisted her hands in the man's shirt while Nath shuddered. Tucker frowned at their reactions. 'She'…? Were they referring to Nath's aunt? Was she pulled in by the same time holes that brought Nath and Olivia to their time? Was she really that terrible of a person if they were reacting so badly to her being around?

The more questions that popped up in his head, the more interested Tucker became in wanting to know exactly who the 'aunt' was.

"Hey Bats!" Batman growled as the Flash appeared at the door and turned his heel to face him with a scowl.

"What?" Tucker shivered at Batman's dangerous snarl, but the Flash didn't seem fazed by it and jerked a thumb to the outside.

"We got some complaints about a brat who doesn't want to shut up. Hawk wanted to storm in here to grab and throw the brat out through the Javelin hanger but Shay's beating him up right now. So just in case, I think it's better if the kids don't stay here the whole time until the other… uh, future time manages to finish up whatever it is they need to do."

Batman looked around the room before he settled on Casse, the slits of his cowl narrowing once more at her. "Looks like you've just got your wish."

"In a really bad way." Tucker's lips quirked into an uneasy smile at Jazz's low remark. The man leaned towards Batman and said something to him before turning to the group.

"Well whoever wants to go now can go now but I'll be taking Nath to the medical bay before bringing him back down to Earth."

"Is it alright if we wait for him?" Tucker watched as Nath jumped and stared at Lee who gave him a warm smile. "I mean, I know you would probably know where our house is now but I guess I feel better waiting for you here."

"Braddy stay too!" He forced his laughter down as Olivia squirmed out of her uncle's arms, ran towards them and attacked Brad another unhealthy dose of puppy eyes. Unfortunately for Brad, he didn't avert his eyes in time and succumbed to her almost immediately. Everyone, sans Batman, Casse (who glared daggers at Olivia) and Sam, politely hid their laughter as Olivia released a delighted squeal and Brad hid his blushing face behind his hands.

"I guess that means we're staying too huh?" Tucker nodded his head in agreement to Danny as the other glanced between him and Jazz. Danny grinned and turned to face Batman and the man. "You can send those two back first. We'll wait for Nath."

Casse bolted as soon as Danny finished speaking; Sam came out of her corner and adopted a slower pace but stopped by the man, talking to him softly before walking out the door. Tucker watched Sam closely as she left; he couldn't quite place it but she seemed… as if she was conflicted with something. He couldn't help but wonder about how and why her mood changed so quickly.

Tucker glanced at his PDA and blinked at the time. Only… four hours passed since Sam came up to the Watchtower. Was four hours really enough to make her conflicted? But what was she thinking about?

Too many questions ran through his head; Tucker couldn't keep his thoughts straight and settled on keeping silent as the group followed the man to the medical bay.

"Hey Tuck, you ok?" Tucker snapped out of her reverie at Danny's question and blinked to see his best friend's worried face peer at him. Oh. He didn't realize that they reached the medical bay and that Nath had already gone in. 'Dick' was standing outside with them. "You've been awfully quiet since Casse and Sam left."

"Huh? Oh. Just a lot to think about." He waved his hand to signal to Danny that he was fine and allowed an evil smirk to grace his lips. He pushed the thoughts of Sam and Casse away. "Say, why don't we get some more blackmail on Brad since Olivia's back to braiding his hair again?"

Danny chuckled and swung a halfhearted fist at him. "He'll get back you times two you know that right?"

"Hey, that's what makes it twice as fun!"

* * *

When he first woke up he had been subjected to a series of tests and interrogations. Immediately after he managed to get through the intense interrogations, he found that he had some kind of invisible guide following him around. The damned ghost who sent him here apparently decided that he wasn't fit enough to be left to his own devices.

Daniel hated that ghost; because of that damn annoying 'guide' that was hanging around him, he couldn't concentrate on his thoughts of escaping from wherever it was he being kept at. Just when he thought he could get some peace to get some of those thoughts in gear when the guide mentioned he had some other things to do, Daniel found himself being subjected to another series of tests and interrogations.

Even after that was all over, he found himself being monitored by at least one of the seven founders of the Justice League every hour in… which ever timeline he was in. But he knew for sure that it wasn't the year 2010 as he knew it.

'_That's because that's the damn year they disbanded because of the Watchtower tragedy… where she died too…'_

The damn world seemed to be screaming against him. Why the hell couldn't he just die right there and then and finally be at peace? He didn't deserve a second chance; not with all the blood that stained his hands!

"Hey Daniel." He wanted to scream when the new voice sounded. God, why wasn't he going to be granted any peace?! Instead he looked up and flinched when he realized that it was _her_ god brother speaking to him. "How are you holding up?"

"…Horribly." His throat felt scratchy as he spoke. Even though the nurses stuffed him with food and plenty of water earlier on, he didn't feel any better. He kept a tight lid on whatever he revealed when interrogated, but somehow he felt like he should be more… open to her god brother. He owed it to her, even if she wasn't alive. Daniel turned his head away from him. "I don't know why I'm here, what I'm supposed to be doing… I don't know anything."

"I'd be lying if I said 'I can imagine'." He sat down on one of the chairs beside the bed. Daniel pondered his name for a moment and grasped it when it came. Richard Grayson. "Masters said you were dead fourteen years ago."

"I wish I were." Richard leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

"She'd rather you be alive than dead you know."

"It doesn't matter." Daniel wondered if his voice always sounded so blank. Spewing out words so monotonously that it surprised even himself. "She's not here to tell me that herself. I don't believe things I hear from others."

"'Believe in half of what you see and none of what you hear'." Daniel welcomed the silence that followed after Richard's quiet remark but his mind didn't focus on anything. Not even a plan of escape came to mind. "In that case… I'd like you to meet someone."

"What for?"

"…Because he needs to know you." Daniel raised his head and stared blankly at Richard who regarded him coolly. "You might not believe me; I know it's difficult to hear about events or other things from other people because you never know what is exaggerated and what is true or false. Especially since I don't know what happened to you."

"But he needs to know you." Daniel locked gazes with Richard and saw an insistent look. "He's heard so much about you yet he doesn't know you at all. And now because you're here… as in really here since everything checks out, it's like he's been given a chance to get to know you personally."

Daniel just stared at him blankly; unsure of who Richard was referring. A sad smile graced Richard's lips. "Will you meet him? Her son?"

His blood ran cold. His eyes widened and he felt his lower jaw slacken. He stared at Richard with a dumbfounded expression, his thoughts running rampant in his mind.

'_Lee's… son? She has a son?'_ A dull ache pressed against his chest. He understood that they hadn't spent enough time with each other to explore the possibility of a relationship… but it hurt. The thought of them moving on without him still hurt.

"Why should I meet him?" Richard blinked at him. "If it were true that she has a son, all I would be to him… is just his mother's friend. One who was supposed to be dead before he was born."

"I think you'd be surprised when you meet him." Daniel stared at Richard as he got up and headed to the door. "I'll bring him in; I'm sure you'll like him."

His chin dropped and his gaze trained on his hands once Richard had gone out. The pressure in his chest increased and he closed his eyes, gritting his teeth as his thoughts filtered through his mind. So the time Richard resided in was the year 2019, if he had calculated correctly, since he vaguely recalled that Vlad made the announcement of his 'death' in 2005.

'_But… the Watchtower tragedy happened in 2010… she would've only been 20. T-teenage pregnancy?__ Then… how come he never goaded me about it?'_

More questions formed. How? Why? If she had a son, it would've publicized because, damn, she was Bruce Wayne's goddaughter! Their lives were always out in the open. Why didn't he know about it? Vlad took pleasure in making him utterly miserable and the damn bastard knew how much he wanted to further his relationship with her; so why didn't the older hybrid rub it in his face that Lee had moved on and had a son?

It didn't make any sense! Nothing made any sense!

"Um…uh…" The soft and young voice broke him out of his reverie and Daniel's head shot up. His eyes widened at the sight of a raven-haired boy standing nervously at the door, shuffling his feet uncomfortably with his gaze trained on the floor. When he looked up, Daniel felt his shoulders stiffen. The boy had _her_ eyes, but why did his hair look oddly familiar? "Mr… Mr. Fenton?"

'_Soft and polite…'_ Daniel wondered if the boy picked it up from his mother. Or was it a trait from his father? The ache returned and pressed against his chest again. Standing in front of him was her son; a son she had with someone else. Daniel could see that the boy inherited some of her physical traits. More questions filtered in his head. When she died, who brought him up? Did his father or did her godfather take over? Who was his father anyway?

He studied the boy openly, not realizing that his gaze was making the said boy uncomfortable. It took him a while to realize it; when it did, Daniel took one more glance at the boy's eyes before slowly raising his arm to gesture to the chair but still kept his gaze on him.

"Sit down." Huh. His voice changed from blank to something that was close to being warm. It felt strange. Was it because the boy was her son? Or was it the feeling that he was intimidating the poor kid? The boy was hesitant and shy, tentative in each of his steps as he got closer to the chair to sit. Hmm. He probably was scaring the kid out of his skull. "What's your name?"

"N-Nath. Nathaniel." Daniel tilted his head.

"Nice name." The boy, Nath, blushed hotly, dipping his chin downwards and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Th…thank you." An awkward silence settled between them; Daniel didn't know what else to say. Instead he continued to study Nath. He rested his chin in his hand as he studied the boy but after a moment, he frowned.

"How old are you?"

"Huh?" Nath's head shot up and blinked at him, the blush dissipating from his cheeks. "Oh uh… I'll be fourteen in August."

Daniel stared at him; his chin jerked out of his hand and the hand flopped back down against his leg. "You… were born in August 2005?"

The blush returned to Nath's cheeks and the boy shyly nodded his head. "Yes."

His eyes widened as he continued to stare at Nath who averted his gaze and stared to the side. His throat constricted and began to feel dry; Daniel swallowed to release the tension in his throat but it didn't help. His mind calculated everything. The time when Vlad forcefully took him away to Wisconsin was around the middle of December 2004. Before that he… and her… after the confrontation with Sam's mother on the first day of the wake…

Now that he scrutinized Nath even more closely and stopped looking for the similarities he shared with his mother, Daniel began piecing the puzzle together. The conversation with Richard. That red clad archer, Red Arrow? His gentle attitude towards him and the sad looks he threw in his direction during the interrogations…

'_Oh my god…'_

Suddenly he was afraid of the answer to his next question.

Daniel swallowed and forced his eyes to focus on Nath as he spoke again, softer this time. "Who's your father?"

Nath turned to look at him. Daniel watched him bite his lower lip and thought he saw a flicker of hope (Or was it longing?) in Nath's eyes as he responded quietly.

"You are."

* * *

"You look like someone I know." Danny watched as the man, Dick if he recalled right, edged away from Lee as she tried to get a better look at him. He couldn't blame Dick for feeling edgy; Lee became fascinated with him after Nath went into the medical room, albeit too closely. But she didn't speak up until now.

Olivia dropped off to sleep moments after Nath went in and settled herself comfortably in Brad's arms. The image of Brad cradling her gently, rocking her lightly while she slept was so sweet that Tucker took a photograph of them for 'memorial reasons'.

Danny chuckled inwardly; Brad would probably make a good father, but he would definitely suck at disciplining his kids if they learnt how to use the puppy eyes attack.

God help him if they did.

"I get that a lot." Dick responded evasively as he shuffled away from Lee. She tilted her head and her lips puckered slightly as she brought her hand up to her chin. Danny frowned; she looked torn between wanting to know more about Dick and dropping the matter. He leaned towards her and ghosted her ear with a whisper.

"Who does he look like?" She jumped. Her hand immediately lashed out and smacked his shoulder hard. The echo of the smack and his yelp that followed after caused everyone to look at them. Danny could feel their eyes watching them as he whined at Lee and rubbed his bruised shoulder with his other hand.

"You've become so violent!"

"Then don't scare me like that!" Automatically his bottom lip poked out and he heard her groan as he unleashed his wounded puppy gaze on her. She smacked his shoulder again, lighter this time, and glared at him. "Oh stop it; the only one who falls for that is Brad."

"HEY!" Danny brought his hand up to his mouth and muffled his laughter at Brad's indignant shout. Olivia whined and squirmed in Brad's arms, causing him to freeze for a moment, before she fell back to sleep. Brad shot Lee an annoyed scowl and she shrugged at him, rolling her eyes at him while mouthing 'it's true'. Everyone else snickered.

Brad threw them all dirty looks before huffing lightly and leaned back against the seat, letting Olivia bury her cheek further into his chest as she continued to sleep. Danny allowed a soft laugh to escape his lips before turning back to Lee and prodded her shoulder with a finger.

"So really, who does he look like?" Lee's eyes flickered over to Dick and leaned towards Danny to whisper into his ear.

"Our god brother Richard Grayson. Remember we usually call him Dick?" Danny frowned and raised a brow at her when he turned his head to look at her face.

"Wouldn't there be like… hundreds of thousands of Richards and another handful who would share the same last name and nickname? Why specifically him?"

"I don't know either." She snapped softly, folding her arms over her chest as she scowled at him. "I don't know how to explain it but he just reminds me of Dick, and it's not just because of his name. It's just… the way he brings himself up, his attitude – even though it seems a whole lot milder now – it just feels like some kind of déjà vu."

"Oooh." His lips formed an 'o' and nodded in understanding. "I think I know how that feels, but somehow that feeling just becomes… real. By real I mean that they were actually the person you were thinking of." He added hastily at Lee's raised eyebrow. "Only uh… from the future I guess?"

"You lost me starting from the real part."

"Uh…" Danny scratched the back of his head as he ran through his thoughts for a proper example. While occupied with his thoughts, he didn't notice Lee frown and tilt her head as she studied him.

"Hey, Danny?" He broke out of his thoughts and blinked at Lee, his brow rising at her calculative look. "You know, not only do you and Nath look alike, you guys tend to do the same things too; like." She twirled her finger in a circle above his head and Danny realized that she was talking about his tendency to rub or scratch the back of his head. "That. You guys look even more alike when you do it."

"Really?" He took his hand away from his head and stared down at it before looking up to see Lee nod her head. "Huh. Weird."

Lee made a small noise from the back of her throat and they fell silent. After a moment, she gave him a sideways glance. "What was it you were thinking of? I mean, before what I said about you and Nath acting alike."

"Huh? Oh!" Danny folded his arms over his chest and furrowed his brow, bringing up his thoughts again. "I was trying to find a proper example to explain what I meant by real."

He hummed and concentrated hard, picking at his thoughts before grasping what he needed. Lee turned her head around to look at him. "Oh right. Remember I told you that Brad, Tucker and I got sucked into this alternate future?" Lee nodded her head and Danny carried on. "I had the same sense of déjà vu when we first met the Casse from that future. At the beginning, I didn't know it was her. She just reminded me a lot of her… present self, as in the one we know right now in our present time. She felt familiar but she also felt like a stranger at the same time. Brad figured it out almost immediately after he woke up though and that's when we got to know that it was her."

Lee stared at him. She opened her mouth to speak but paused, turning to look over to Dick. "I don't like what that implies…" She muttered after a moment.

"It doesn't mean it really is him." She shook her head and turned to look at him seriously. Her eyes glanced around quickly to make sure no one was listening in on them and whispered into his ear.

"No, it's not just that. I mean, think about it. This Dick is Nath and Olivia's uncle; Nath and Olivia are related to each other through their mothers. If this really was Dick, as in our god brother, wouldn't that feel a little too coincidental?"

"But we don't know whether or not he's related to them through their mothers or just by being Red Arrow's friend." He pointed out. Lee's expression turned skeptic.

"Then what about 'Alfred' Olivia and Nath were talking about before? Back at our place when Olivia was trying to plead with him to stay?" She wrung her hands about in agitation. "Danny, Uncle Bruce's butler's name is Alfred. That's way too coincidental! And-"

"You're really thinking about it too much." Danny cut her off, swiping his hands about to grab hers and succeeded after a few swipes. He grasped them tightly, leaned forward and stared into her eyes. "I know where you're getting at from this, but don't let it get to you. Right now, we don't know if it's true or not and we should stop speculating about it. The more you think about it, the more it's going to bug the crap out of you."

"Don't think about it." He chided, squeezing her hands softly. "There are just some things that are better off not thought of and not known."

"And the next thing these two will start doing is give each other some hot lovin'!" Danny and Lee sprang away from each other at Tucker's whistle, their cheeks flaring a bright red. They swiftly turned away each other while everyone else grinned in amusement. Brad though, looked torn between amused and annoyed.

'_I'__m going to kill you Tucker.'_ His mind began to think up of various schemes to pay Tucker back for the embarrassment. But his thoughts were cut short when the room door swished open and Nath quietly toed out with a sad look. The door swiftly shut as he stepped out and Danny cursed inwardly; he wanted to get a look at his supposed-to-be-dead future self. Dick immediately strode over to him and gently laid his hands on Nath's shoulders as everyone warily stood from their seats.

"You ok?"

Nath swallowed and nodded. "Y-yea… I'm f-fine." He looked up at them and Danny could see him force a smile at them. "Um… sorry to make you all wait, but I need to talk to my uncle for a minute."

"It's alright Nath."

"No problem dude."

"She's not going to mind." Brad jerked his head towards the slumbering Olivia who was still happily snuggled in his arms. Nath did a double take, rubbed his eyes and stared. After a moment, he released a giggle. Danny exchanged grins with Jazz, Tucker and Lee while Brad rolled his eyes. "Shut up you guys."

Nath politely smothered the rest of his giggles behind his hand as he trotted away with his uncle. Once they were further down the corridor, Danny sat back down on the seat and noticed Jazz frowning from the corner of his eye.

"Jazz?" Jazz jumped and snapped out of her reverie. She turned to look at him as everyone else looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's just…" She paused, her brows furrowing as she thought before continuing. "I don't know if it's bothering you guys, but I'm curious to know why Mr. Dick brought Nath here and what happened in there."

"Why do big sisters always think too much about stuff?" Jazz blinked at Danny while Lee threw him an annoyed look. Danny raised a brow at Lee before turning back to Jazz. "Lee was over thinking about Mr. Dick and Nath and went overboard. My advice: Don't think about it too much. Some things are better off not thought of and not known."

"Her over thinking got her so riled up that it ended with you guys looking like you were going to kiss?"

Danny scowled at Tucker, glanced over to Olivia to make sure the toddler was still sleeping and sent two rude gestures at his best friend. Tucker just stuck his tongue out at him in retaliation. He heard the girls sigh and saw Jazz shrug her shoulders.

"Boys."

"But I'm serious." Danny spoke up after a moment of silence. "Don't think about it too much; unless someone messes up and blows the truth on us, _then_ you can start thinking about it."

"Thanks a lot bro." Danny shrugged and gave Brad a shrug as the other teen rolled his eyes and adjusted Olivia in his arms. "Way to keep us cool. You do know that you might have jinxed us right?"

"Maybe? Maybe not."

"Oh hey guys." Red Arrow's call startled them and the teens looked up to see him trot towards them. Danny could see an amused smirk grace the archer's lips as he looked at Brad who had the slumbering Olivia in his arms. "Where are Dick and Nath?"

"Down there." Jazz pointed further down the corridor where the shadows of Dick and Nath could be seen. "Why? What's wrong?"

Red Arrow's smile dropped into a worried frown, his mask twitched slightly as the slits of the mask narrowed slightly.

"We… have a problem." They stared at him as he rested a hand on his hip and his other hand scratched the back of his head. "I'm a little surprised that you didn't hear the commotion that just happened though."

"What commotion?" Danny jumped at the sound of Dick's voice and whipped his head about to stare at the man. How did he manage to creep up on them so silently and get to them so quickly?!

Red Arrow's lips thinned down to a line as he gave Dick a grim look.

"'She' took off." Danny watched as Dick's shoulders stiffened and Nath's expression morphed into a mortified look. He could see his friends and sister exchange wary glances with each other. "And 'she's' now down on Earth; in Amity Park."

"Have you-"

"Flash is already down on surface looking for her." Red Arrow responded and Danny raised a brow. Strange. Red Arrow seemed to be able to read Dick's thoughts. Strange, yet interesting. "'She's' moving too much so the transporter can't get a lock on her."

"You do know that her younger self is down on Earth right? In Amity Park?" Red Arrow stared at Dick and glanced at the group before turning back to Dick. Danny glanced between Red Arrow and Dick, wondering why they were keeping… 'her' up in the Watchtower and were so… distrusting of her.

"Oh… we're in so much shit now."

* * *

Casse stared at the woman as 'she' retreated. _'You can do what you dream.' _She felt ecstatic. They were wrong, her dream could become reality; it could be real! 'She' said so and 'she' was more than enough proof of it!

She watched as a red streak zoomed across the streets and grabbed the woman, slowing to a halt. The Flash had an annoyed look as he poked 'her' with a finger and mouthed words at 'her'. 'She' spoke back to him with a glare and he gripped her wrist tightly before raising a hand to his ear.

They dissolved in a beam of white light almost immediately after that.

But Casse couldn't care less.

'_I CAN be a hero!'_

_

* * *

_

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Sam snuffed the toe of her boot as she watched her former friends entertain Olivia (she was told of the toddler's name by Mr. Wayne when she came in contact with the hyper child) around the park, swinging lightly on the swing with Mr. Wayne leaning against the swing post. She peeked up at him to see him divert his eyes and smile softly at the other group as Olivia launched herself at Danny and caused him to fall back onto his bum; everyone else was laughing gaily.

She looked further down from Mr. Wayne to the other man sitting cross legged on the park floor, staring longingly at the group but his eyes seemed to lock onto that particular boy who resembled Danny. Dressed in a loose dark green shirt and a pair of gray pants that was too big for him with a black overcoat thrown over his shoulders, he looked far smaller than he seemed when Sam first saw him.

According to Mr. Wayne, the man's name was Daniel but he refused to tell her Daniel's last name. Yet Daniel's features and his haunted expression were more than enough hints; Sam pieced them together and concluded that Daniel was most likely the future Danny, Shadow if she guessed right.

But ever since she met up with them when they came down from the Watchtower, Daniel didn't speak a word. All he did was settle himself on the ground and watch the teens chase the hyperactive toddler around the park. He had an aura of sadness surrounding him, but she felt that he looked more confused than anything else. She noticed that his eyes would flicker often to Danny and Lee, but mostly they were trained on the other boy who looked like Danny (Nath, she internally corrected since they had been introduced by Mr. Wayne).

She brushed the thoughts of Daniel away, promising herself to think about it at another time. Right now, she wanted to try opening up. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she turned her gaze to her hands that were settled on her lap.

"Is wishing for something you really want a bad thing?"

Sam could hear shuffling feet and vaguely felt a stare trained on her.

"…I guess it depends on what it is that you want." She looked up and watched Mr. Wayne shuffle his feet again and leaned his back on the swing post. "But if you wish for something that has the potential to hurt or even get someone killed… that would make it a bad thing."

"Sure you might get what you want and think that you'll be happy with it, but what if you were told that the consequence of getting it cost someone their life or affected them so much that their life changed drastically?" Sam continued to watch Mr. Wayne as he tilted his head and looked up into the darkening sky. "If you were like any other regular being, wouldn't your conscious haunt you? That you've deliberately destroyed someone else's life because you wanted something?"

"Unless…" He turned and gave her a wary glance. "You're telling me you don't have a conscious bugging you if you ruined someone's life…"

"It's just something that's been bugging me." She defended, feeling her shoulders stiffen at the incomplete accusation.

"People don't usually ask those questions in the manner you did." He pointed out, his eyes flickering over to Daniel before settling back on Sam. "If I were to take a guess… I'd guess that you went wishing for something you wanted but it backfired?"

Sam remained silent, wondering just how perceptive Mr. Wayne really was. She kept her gaze to the ground in front of her, saw his feet walk past her vision and the swing next to her squealed and groaned. "Can you tell me what happened?"

He sounded gentle, willing to hear her out without passing judgment; at least, that's how she felt. But still she hesitated. She remained silent a little longer, allowing her thoughts to line up neatly before taking the plunge. Even if he did become judgmental, he wasn't going to be staying for long.

"I… wanted Danny." She confessed, twisting her fingers around each other as the toe of her boot stubbed the ground again. "I wanted to be something more with him, but every time I looked, it felt like he was getting closer to them and further from me."

"Basically you started seeing his other female friends as potential rivals for his affection?" Sam nodded her head and she waited for Mr. Wayne to continue. "So the ones you saw as threats… were the two sisters? Lee and Casse?"

"Ye- hey! How did you know that?" She shot him a surprised look and felt her shoulders stiffened. Even if he was from the future, how closely could he be related to them to know? Now she became suspicious.

Mr. Wayne paused, his eyes turning to gaze at the other group of teenagers. Sam followed his line of sight, to Lee who fished out her cell phone from her pocket and brought it to her ear. The rest of the group watched her curiously. Silence settled between them before Mr. Wayne responded to her.

"Are you willing to go along with _quid pro quo_? You answer my questions and I answer yours?" Sam frowned and contemplated her options. To understand why Mr. Wayne knew about them, how closely related he became to their group in the future, she would need to compromise. Immediately, the annoying voice's words came back to haunt her mind.

'_Straighten out your priorities and swallow that pride of yours.'_

If that was the case, she really didn't have any other option left; she nodded to him.

Another moment of silence settled between them before Mr. Wayne spoke up. "I know who you saw as potential threats to your relationship with Danny, because they're my god sisters."

Sam flinched and jerked her head to stare at Mr. Wayne. He turned his head and gazed at her coolly as she stared at him with an incredulous look. Once the shock had eased out of her system and her mind processed what she had been told, suddenly everything made sense.

Well, most of the things did. At least some part of her understood why he kept on gazing at the triplets.

"So… one of them spoke to you about it?"

"_Quid pro quo_." He reminded her with a smile and Sam felt her lips curve into a pout. Damn. She almost forgot about that. "What exactly happened that made you snap?"

"I got jealous." She murmured after a moment. Admitting her jealousy of how close Danny had gotten to the triplets made her chest feel lighter. "Danny spent a lot of time with them, the triplets I mean, so I kind of… thought that they stole him."

"That isn't telling me exactly what happened that made you snap." Sam sighed and slouched forward, resting her cheeks in her hands.

"Danny was talking to Lee one morning, after New Year's. He spent a lot of time with Brad and Lee during and after Christmas so I felt neglected. I don't know; maybe because they looked so comfortable together when they were talking that I just snapped."

"I see." His hum was thoughtful and she looked up to see Brad squatting down to Olivia's height and pointing a finger at Lee, who shut her cell phone. Olivia's lips broke into a wide grin and began running towards Lee, flailing her arms like a windmill. Lee mocked a look of horror and 'ran' from Olivia who chased after her.

"So who talked to you about it?" Sam almost smacked her head once the words had escaped her lips.

"Lee did." She scowled at Dick as he turned and sent her an amused smirk. "You completely wasted that one."

"I know." She fumed silently and heard Dick release a low laugh. Then she sighed and resigned to the fact that she screwed up. "Alright, so shoot me another question."

"What exactly did you wish for?"

She hesitated. Silence filtered between them again before she finally mustered her courage and responded softly.

"I wished for her to disappear."

"I see." Sam almost wanted to wish for a more emotive response from Dick. His calm and calculative demeanor was making her feel nervous. He had changed; he definitely wasn't the annoying and prideful young adult she met during Christmas. "Go on; hit me with your next question."

She thought for a moment, not wanting to slip up and waste another turn. Her curiosity peaked; she wanted to know so much more yet she had to make sure she worded herself right. She knew that she may unwittingly give him more information and he would give her less if she didn't think of her questions properly.

"Tell me what you and Lee talked about in detail?" Sam eyed him curiously as he straightened his back for a moment before slouching forward again. He rested his elbows on his knees and his eyes gazed at the other group of teens who were now settled at the other side of the playground, talking quietly.

"She wanted to know why you hated her so much." She stared at him as he continued to watch the other group. "She felt disturbed that she never got to ask you why you hated her; it bugged her so much that I got her to talk. She mentioned that you became hostile towards her, Brad and Casse after the incident where she was put in the hospital."

"Lee just talked out her feelings." Sam turned her head and glanced at Lee at the other end of the playground. She took a quick glance to the side and found Daniel doing a bad job at being subtle in listening to hers and Dick's conversation. Apparently, Dick noticed it as well but carried on. "She was upset with herself for not being able to figure out what it was that ticked you off, but she was mainly confused really. All she could do was list out possibilities but never know which one did tick you off or if it was another reason she couldn't think of."

Another stretch of silence settled between them as Sam absorbed the information. At least it explained how Dick knew so much about them; spilling out feelings meant that almost everything would be revealed. But, Sam pondered further, at that point of time, Lee didn't know Danny's dual identities. Neither did Casse.

"Did you have a magical artifact in your possession? If you did, I'm guessing that it actually granted your wish." Sam lifted her head and looked over to Dick who eyed her as he ran his thumb over his chin. "I'm also a little curious to know how you got that artifact since I know that magical artifacts with that kind of power are usually placed under surveillance with other magic users."

At Dick's question, Sam noticed Daniel move closer towards them with as much grace (and as silently) as he could with his bum still settled on the ground. Either he was failing at trying to be subtle or was just trying to be polite in not making too much noise to break them out of their thoughts while still listening in.

Yup. Another point to believe that Daniel is the future Danny.

"I… I don't know, to both of them actually." Dick raised a brow at her and she shrugged. "It's true! I didn't know it, the bracelet I had been wearing, was a magical artifact until it broke and I have no idea who gave it to me because the package it came in had no return address or anything else."

"That's pretty strange." Dick made a thoughtful noise before turning his head back out. "It kind of feels as if someone knew you were going to wish for something drastic and purposely gave it to you."

Sam responded with a grunt and mulled over his words. It was true; it seemed far too coincidental that she had gotten that magical artifact that actually granted wishes and went through the events that followed. She felt used, like a slave doing her master's bidding and she didn't like that feeling.

She looked up and noticed Lee stand from the ground. The teen waved at the group and unlatched the blonde toddler from her legs, dumping her onto Brad's lap before trotting away. Sam watched as Brad, Danny and Tucker exchanged serious glances with each other while Jazz looked mildly amused and Nath just tilted his head.

After a moment, Danny got up and gave the group a mocking salute before running into the direction where Lee left in. A flare of jealousy sparked in her chest as he left; she knew instantly that he was trailing her.

It surprised her when the feeling ebbed away once he had disappeared down the road; she wondered if it was a sign that she was getting over him.

No more questions about the future came to mind. She pondered; she was sure she had some other questions in mind but they simply ran out of her reach. Sam gazed at the group with her chin resting in her palm, her lips puckered slightly as she thought before finally speaking up.

"Hey… Dick?" An 'hmm' noise responded. "Why do, or did, you treat Lee, Brad and Casse so badly? I mean… in your past."

The chains of the swing rattled and Sam looked up to see Dick, his posture stiff with guilt flickering in his eyes as he looked at her in alarm. She heard shuffling noises and turned to see that Daniel was no longer making any effort to be subtle, openly staring at Dick with his fingers weaved together, his palms clasped together and his lips set in a thin line.

"You've…met me? I mean… my younger self?" Sam almost slapped her forehead when she realized that in Dick's time, they had never met. She couldn't back off anymore.

"Yea we did, during Christmas that year since I obviously didn't die in November."

Dick went silent, his head turning away from her and drooping forward to rest his chin onto his clasped hands. Sam wondered if she had crossed one of those invisible lines that was common knowledge not to cross. Just as she opened her mouth to take her question back, Dick spoke up softly.

"I wanted to distance myself from them." Sam shifted about uncomfortably on the swing as she peered at Dick curiously. "It's quite silly actually, now that I look back at how I've treated them; my reasons for pushing them away seem so… trivial. I regret pushing them away and there isn't a day that goes by when I'm not thinking of so many what ifs and maybes, especially since they're not here anymore."

"When I pushed them away, I didn't just hurt them; I hurt myself when I saw how much I hurt them. I could feign ignorance and say that I don't know why I continued doing it but the other part of me tells me that I know exactly why I did." Dick drew in a deep breath and released it out in a sigh. "They were important people in my life and I completely wasted my time with them by pushing them away for juvenile reasons."

"Make up with them Sam." Sam's eyes widened when Dick suddenly turned to face her. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that they found out about what you wished for and shunned you for it. Just don't become like me; regretting everyday for wasting all that time being selfish, only realizing how important they were to your life when they're gone and spending the rest of your days wondering about what could have been if you reacted differently. It takes a little time to open your eyes, to see beyond your normal line of sight; but most likely, it'll become worth it in the end."

"But…" Sam hesitated, unsure whether the _quid pro quo_ was still in effect but went on. From the corner of her eye, she saw Daniel turn his gaze away from them and resumed staring at the group of teens at the other side of the park. "I thought… isn't Casse supposed to be alive in the future you live in?"

"She is." His tone was soft and pained as he gazed into space. "But the way she is now, she's as good as being dead in my books."

"But even though they're not with me anymore, at least in the time I'm in," Sam followed Dick's gaze to Daniel who seemingly didn't noticed their stares. "I hope I can at least take care of their friend. It's probably really silly to think of it as a way of compensating what I've done but… it just makes me feel a little better; to know that I'm taking care of someone they cared about."

His statement completely solidified her earlier guess of Daniel's identity; she didn't know if Dick did it on purpose or simply let it out with the flow of their conversation. Pushing those thoughts aside she mulled over their conversation, idly wondering what Dick's reasons were for pushing the triplets away but decided that it would be pushing her luck too much if she asked.

Silence settled between them as the sun dipped down from the sky, Sam immersed in her thoughts until a noise of shuffling feet broke her out of her reverie and Dick's confused voice sounded.

"Daniel?" She looked up to see Daniel scan the park with a wary gaze, his shoulders stiff and his hands clenched into tight fists.

"He's here." Dick slowly got up from the swing and Sam saw his eyes sweep around the park as he stood before landing back on Daniel, the other man looking back at him with a hint of fear in his eyes. "We have to get out of here."

"Who's here?" Sam turned her head about before looking back at both men who were staring each other down. "What do you mean we have to get out of here?"

"You have to trust me!" Daniel's head continued to whip around the park. "We need to get out of here now!"

"Daniel, you don't make any se-"

"MOVE IT!" Sam jumped, whipped her head around to where her group of former friends was and froze as they dodged the large swiping shadow that had a strange pink glow. Tucker pushed Jazz away to one side while Brad dove away in another. The shadow immediately tore after Nath who had Olivia clinging onto him for dear life and Sam quickly stepped back as Dick abruptly ran forward towards them, shouting a whole string of curses that startled her.

Daniel grabbed her by the waist when she stepped back, causing Sam to squeak in surprise as he lifted her up easily and proceeded to carry her towards Jazz and Tucker. Sam realized that despite Daniel's skinny frame, he was definitely much stronger than he looked; although she was pretty sure it had to be the fact that Daniel was Shadow and had been fighting against big league heroes for over a decade. But even so, his strength still surprised her.

Tucker and Jazz jumped when they spotted Daniel and that's when Sam realized that not only did Daniel move quickly, he did it silently as well. An idle thought bounced through her head but it soon escaped to the far end of her mind when he put her back down alongside with Tucker and Jazz, glancing at them briefly with an odd look in his eyes. But he didn't speak; instead, he quickly turned his heel and ran towards Brad who was getting back up on his feet.

Sam had an inkling feeling about the 'he' Daniel called the shadow. It wasn't a full ghost, at least that's what she thought since they'd usually find out if a ghost was nearby via Danny through the blue wisp of air that would come out of his mouth. Plus that note of fear she saw in his eyes when he looked around, could it be…

"What the heck is that?"

"I think–" A deafening roar cut Sam off just as she was about to answer Tucker and she whipped her head around to see the shadow taking shape in a vaguely familiar form as it lunged at Daniel with its claws outstretched and blasted pink bolts at him. "Oh… shit."

Daniel grabbed Brad and jumped backwards, flipping in the air as he dodged the swiping claws and slid to another side to avoid the pink bolts. The shadow took its full form and the menacing stature of an older, and very much more powerful looking, Vlad Plasmius loomed over Daniel and Brad at the other side of the park with his fists charged with dark pink energy.

"…I think I'm inclined to agree with Sam in saying… oh shit."

Well, at least it was better than having them ignore her, but the feeling was short lived when bolts of pink energy were thrown around the park, causing Sam to scramble away with Tucker and Jazz to avoid the shots.

'_Wonderful… where's Danny when you really need him?'_

_

* * *

_

The clanking of heels meeting the wooden floor echoed in the dark corridors. Sleek shoes walked briskly down the said corridor and into a room before they halted at a large shelf. The heel tapped the floor rhythmically before turning and walked out the room once more.

Zeraphina held a frayed and burnt choker embedded with a gem in one hand and a Fenton Thermos in the other as she walked down the corridor and into another room. She laid the items on the table carefully, fingering the choker gently before summoning an orb to her hand.

"The payment… has been fully paid. It is time for your wish to be granted."

* * *

"Danny, can't you just lay off?" Danny feigned a look of ignorance at Lee's exasperated remark. She threw her hands up as she groaned and stalked off, muttering darkly about pesky, nosy brothers and equally nosy friends while Danny trailed on behind her. "There's nothing wrong with Garth sending me stuff!"

"It is to us." He smiled sweetly as Lee released another pained groan and turned away from him. "We younger brothers stick together to chase any other guy away from courting big sisters."

"You annoying younger brothers." She corrected; no bite to her words but fond exasperation. "What about baby sisters?"

"They'll never be let out of the house until they're past menopause stage." He answered instantly and Lee rolled her eyes skyward as he grinned impishly at her. "What? I speak the truth and nothing but the truth."

"You guys are insufferable and since when did I become your sister?"

"Since Brad, Tucker and I agreed that the ladies in our circle of friends and family are too good for any man outside of it." Lee snorted and turned away from Danny as he continued to grin widely at her. "Am I off the hook?"

"Flattery isn't going to get you anywhere Danny." Danny snapped his fingers and muttered a disappointed 'aw shucks' while pretending to look pouty. "And I'm serious; go back to the park and play with Olivia. I'm not going to take that long to check the mail."

"And I don't see why you should go and check it now when you can check it later." Lee stopped, spun her heel and scowled at him as she planted her hands on her hips. Danny folded his arms across his chest and gazed back at her evenly. "It's fishy."

"Look Danny, why can't you guys just lay off and –" Loud explosions cut her off and she gaped in the direction where the park was. Danny whirled around, his eyes widening as clouds of dust and smoke billowed up from the park. Quickly, his head whipped around to check the street before striding towards Lee, pushing her away from the park.

"I'll lay off the Garth thing; for now." Lee pursed her lips but yelped when he gave her an extra shove to move away. "Go back home and stay there. I'll bring everyone back, I promise."

"…Don't make empty promises Danny."

"It's not an empty promise." He refuted firmly, determination dancing in his eyes as he stared back at her before diving into the alleyway and transformed into his alter-ego. He flew out of the alley and turned his head to look back at Lee, the green glow of his eyes flickering. "I mean it Lee. I'll bring them all back, alive."

"With minimal injuries?" His eyes softened at her small crooked smile and returned it with his own bigger smile.

"That's something I can only try to do. It's all up to them whether or not they run or stay and get themselves caught in the line of fire."

"That wasn't very helpful!" Danny allowed a small chuckle of escape his lips at her last shout as he flew towards the park; he missed the troubled look that marred Lee's face as he left. Just as he reached the park, he yelped and instantly flung up a shield as bolts of pink energy shot out at him. His eyes shot open after three consecutive bolts completely shattered his shield, a fourth bolt slamming harshly against his chest and forced the wind out of his lungs.

He flew backwards and fell to the ground, landing with a loud thump on one of the rides before crashing onto the grassy floor. Danny released a cry of pain and clutched his chest as he rolled to a stop. He forced his head up and surveyed his surroundings, eyes widening as he saw Plasmius shooting erratically at his older self who was just barely managing in dodging away from the attacks. He didn't notice Sam, Tucker, Jazz and Brad run up to him.

"Phantom, you ok?" Danny jolted out of his reverie, dodged the hand that hovered above his shoulder and scrambled up to his feet, wincing in pain while still clutching his chest with one hand and flung the other out defensively. "Whoa dude, it's just us!"

"What're you guys still doing here?!" He raised his voice to avoid getting drowned out by the roar of explosions echoing around them. His heart pounded against his chest but he relaxed his stance a little, adrenaline pumping in his veins.

Brad suddenly reached forward and grabbed his arm, pulling him close to glare into his eyes.

"That pink blasting moron's got Nath and Olivia cornered off; we can't leave without them!" Danny balked, wrenching out of Brad's grasp and whipped his head about to scan the park. He caught sight of them at the far end of the park with Dick shielding over them as another Plasmius loomed over them menacingly with his hands charged with energy.

"Then just get to someplace else other than here!" He snapped and bolted towards the other end of the park. Danny flung up a shield as the charged energy blasted at Dick, Nath and Olivia, the shield cracking instantly on impact. Plasmius growled and readied another blast. "Oh crap… This is going to hurt."

Dick turned and quickly flattened Nath and Olivia down on the ground, covering them with his body when the next blast was shot. Danny was sent flying over their heads, crashed heavily against a tree and collapsed on the ground in a heap. Olivia buried her head into Nath's chest, whimpering softly at the crash. Danny barely managed to recover in time to duck away from the third blast, flipped to another side and narrowly dodged the swiping claws that followed immediately after.

Danny flung up another shield as the claws plunged at him and managed to keep it at bay, but as Plasmius applied more pressure, the shield began to crack. Danny glared defiantly into Plamius's shadowed eyes, grunting as he focused on his shield. The other hybrid grinned maniacally at him, his eyes gleaming madly.

"This is perfect; far better than I expected! I can get two pets for the price of one!" Danny grunted again as Plasmius continued to force his claws forward, cracking the shield more. "And I'll be sure to teach you beforehand to never disobey me!"

Danny gasped, his concentration broken as Plasmius duplicated himself once more and the new duplicate immediately lunged after Dick, Nath and Olivia who were running away from the battlefield. Plasmius smirked and plunged his claw in, breaking through Danny's shield and slammed his fisted claw into Danny's chest.

His cry came out choked, his expression twisting into a mix of shock and pain as he flew backwards once again but crashed into the ground instead of a tree. Danny wheezed and choked, his hand clutching his chest as he pulled his head up and winced. Plasmius began to approach him, his grin growing wider with each step he took and even licked his lips. The older hybrid stopped in his tracks when rocks smacked at his side and he whipped his head about to find the source. Danny turned his head to the side and stared.

Sam swallowed audibly, her lips pursed tightly together and her body shaking slightly but threw one last rock at Plasmius that caught his cheek. Green blood dribbled down to his chin from the cut and Plasmius snarled at Sam who took a step back, her shoulders stiffening at the glare.

"What the hell are you doing?! Get out of here!" As soon as the words left his mouth, Plasmius struck. Sam shrieked and ducked, flattening her body on the ground as Plasmius swooped over her, missing her by a mere few inches. She scrambled to her feet and ran, her lips moving slightly but her words too soft to be heard. Danny lunged forward, grabbing her by the waist just as Plasmius swooped over to her again to blast her with his charged energy. He hauled her out of the way just in time to avoid the blast of pink that charred the ground where she had been.

"Remind me never to make villains angry." Sam breathed, shivering slightly as Danny dodged another blast as he searched the park. He pursed his lips and didn't respond, swooping down towards Brad, Tucker and Jazz who were dodging another of the duplicated Plasmius'. He looked around the park quickly; four Plasmius', one original and three copies. Danny dropped Sam back down on the ground before spinning around and flung up a shield, wincing as his shields cracked when the blasts hit.

Danny gritted his teeth and stiffened as Plasmius charged up another blast. Suddenly, Plasmius made an 'oof' noise and bent forward. The charged energy dissipated from his hands as he clutched his stomach and whipped his head about, glaring at the empty space. Danny warily did the same but kept his shield up, the cracks slowly closing up while the group behind him exchanged confused glances with each other.

"Who's there?!" Plasmius growled and swiped his claws, grunting as he leant forward again, as if an invisible being was attacking him. "Coward! Show yourself! I swear I'll make your death slow and painful."

Danny grimaced at Plasmius's threat but took the opportunity to lower his shields and aimed at him, charging a powerful energy blast. He released the energy, flying backwards because of the force of the blast and it smashed straight into Plasmius's chest. The duplicated Plasmius growled as he dissipated and Danny blinked.

"Phantom, look out!" In the moment of incredulity, he didn't manage to dodge the other duplicate that had been chasing him. He 'oomph'ed when a gloved fist landed on his gut and once again he flew backwards. Brad, Tucker, Jazz and Sam quickly ducked for cover as he zinged over their heads. He crashed into the ground and rolled, grunting and wheezing as he tried to maneuver his body to roll to his feet. Danny grimaced, as if tasting something bad, and spat out green blood.

Plasmius smirked and swooped down again. He crackled madly as he swiped at the group before charging his fists and aimed them at Danny. Danny grimaced again, pulling his hands out and created a flickering shield but Plasmius never got to release the bolt when a bat shaped shuriken sliced at Plasmius, embedded on his forehead and exploded, causing the duplicate to dissipate.

Danny gasped lightly, his shield dissolving as Batman threw another batarang at the Plasmius chasing after Dick, Nath and Olivia. That duplicate (or was it the real Plasmius?) dodged the exploding weapon and lunged at Batman, allowing his targets to escape. Danny glanced to the side to see Shayera blocking the other Plasmius's attacks, smashing through the bolts of pink with her mace like they were made of thin air. Daniel sat on the ground breathing heavily, his body visibly shaking with Red Arrow docking his bow beside him and shooting an arrow at the Plasmius Shayera was attacking.

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and flinched, whipping his head around and relaxed his posture slightly at his friends' worried faces. Danny hacked and coughed, more green blood splattering from his mouth just as the last Plasmius duplicate was taken down. The real Vlad Plasmius growled, swiping his head around to see Dick, Nath and Olivia scurrying further away from him. Batman took the opportunity to throw a batarang at Plasmius but the hybrid swiped his head about again and blasted it out of the way.

"So you're the Master." Red Arrow growled and knelt, aiming an arrow at him. "You're probably the one who created all those time holes; you wanted to get back your little pet."

"He's mine!" Plasmius spat, his fists charging with pink energy. Daniel flinched at their words but slowly got to his feet. Batman readied his stance, a batarang in his fingers while Red Arrow pulled his arrow backwards. Shayera stood in front of the teens with her mace out. Jazz tried to grab Danny to keep him down but he crawled to his knees and wobbled up to his feet, brushing her hand away. Danny shot Red Arrow an annoyed look before turning back to Plasmius.

"Huh. That's funny." Red Arrow sneered, the slits of his mask narrowing as his fingers flexed around the string of his bow. "I'm pretty sure that Phantom doesn't have your name tattooed on him that says he belongs to you. Doubt that Shadow had anything like that either."

"The fool of a boy doesn't know what to do with his power." The hybrid hissed, flexing his claws while his eyes darted between the two groups. "Pity really. A boy who can't do anything right with all that power… such a waste! So easy to break, so easy to manipulate; the boy's better off as a tool!"

"And I could tell you to screw the hell off." Danny spat, clenching his fists tightly as his eyes narrowed and the green glow in them flickered dangerously. "You manipulated him when he was the most vulnerable just because you lost what you wanted! You took advantage of his broken mental state and broke him even more; made him your goddamn slave because you knew you couldn't add up to his power!"

"Why waste my time to do things myself when I have an able pet to do my bidding for me?" Plasmius's lips curved into a devious smirk and his tongue darted out to lick his lips. "Admit it boy; you're a lost cause. You wouldn't know what to do with your powers if you lost the very things that kept driving you to do what you do now. You're weak willed, fragile even. You'll fall once your important things are taken from you, broken down into nothing more but a lost, simpering little mess."

Danny growled and tried to move forward but Batman's hand shot out to stop him, pushing him backwards. Shayera and Red Arrow remained poised. Plasmius smirked and licked his lips again, his eyes quickly darting to the side to where Dick, Nath and Olivia were. Dick stood protectively in front of them, pushing them backward with his arm. Plasmius's wrists flicked about and his fingers flexed repeatedly, his tongue darting out of his mouth again.

"The Fenton boy is equally useless; oh so easy to completely destroy from the inside out." Daniel flinched and cringed when Red Arrow and Dick shot him a surprised look. "You know… the two are so similar in mentality, you'd think that they were the same person. Hahahaha!"

Danny growled lowly, his body trembling with adrenaline and almost lurched forward to attack Plasmius but Batman's hand firmly kept him behind. _'That asshole's doing this on purpose!'_ His hands flexed about as the back of his throat hummed. His teeth gritted noisily against each other as he glared vengefully at Plasmius. _'He's trying to sell us out without giving himself away!'_

"If that's the case, then I'd say you'd be equally similar to Vladimir Masters; slimy old scumbag, just like you." Plasmius froze at Red Arrow's cool retort before his eye narrowed down dangerously. The archer smirked as his fingers twiddled with the string of his bow while not letting go of the arrow. "Oh? Did I hit a mark? It's funny that you're trying to point at those two when you're more suspicious than anyone else."

"And Danny better be sitting on Fairy at home and not twittering around here." Brad muttered out lowly from behind Shayera, briefly shooting Danny a look. The winged woman stole a quick glance backwards and arched a brow at Brad who shrugged at her. "What? We got him to stalk Fairy home since she's supposed to be getting some weird thing from Garth. Hope he throws it away."

"Plus, you're giving this timeline's League more than enough to start monitoring Masters to make sure he doesn't end up like you." The smirk on Red Arrow's lips grew wider as Plasmius snarled. "Face it; you've hit a dead end. You're never going to extend your tyranny anywhere else."

"Then I'll at least disintegrate your precious people!" Red Arrow released the arrow instantly as did Batman with his batarang. But Plasmius whipped around, his fists already charged with bright pink and shot two blazing bolts at Dick, Nath and Olivia before turning himself intangible to avoid the two attacks.

Batman's batarang went straight through him but Red Arrow's arrow struck his leg and Plasmius howled. He swiped his cloak and jumped away with the arrow sticking out from his leg. But the deed was done. Even as Dick tried to push Nath and Olivia away, the pink bolts hissed and crackled, driving at too fast of a speed for them to escape. Olivia grasped onto Nath tightly and Dick quickly flung his arms over them, trying to shield them with his body as they squeezed their eyes shut.

"Dick! Nath! Olivia!" The bolts impacted and a roar echoed in the air, followed by a mushroom shaped cloud of dust that billowed up into the sky and around the park. Danny stared in horror but lunged forward, going through Batman's hand to quickly fling up a shield to protect the group from the dust. Before he managed to put up the shield, Red Arrow had loaded his bow again and shot another arrow at Plasmius. In the haze of dust, they heard another howl rise in the air.

Dick cringed as he held onto the kids tightly. When dust enveloped them he started, opening his eyes but winced when the dust went into them. Suddenly something zinged over his head, causing him to yelp and duck, squashing Nath and Olivia further down on the ground. A crash and a cry of pain followed.

The dust settled and another roar rang in the air as Dick, Nath and Olivia emerged from the dust unharmed. Dick's head rose and whipped about before his eyes landed on the black and white form that was crawling up to their knees.

A pair of yellow eyes stared back at him when her head lifted, white hair fluttering down her face, her fingers twitching erratically at her front and her body visibly trembling. From the far side, the rest stared at her and Danny's jaw dropped open.

"L-Angel?!" Sam did a double take at Danny's slip up and turned to look at the rest of the group before to him, but he dropped the shield and flew forward towards 'Angel'. A pink bolt flashed past him, causing Danny to stop and dodge the bolt but soon found a barrage of bolts hurtling his way.

The bolts went everywhere; Shayera smashed the bolts that came her way with her mace as the group of teens quickly ducked for cover. Batman and Red Arrow shot a series of bolts with their weapons and created a chain reaction that dissipated many of the bolts. Daniel, surprisingly, still stood behind Red Arrow and didn't move since the entrance of the new hybrid girl.

Danny dodged as many bolts as he could that hurtled his way, wincing when the ones he didn't manage to doge in time smashed onto his body and caught sight of Plasmius's maddened look as the older hybrid continued to throw bolts everywhere. He yelped when he saw Nath trip and fall when he tried to escape from the barrage of attacks; Olivia still curled in his arms.

Dick turned back to get them just as two blasts of pink hurtled their way. Nath grasped Olivia tightly, staring at the blazing pink that came closer towards them. Just as it came too close, she was back; floating in front of them with her hands raised forward and a yellow shield formed around them. The blasts crashed against the shield, the first cracking it and the second destroying it completely, but it didn't throw her back like it did before.

Dick grabbed Nath, pulling the teen to his feet but when Nath's feet didn't move to run, the older man cursed lightly before picking him up, tucked him under his armpit and carried him away. Nath looked back to see her get blasted by a bolt and crash heavily into the ground. He blinked and saw a flash of bright green flying across the park, smashing against Plasmius's chest and caused him to fly backward.

"Leave her alone you sick twisted–" Danny let loose a string of curses as he flung his charged fists at Plasmius, blasting out shots of green alternately as he attacked blindly. Dick hauled Nath towards the group and plopped him down on the ground next to Daniel, who blinked at him for a moment before turning his gaze back to Danny. Olivia still clung onto Nath like a koala but her eyes were wide open and gazing at Danny fighting Plasmius without restraint.

"Any idea who the girl is?" Shayera still held her mace out but Danny kept Plasmius busy enough that the older hybrid couldn't send any attacks at them. "Whoever she is, Phantom seems to be protective of her."

"I… have no clue." Brad, Tucker and Jazz exchanged looks with each other and Sam watched them warily, her eyes darting to see the hybrid girl struggle up to her feet but fall backwards onto her bum before turning back to Red Arrow. "I don't think I've ever seen her in our timeline. In fact, I don't think she even exists."

"**Sonofabitch!" **

"And I'm pretty sure Phantom was never that potty mouthed either." Dick muttered dryly as Danny shot towards Plasmius after getting blasted back by the other hybrid. Red Arrow flexed his fingers on the string of his bow, humming in agreement before letting the arrow fly and exploded when it hit Plasmius's thigh. Danny took the opportunity to charge his fist and shot a beam of green energy at Plasmius's stomach, driving him backward and into two trees.

With Plasmius seemingly down for the count, Danny flew towards the female hybrid and once he reached her, he grabbed her shoulders and shook her hard.

"What are you doing?" He lowered his voice and hissed at her angrily, feeling the trembling of her body and her head remained downcast. "You said you didn't want to do this stuff!"

She raised her hands slightly, staring at them as they shook before looking up at him with wide and fearful eyes. "I don't know." She whimpered quietly, staring back down at her shaking hands. Tears leaking from the edge of her eyes. "I don't know…"

He stared at her as she whimpered, releasing his hands from her shoulder. The anger in his face dissipated as he watched her shake and stare at her gloved hands. Plasmius blasted the trees away, glaring hatefully at them with his fist charging with energy. Batman ran forward, swung a batarang at Plasmius and successfully distracted him from releasing the charged energy at Danny and Lee. Red Arrow loaded his bow again and released another arrow at Plasmius. The arrow exploded and released an ecto-net at Plasmius, trapping the hybrid in.

Plasmius snarled and ripped the net apart with his claws. Red Arrow muttered a quiet 'oh shit' and grabbed another arrow from his barrel. Plasmius scowled and duplicated himself, the duplicate heading straight for Danny and Lee as soon as he split while the original lunged at the group.

"Watch out!" Danny's head snapped up at Daniel's shout and saw the duplicate Plasmius lunge at them. He wrapped his arms around Lee, flinging up a shield around them. But before Plasmius got close to them, a string of red symbols lashed out at him and disintegrated the duplicate. Danny stared at the symbols as they danced around him and Lee before shooting towards the real Plasmius, cutting him off in his lunge and bound him tightly.

Plasmius howled and fought against the bounding symbols. They glowed brightly and he howled again, this time in pain as hissing and crackling noises emitted from the symbols as they burned his skin. He struggled some more, flickering between intangibility and invisibility but neither of his abilities worked. The symbols effortlessly swept him some distance away from the groups and a single symbol slapped itself over his mouth just as he opened it to roar, effectively shutting him up.

"Your time has come to an end." All heads whipped about to see Zeraphina appear before them in a swirl of black feathers, once again clad in formal looking clothes. Her feet gently landed on the ground and she strode forward, her violet eye gazing coolly at them all before landing on Plasmius. "For all the suffering you have caused, it ends here."

"You're that Sorceress who's been helping the kids." Zeraphina's lips curved into a knowing smile at Shayera's statement. "Why are you here?"

"Because of a wish." Her eye swept across the park to every person present before landing on Daniel. She lifted a hand and pointed a slender finger at him, making him flinch and causing all attention to lie on him. "To return you to where you belong."

"…What?" Daniel croaked as everyone looked between him and Zeraphina. In Danny's arms, Lee shivered lightly and he rubbed the sides of her arms soothingly with his concentration still focused on Daniel and Zeraphina. "Who would…?"

Zeraphina flicked her wrist and raised her palm upwards. An orb formed at the tips of her fingers before dissolving away, dropping a black and frayed choker into her outstretched hand. Danny sucked in his breath deeply and heard Lee release a soft strangled cry as the dull red gem glittered lightly in Zeraphina's hand.

Zeraphina flicked her wrist again and the choker levitated off her hand. It glowed softly before wisps of white air swirled around it and shot out to the front of Zeraphina, taking the shape of a familiar blonde woman clad in a red shirt and a pair of three quarter pants. Nath had gotten up to his feet, releasing his grip around Olivia who fell onto the ground with a tiny thud and she yelped before staring at her cousin with wide eyes from her seat on the ground.

Dick swallowed loudly and Red Arrow sucked in his breath. Daniel froze and stared, his lips moving slightly but no words came out from his mouth. When the woman took full form, though albeit translucent looking, Nath suddenly dashed forward.

"Nath, wait!"

"MOM!" Brad, Jazz, Tucker and Sam exchanged surprised glances with each other before quickly turning their heads back to Nath who dashed closer to the woman. He stretched his hand out as he got closer and her eyes fluttered open. She blinked and raised her hands, opening her mouth to say something as Nath barreled forward.

And went straight through her.

He yelped as he crashed onto the ground and blinked rapidly once he had stopped sliding forward. He turned onto his bottom and stared at her when she whipped around and squatted down in front of him, her hands hovering slightly over him but not touching him.

"You cannot touch her." Nath stared at the transparent form of his mother as her eyes softened and tried to reach out for him. Her hand came close to his cheek but went through him when it tried to graze it. Zeraphina watched him calmly as his tears began to leak from the side of his eyes.

"**I'm sorry sweetie.****"** The older Lee tried to wipe his tears away but her hand simply went through him. Nath continued to stare at her.

"You cannot touch her, nor can she touch you." Zeraphina repeated coolly as mother and son stared at each other. "And you cannot hear her, for that is part of the price she pays to stand here now."

Nath reached forward and tried to grab a hold of his mother. When he failed to touch her, when his hands went through hers, he screamed.

"It's not fair!" He tried again but grasped nothing but air. At the failure to touch her, he clutched his head with his hands and cried uncontrollably. "It's not fair! Why me?! Why am I the only one who can't?"

"Because you are her precious son." Nath opened his eyes and stared at Amilee who still held her hands close to his face with her thumbs animatedly stroking his cheeks although they weren't touching at all. "She relinquished everything she held for this moment. Her time, her life, her family, you; the years that accumulated since then were the part of the price to grant her wish."

"It's still…" He reached forward again and his hands slipped through her face. The tears dripped down from his chin. "…not fair… it's not fair…"

In Danny's arms Lee shivered, her hands hovering at chin level as she stared at them; Amilee leaned forward, as if pressing a kiss to Nath's forehead but didn't touch him. Nath cried quietly, drew his knees to his chest and buried his face into his hands. Zeraphina watched Amilee carefully.

"You cannot linger for long. Even with nine years as the price in relinquishing your life, you have limited time before you must move on."

"…**Ok."** Amilee held her hands at Nath's cheeks before drawing away, standing up slowly and biting her lip at his curled form. **"I'm sorry sweetie."** Regret flickered in her eyes before she breathed deeply and turned, quietly trotting towards the group with her hands laced behind her back. Dick nudged Daniel as he bent down to pick Olivia up, the toddler staring wide eyed at Amilee as she came towards them.

Daniel flinched and shot Dick a confused look as the other man hoisted Olivia onto his hip. Dick sighed and shook his head slightly before giving Daniel a rough push forward, making him stumble forward and in front of Amilee when she got close. He stared at her, his fingers flexing awkwardly by his sides and his lips parted slightly but didn't move. Everyone else remained silent and watched them carefully.

Amilee looked up at him, being shorter by half a head, and startled him with a warm smile.

"**Hello Danny."** Daniel swallowed as she gave him a look over. **"You're too thin."**

He choked as a strangled laugh bubbled from his throat, bringing his hand up to his face to sweep his bangs from his eye. It was just like her; mothering everyone when she had the chance. Once his laughter subsided, he tentatively brought his hand forward to her face, hesitating when he got close before gently touching her cheek.

In the next instant, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

She closed her eyes and raised her hands, wrapped her arms around his midsection and returned the hug as he pressed his cheek into her hair. Nath made a strangling noise beside Zeraphina as he watched them.

Daniel ran his hand through her loose locks of hair, pressing his nose on her forehead as tears slowly leaked from the edge of his eyes. He continued to hold her until she pulled away from him. She peered up at him and raised her hand, sweeping his bangs away before cupping his face in her hands.

Her fingers felt his cheeks and ran across his face; Amilee then reached up and wiped the tears away from his eyes. Before her hand lowered, Daniel reached up and grasped her hand, pressing her palm onto his cheek as if relishing her touch.

"Missed you." He croaked finally, squeezing her hand lightly. Her eyes softened as he swallowed again. "Lee, I-"

"**Don't say it." **He stopped and blinked at her as she withdrew her hand away from him. Her gaze dropped and her smile wavered. **"Don't say it Danny."**

"Why not?"

"**Because I can't return those feelings."** Daniel's hands dropped to his sides as he stared at her. Amilee took a step back from him and looked straight at him with doleful eyes. **"Are you even sure that what you're feeling is true?"**

"Wha… what do you mean?" His voice rose, the agitation and confusion clearly expressed. "Of course I'm sure! I wouldn't be saying it if I didn't mean it!"

"**But how can ****you say that when we've only known each other for seven months?"** Amilee gripped her elbow tightly. **"Danny, that's not enough time to even think about it. We only got closer because… of that time. But we're not close enough to even consider it." **

"**I tried to Danny." **She cut him off when he opened his mouth to speak. Daniel closed his mouth and allowed her to continue. **"I tried to, but I couldn't. Not even for our son. It's not easy to develop feelings for a person who I barely spent any time with and wasn't there anymore… I just couldn't even when I tried."**

"**I'll as****k you again Danny: Are you sure, completely, one hundred percent sure, that you really love me?"**

Silence hung in the air as Daniel stared at Amilee. Danny gently wrapped his arms around Lee's shoulders, rubbing her arms again as she shook. The rest watched with baited breath when Daniel finally choked out.

"…I should be." He fell to his knees and stared down at his hand. Amilee slowly knelt down in front of him. "Is it wrong to hang on to something, to hang on to loving you, to stay sane?"

"**Danny, thinking that you love me is different from being in love with me." **She sighed and tucked her curly sideburns to the back of her ears. **"I thought that way before; for a while I thought I was in love with you after Nath was born, but Uncle Bruce forced me to wise up and lose the illusion. I'm not saying that it's wrong to hold on to something, I wouldn't know if it was or not because I don't know what you've been through."**

"**But it's not right to stay deluded when your feelings aren't true." **

Daniel ran his hand through his hair and bit his lip hard. Amilee stayed silent for a moment before speaking up again. **"It's probably going to sound selfish of me to ask you to do something for me, especially since I can't love you." **Daniel didn't look up and Amilee released another quiet sigh before reaching out to touch his cheek. **"Will you take care of Nath for me?" **

"Why?" He muttered bitterly. Her hand withdrew slightly "We're just strangers to each other."

"**Because you're his father Danny." ** She sighed again when he didn't look up to meet her eyes.** "Danny, I didn't get myself killed and waste nine years trapped in my own choker to see you throw a silent tantrum because I can't love you."**

"…You what?" Amilee looked up at Dick's incredulous question. "You… you _purposely_ got yourself killed?!"

"**No I did not!" **She sighed irritably and rubbed her temples in agitation. **"God, I'm dealing with pig-headed men; including my own son!"**

"No, she did not know that her life and time were the prices to pay for her wish." The attention swiveled from Daniel and Amilee to Zeraphina who calmly stood where she was. "All she was told was 'the time will come when you shall have to decide the fate of your family and yourself'. Because of her death, the timeline has shifted drastically because she plays a key role in her family's life."

"Her son." Zeraphina gestured to Nath as he blinked up at her. "No longer was she there to raise him; instead he was brought up by a caretaker and in a family that had no love."

"Her god brother." All eyes went to Dick as he stiffened. "Who immersed himself in his work and no longer cared for what was left of his family."

"Her sister." They all stared at Zeraphina as an orb formed at the tip of her fingers of her raised hand and images of a blonde woman fighting with ghosts raced past. "Who used her death as an excuse to follow a dream that caused nothing but pain. Throwing away what lessons were taught to her to keep family close, disowning the daughter she bore, tossing away the man who had loved her and tarnished the memory of the sister who kept her at bay."

"A decision that had to be made in that instant; there would be no regrets, no turning back. If she had survived, you would not be here. Everything would change, yet the future rides on the decisions that you all make. For nine years she has remained in her choker. She can no longer make an impact to your timeline because she no longer exists there; all she can do now is to influence you and move on."

"So you're meaning." Batman narrowed his gaze at Zeraphina and glanced to Amilee. "That the nine years that she's spent, in her choker, prevented her from moving on?"

"Yes." Zeraphina coolly returned his gaze and looked over to Amilee. "Nine years remaining in an accessory precious to her, all for this moment." She turned to Daniel who finally raised his head to stare at her. "To guide you to where you belong."

"It doesn't add up."

"Does it?" Zeraphina looked back at Batman who frowned heavily. "There are conditions of the wishes Dark Knight. Time is essential for them to be granted as well; not everything can happen in the flick of a wrist and be easily accepted. The people involved must be ready."

"And how can you tell when they're ready?" A silvery laugh escaped Zeraphina's throat as she tapped her lips with a finger while gazing coolly at Shayera.

"Because it is all _hitsuzen_."

Danny watched as Daniel lowered his gaze again and Amilee sighed before reaching forward, cupping his cheeks and forced his face up to look at her.

"**I'm not saying that you have to look after him**** for the rest of your life. Just… try." **She stared into his eyes with a pleading look.** "Try to get to know him, maybe try to love him. He's always wanted to know you and I could only tell him so much because I didn't know you well enough. He's grown up without a father and spent most of his life without me, his mother. I know how it feels to grow up with a single parent family but I can't imagine his life anymore because he didn't, doesn't have both of us."**

"**It's not for me, it's for him. Please Danny?" **She leaned forward and rested her forehead against his. **"Just try?"**

Silence. He gazed downwards again before bringing his hand up to the back of Amilee's head, pulled her face closer and kissed her. Tucker and Brad let loose low whistles while Jazz brought her hands up to her cheeks as they flushed red. Sam's cheeks likewise went red but she made no move to hide them. Shayera raised her brow at the teens.

Lee released a squeak and buried her face into her hands while Danny turned his head away. His cheeks flushed dark red and released his arms around Lee, shifting a little away from her in the process.

Dick however, looked livid. Red Arrow held him back as he dropped Olivia on the ground and tried to stomp forward to forcefully break them apart.

They broke away and Daniel's hand shifted from the back of her head and to her cheek, stroking it lightly as he gazed into her eyes. Her hands had dropped from his face when he pulled her in for the kiss.

"I guess… I could try to." He murmured as he took his hand away from her cheek. He 'oofed' when Amilee tackled him with a hug, murmuring her thanks repeatedly and buried his face into her chest.

The wild blush that streaked across Daniel's cheeks could be seen even from where Danny and Lee were.

"**Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou-"** Daniel blinked as Amilee planted a kiss to his forehead. **"Thank you Danny!"**

Her delirious giggle became catchy and Daniel's lips curved into a soft smile at her happy grin. **"But you'd better not be teaching him to run after trouble."**

A hearty laugh ripped from his throat at her remark. She hugged him again and rested her forehead against his, smiling widely before getting up to her feet. Daniel remained kneeled on the ground but when he looked up, she had her hands held out to him. He took her hand and got up to his feet, gazing at her some more before pushing her gently towards Dick.

Dick needed no encouragement; he immediately swept his god sister into a hug and lifted her off her feet. At Zeraphina's side, Nath continued to sulk.

"Too many things to say… too little time." Dick breathed as he lowered Amilee back on the ground but kept his arms around her. "I want to say so many things but I don't know where to begin…"

"**I'd stay longer to listen to you but I can't." **She returned his hug, burying her face into his shoulder. **"I'm sure you can manage without me and besides, I have someone else to talk to."**

Dick pulled back slightly and rested his hands on her shoulders and raised a suspicious brow. "Who?"

She burst out laughing and smacked his shoulder. **"Stop being so suspicious of everything; and I'll have you know that it's to the younger guys."**

"I mean so little that you can't spend some more time on me?" His tone was teasing but his eyes reflected hurt. She reached up and pulled him down towards her. "What about Casse?"

"**I'm sorry Dick." **He hugged her again, tighter this time, and buried his face into her hair. Dick hung onto her for a while longer before pulling away from her reluctantly. **"And there's nothing to tell Casse either. I've… got nothing to say to her." **She patted his shoulder softly and turned to Red Arrow, giving him a smile before squatting down to Olivia's height.

Olivia stared at her with wide eyes, her index finger halfway inside her mouth. Amilee giggled. **"Why hello there. What's your name?"**

"Olivia." The toddler responded shyly after getting a gentle nudge from her father. "You're very pretty miss." She added after a moment.

"**Why thank you Olivia, you're very adorable too."** Dick rolled his eyes, his lips tugged with a smile while Red Arrow raised a brow when Olivia giggled. Amilee smiled and spread her arms wide. **"May I hug you?"**

Olivia looked up at Red Arrow who smiled down at her and gave her a gentle push with his hand. She tottered forward and landed into Amilee's embrace, leaning in it for a moment before snuggling into her chest.

"Warm." The girl sighed happily, burrowing her nose deeper into the embrace. "Can you be my mama?"

Nath jerked his head up and stared at his cousin from beside Zeraphina, watching as his mother gently pulled away from Olivia, tapped the toddler's nose and shook her head.

"**I'm sorry honey, I can't be your mama." **Olivia's hopeful face fell and she pouted. Amilee sighed and gently kissed the top of her head. **"But you should stay good to your daddy ok? And be nice to your cousin and uncles too."**

"But…" Red Arrow shook his head at her and Olivia whimpered. "Ok…" Olivia stared at her dolefully, her finger popped back into her mouth before she took it out again and spread her arms wide. "Can I have another hug?"

Amilee smiled and giggled again, opening her arms again and this time Olivia eagerly ran into the embrace. Nath's eyes softened as he rested his chin on his knees, staring as Amilee pulled away from Olivia and stood up, giving his cousin a small wave before walking towards the two hybrids.

Danny shifted slightly as Amilee came closer to them and saw Lee start to tremble again. The older woman knelt down in front of Lee and they stared at each other before Amilee reached forward and grasped Lee's hands together with her own.

"**Thank you." **Lee stared harder. **"Thank you for saving my baby boy."**

"You… I…" Her words choked and her lips moved, but no more sound followed after that. Amilee smiled softly and clasped their hands together.

"**You**** know, you don't have to fight to be a hero. I can feel that you're a different kind of hero." **Amilee squeezed Lee's hands comfortingly before looking at her softly. **"We're a little alike; fighting differently than what the Justice League does to keep our world at peace and protecting the ones we love."**

"**Just don't forget who you are and the people who love you." **The older woman leaned forward and enveloped Lee in a comforting embrace. The hybrid girl blinked repeatedly before breaking down, sobbing quietly in Amilee's chest.

"I don't want to be special." She whimpered and Danny flinched. "I don't want to be a hero."

"**You'll learn." **Amilee coaxed, pulling away from her and patted her head softly. **"As much as I didn't like special when I was younger, I learned that I couldn't ignore everything and be 'normal'." **

"**Live, learn and adapt to world because it's always changing. You might hate the idea now, but you'll learn soon enough that there are just… some things that only you can do." **Amilee frowned before leaning forward, her nose bumping against Lee's lightly.** "Especially when you have these powers; but as long as you remember your responsibilities and that you're not invulnerable with them, it should be fine."**

"**Just remember that you're not alone." **Danny blushed when Amilee turned to look at him with a warm smile. Lee whimpered and hugged her arms closer to her body. Amilee pulled away and stood, bending forward slightly to regard Danny. **"And don't you forget that you have family and friends who are supporting you too. Some things are just… inevitable. Don't lose yourself even when you've lost something. Just take care of each other and I'm sure you'll do just fine."**

She straightened up and stared at Plasmius who was still fruitlessly struggling against the binding symbols. **"… I think I understand why you asked for a Fenton Thermos as part of the price now."**

"But of course." Zeraphina raised her hand again and a Fenton Thermos appeared. She flicked her wrist at the Thermos, it popped open and aimed at Plasmius. The fanged hybrid increased his struggles as the Thermos activated and proceeded to suck him in, the symbols dissipating as he went in.

"I swear you all will pay for this!" He roared as he tried to move against the suction of the Thermos and failed. "You'll all pay!"

"They have already paid the price for your imprisonment." Zeraphina responded coolly as Plasmius disappeared into the Thermos. The cap floated back to the mouth of the Thermos and sealed it shut. The Thermos rattled as it hovered in the air and Zeraphina flicked her wrist; the Thermos dissolved and vanished. She turned to look at Amilee.

"It is time."

"Time…?" Nath looked up as Amilee smiled softly and nodded to Zeraphina. She turned her head to smile at everyone else before turning her body around and strode away deeper into the park. "Mom?"

She stopped and turned, her body dissolving and reforming into her fourteen year-old form with her hands clasped behind her back. Amilee smiled at them again before looking over to Danny and Lee, her lips moved but only Lee heard her words.

"**Tell him**** that I'm proud of him."**

With a final glance, she turned and raced down deeper into the park where a white mist began to form. Nath struggled up to his feet and followed everyone in staring at her retreating back. She hopped and then jumped forward, landing on someone in the distance. She was spun around and the figure she landed on became visible.

They all did double takes at Brad and at the other Brad who was laughing and spinning around with Amilee on his back. He set her down and grabbed her hand, pulling her deeper into the mist where another group of people stood. Their figures were only seen briefly before they all faded; both Bradley and Amilee's laughter echoing lightly in the air before they too faded away.

Nath fell to his knees and closed his eyes, listening to the softening echoes of his mother's laughter as tears spilled from his eyes again. Daniel watched him before striding over, kneeling down and hesitantly pulled the teen into a hug. Nath clung onto him, crying hysterically and buried his face into his chest.

Danny gently touched Lee's shoulder, jerking his head to gesture for them to leave. She continued to stare at Nath and Daniel but Danny shook her hard and snapped her out of her stupor.

"We have to go." He murmured into her ear quietly. Lee dumbly nodded her head and let Danny pulled her up to her feet. He stole a look at Brad, Tucker and Jazz, nodding his head slightly before wrapping his arm around Lee's waist and activated his invisibility, pulling her off the ground and flew towards the Angeles house.

Batman turned away once they went invisible and looked straight at the group of teens.

"And where exactly are the other two at?"

"Like I said; Danny should be stalking Lee at home and throwing away whatever it is that Garth sent her." Brad shrugged noncommittally but there was a lost look in his eyes. Batman and Shayera exchanged a look before looking back at the group of teens again.

"Will you all be alright going back home for now? It's quite late and I think they'll need some time alone." Shayera's eyes flickered over to Daniel who was still holding Nath.

"I think we will." Jazz responded quietly, tapping Brad and Tucker's shoulder and hesitated before patting Sam's shoulder. "Tell us when they're going back to their time?"

"I will." The winged woman promised and Jazz nodded, pushing the boys along and Sam trailed behind them quietly. Shayera frowned when Zeraphina seemed to beckon empty space but she disappeared in a swirl of black feathers immediately after that.

Olivia grasped Red Arrow's tunic tightly as she stared dolefully at the space where Amilee had stood, her father gently stroking her tuft of hair. Dick settled down on the ground and buried his face into his hands.

There was nothing more that could be done.

The future was all up to them.

* * *

"Thanks for putting up with us for these two days." Not a single word Red Arrow said went into Danny's head. Instead, his head was still buzzing with everything he learnt from the night before. Once he had gotten Lee back to her house after the whole fiasco, she locked herself in her room and didn't emerge until the next morning. Brad took the opportunity to confiscate the package Garth sent to her but he too had been shaken to see his 'dead self'.

To Danny's surprise, Sam followed them back to the Angeles house but never came in. She watched them as they went in before quietly turning away and down the street to her own home. He watched her when she left before trotting to catch up with her, asking why she decided to brave against Plasmius.

"_Because I still care."_ She muttered to him, turning her gaze away. _"I denied it all this time, did stupid things and didn't see what was wrong until now. It's not… compensation for what I did."_

"…_But it's a start."_

A second chance. Hadn't he given Dash one? Thought that his alternate future self needed the second chance?

Who was he to deny Sam the second chance to return to being their friend?

But now they, being Daniel, Nath, Olivia, Dick, Red Arrow and the older Casse, were returning back to their time. Danny idly wondered how things seemed so calculated, as if someone was pulling the strings of time on them to move them back to where they belonged straight after they had witnessed an event.

Alright, not quite straight after the event, but less than a day at least.

They had come up to the Watchtower to see them off and caught only a few glimpses of the older Casse since Dick and Red Arrow had gone pretty far to keep her away from them. Even Daniel wasn't anywhere near her. Danny couldn't help but wonder exactly how bad the future Casse had become that even Nath and Olivia avoided her at all costs but remembered what Zeraphina had said the night before.

"_Her sister; who used her death as an excuse to follow a dream that caused nothing but pain. Throwing away what lessons were taught to her to keep family close, disowning the daughter she bore, tossing away the man who had loved her and tarnished the memory of the sister who kept her at bay."_

He shuddered lightly, no longer wanting to think at how bad Casse had really become.

Nath and Olivia were saying their goodbyes to them with Olivia clinging onto Brad like a koala. Lee hung behind them as did Sam, but Sam didn't spend as much time as they did with the two. Their timeline Casse was nowhere to be found. Jazz and Tucker teased Brad mercilessly at gaining a new baby sister and Nath watched them in forced amusement. No one made any mention of Nath being Danny and Lee's son.

Now they were leaving; Nath was coaxing Olivia to let go of Brad (the toddler latched onto his chest so tightly that even when he dropped his hands to the side she still hung on) until he threw his hands up in exasperation before resting his hands on his hips with a vexed expression strewn on his face. Red Arrow chuckled from further down the platform and strode over to them, tickled his daughter to loosen her grip and grabbed her as soon as her arms came off.

Olivia whined and gave her father a wide puppy look that made Brad bury his face into his hand and turn away. Jazz and Tucker snickered while Sam's brow rose in amusement. Olivia waved forlornly at them as Red Arrow carried her down. Only Nath remained with them.

"So… yea. It was… good to meet you all." His smile was forced and his eyes shifted between them all. Danny noticed that Nath avoided looking at Lee. "Uhm… yea. See ya."

Nath trotted away from them. Brad gave Lee a wary glance as she stared at Nath's retreating back. Then she just patted his shoulder gently, giving him a forced smile before jogging forward. Danny paused before trailing behind her.

"Nath! Wait up." Nath stopped and turned as Lee and Danny caught up with him. Lee stopped in front of him, her fingers laced behind her back while Danny peered at him from behind her shoulder. She fingered her braided sideburns for a minute before looking up at him. "Take care of yourself ok?"

Nath tilted his head, blinking at her before his lips curved into a small smile and nodded his head. Just as Nath took a step backward, Lee strode forward and enveloped him in a hug. Danny cautiously stepped closer to hear her whisper into Nath's ear.

"She's proud of you Nath." Nath stiffened, his arms hovering between wanting to return the hug and pushing her away. Slowly, he lowered his head and whispered back into her ear.

"I don't-"

"Your mother's proud of you." She repeated as she hugged him tighter. Danny took the last step forward and rested his hand on Nath's shoulder, giving him a gentle look. "I know so."

Nath stared at Danny and back at Lee. Finally, he raised his hands and returned her hug, burying his face into her shoulder as he cried softly.

"Thank you." Once he released her, Lee brought her hand up and wiped off his tears. Danny grinned softly before poking Nath's cheek.

"Just don't go looking for trouble."

"And help your dad settle back down to NORMAL civilian life." Lee shot Danny a pointed glare and he raised his hands up in a pacifying gesture. Nath blinked.

"Take care of your cousin."

"Make sure Dick doesn't work himself sick."

"Wait, you wouldn't happen to…" Danny glanced around warily before leaning in to whisper into Nath's ear. "Have gotten ghost powers?"

"Uh…" Nath fidgeted nervously before meekly nodding his head. "I do but… I uh… never practiced."

"…Danny, this is all your fault."

"What?!" Danny faced Lee with an incredulous look. "How can it be MY fault?"

"Who actually had those things at that point of time?" She rested her hands on her hips and glared back at him. "I sure didn't."

Nath watched as Danny and Lee matched up against each other; Danny in denial that it was his fault while Lee shot down every single one of his excuses. Nath's eyes trailed between the two of them before slapping a hand over his mouth to stifle the laughter that bubbled from his throat.

"It's totally your fault."

"Is not!"

"As much I'd love to see how this argument is going, but we have to go." Red Arrow tapped the box in his hand as a reminder. The other heroes present were looking at them weirdly and Nath looked back at Danny and Lee with a sad smile. He twiddled his fingers together for a moment, his gaze dropping to the ground before looking up at them shyly.

"One… one last hug?" Danny laughed at the glimmer of hope in Nath's voice, pushed Lee forward and cocooned the two in a hug. Lee 'oomped', driving her elbow into his stomach lightly and glared at him before hugging Nath. Danny shifted his gaze between the mildly disgruntled Lee and to the semi-amused Nath. His lips curved into a cheeky grin.

"'I love you?'"

"You did NOT just quote Barney." Nath giggled at Lee's hiss as she drove her elbow towards Danny's stomach again. But he dodged, letting them go from the hug and quickly scampered behind Nath to hide from her.

"And make sure you never become as violent as she does when you're annoyed." He whispered into Nath's ear. Nath chortled and giggled harder.

"Nathaniel! Hurry up!" Danny patted his shoulder and gave him a gentle shove towards the platform where the rest were waiting for him. Nath sent them one last smile before dashing towards the platform as Red Arrow spoke into the box in his hand and a white portal appeared just behind him.

Danny stuffed his hands into his pockets as he watched them leave into the portal. The older Casse went in first, followed by Dick, Red Arrow and Olivia. Nath grabbed Daniel's hand, turned his head back to grin at them before pulling his father into the portal with him. Once they were gone, the portal shrank and winked out of existence. Silence settled in the Central Command before it returned to its usual activities.

"You were right." Danny looked up as Lee blinked at him. "About the coincidences."

"Doesn't mean I like to be." Danny looked back up at where the portal had been, his mind whirling with the many 'what ifs' and of what the future held for his future self.

"You going to be ok?" Their relationship hadn't really changed; even with the knowledge of what happened in that alternate future, they weren't any closer nor were they any further apart. But there just seemed… to be a better understanding between them.

And they hell didn't show Nath that they were actually uncomfortable at the thought of him being their son.

"I'll take some time." She murmured, tucking a braid behind her shoulder. "But I guess I'll live."

* * *

**Authoress's Ending Notes:**

1) Next chapter will begin with Original!Danny. No doubt since if I had put him in for the ending, it would extend even further. =/  
2) There isn't much notes for this chapter; Please give me a message/review if you have any questions.  
3) Thank you, thank you, thank you to **JLBShecky**, **Garnet Sky**, **Enchanting Elf**, **Kradeiz**, **cyanbilbo** and **ambiance23** for reviewing that horrid last chapter. Thank you **Kradeiz** very much for the critical review.  
4) **cyanbilbo**: I'm not sure if my review reply got to you. If it didn't, please drop me a PM and I'll send it to you; it's a little... long ^^; But I thank you very much for taking the time to read the fic and drop the review. I hope this chapter was to your liking.  
5) **ambiance23**: I'm starting to hate time travel; I don't think I've managed to grasp it very well for this event :( Plenty of awkward feelings but I think I haven't showed much of reactions in this chapter; they'll all mostly be referenced back in the next/future chapters. Thank you for taking the time to read and drop the review *bows*  
6) If anyone is interested, my dA has some new pics of Phantom & Angel. Possible future!selves, shadowed?future and even sad Shadow pic. ._. But I'll leave it there; if you want to, you can check my dA.  
7) I cannot thank you all enough for reading this fanfic; especially since I'm such a long winded biatch. Thank you for your patience for this update, thank you for reading and drop a review if you have the time.  
8) *Please forgive this very tired authoress if none of her notes make any sense. T_T

**Cheers  
Kenzy-Chan**


	21. Interlude: Purpose

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress's Beginning Notes: Just a reminder; original verse Danny is 15 going on to 16. I want to thank **Ambiance23** for giving me a good wake up call. I've been having too much fun with the timeline that the original plot had vanished beneath the angst. Thus, the intended chapter had been scrapped and replaced with an interlude. In this following paragraph, I've summarized Alternate Timeline (It's also up in my dA Journal but I don't think everyone likes to see my crap stuff):

"Alternate Timeline is an introductory to characters, developing and shaping them with each event and it's also a, what you might like to call, _different look_ into Danny Phantom, a darker (and maybe more realistic?) outlook of growing up and learning about responsibilities. Alternate Timeline introduces 3 other primary characters who will impact the stories and the premise of _Hitsuzen_, which can be taken in as _Inevitable_ (Taken from xxxHolic).

Original!Danny has a purpose in helping the P&A Timeline mould into shape and at the same time, making him think deeper about reality and about human nature. The P&A Timeline also serves as a kind of warning to him of an impending danger that will happen in his Timeline -

**because the 'Meeting' of people is inevitable; it's only a matter of _when_ they will meet is another factor that impacts people's lives."**

**Ambiance23**; I hope this has cleared up some of the fog that's clouded the plot. If it hasn't; well... I guess I should crawl into a hole and emo in there for being an epic failure.

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Interlude****: **

**Purpose**

**

* * *

  
**

"Wow… this place's really nice." Danny's head turns about as he took in the interior of Zeraphina's home once the black feathers disappeared from his vision. A soft chuckle escapes Zeraphina's lips as he goes around the room, with his invisibility still on, inspecting the various items stacked on the shelves in fascination. "Any chance I could visit you in my timeline?"

"You cannot, for in your world the realm of magic does not exist. Because of this, I cannot interfere nor can I appear in your timeline." Danny's lips curves into a pout as Zeraphina calmly strides to the shelves but doesn't take anything out. "So little Phantom, what do you think of this timeline?"

"It's a pain in the ass." Another chuckle escapes Zeraphina's lips. "But it's pretty interesting too. I mean, on one hand it's frustrating to see what they have to go through but on the other hand it's just… interesting to see how they deal with it. I feel…humbled watching them because whatever I've been through is almost nothing compare to what they're going through."

"I see; and you are enjoying yourself?"

"In a weird twisted way, yes." Danny blinks, as if coming to realize something before turning off his invisibility. He rubs the back of his head sheepishly at Zeraphina who smiles knowingly at him. "Man, sometimes I think I even wish my timeline had the Justice League; it would be cool to look up to some of those heroes."

"There are reasons little Phantom, as to why the Justice League does not exist in your timeline." Danny's expression falls and he sighs, folding his legs into a crossed position as he floats above the floor.

"Yea but… if the Justice League doesn't exist, I don't think the triplets exist in my timeline either." He rests his elbows on his thighs and drops his chin into his hands. "I mean Gotham City doesn't even exist in my timeline and if that place doesn't exist, a super rich man known as Bruce Wayne who's usually splattered on the headlines of newspapers in their timeline definitely doesn't exist in mine. And if he doesn't exist, they wouldn't either; they're tied really closely together."

"That is where you are wrong little Phantom." Danny looks up and meets Zeraphina's cool gaze. "Just because a certain area, a certain club that does not exist in your timeline, it does not mean the people associated to those things do not exist."

"But if that's the case." He frowns at the implication. "They'd be completely different people."

"Again, that is not true." He straightens his back and watches the Sorceress carefully as she flicks her wrist and summons a chair from the side. She sits down, leans forward and rests her chin on the back of her hands as she smiled at him knowingly. "Just because they were associated and changed by events that were caused by super villains of their timeline, people who seemingly do not exist in your timeline, it does not mean that those events cannot be done by ordinary criminals."

Danny wrinkled his nose. "The relapses the triplets suffer from? I'm pretty sure since the Joker doesn't exist in my timeline that the poison sure wouldn't."

"The Joker simply publicized the existence of the poison; it does not mean that if it is not known to the public, it does not exist."

He frowned. "Brad's fear of cats?"

"There are plenty of different scenarios where he could obtain that fear."

His lips puckered and he folded his arms over his chest. "The rich thing? I mean, how Tobias grew up and met his wife and does that mean he has no best friend?"

"My little Phantom, Clockwork will be disappointed that you have narrowed your thoughts instead of broadening your mind." Danny frowns again and continues to stare at the amused Sorceress. "Wealth plays only a small role; it does not mean that a past such as his is unheard of in a family with little wealth. In fact, his past could be even more haunting and dark; yet again it could be a much better past than what you have seen for this timeline. In meeting the woman who would become his wife, and a man to be his best friend, there are many possibilities for this to happen."

"…Casse being the spoilt rotten brat she is on wanting to be a hero?"

Zeraphina laughed again. "Can you honestly not believe that it is possible for any child to be spoilt and retain their naïve dreams to exist in your timeline?"

"You've got a point." Danny's face grew thoughtful as he shifted his gaze to empty space. "So… they do exist in my timeline? Only with… altered histories?"

"But of course." He bristles lightly at her knowing smile. "Existence of people is what is unique in the timelines. There are so many variations of them, different histories to mould them into the people they become. Yet there is still a part of them that makes them unique, easy to connect with alternate versions of themselves."

Danny's head jerks up out of his hand and his gaze snaps back to Zeraphina. "You mean… Shadow's just an alternate version of…"

"Yes little Phantom, he is." He shudders lightly and Zeraphina chuckles again. "Despite what your darker half says, he still has a light within himself; it is only a matter of whether he reaches out for it."

"Everything happens for a reason; why you watch and meddle in this particular timeline, you receiving powers." Danny's expression turns contemplative and Zeraphina gazes at him coolly before standing. "It is all _hitsuzen_."

"I still don't get what that means." He groused lightly, his lips puckering into a pout. "What does it mean? That things are inevitable or something?"

"Not quite." Again she smiled at him and he puffed his cheeks with a look that said 'that wasn't very helpful'. "After all, if every single event were considered inevitable then there will be a collapse in the balance of the timelines; there would only be one singular timeline where no one will be able to escape their sealed fates."

"All possibilities must be considered; chances of survival in a dangerous situation, an accident, and split second decisions that mean life and death." She leans back against the chair and closes her eye. "You are a perfect example of this; if your accident had happened even a split second earlier or later than it did, you would not be here."

"Meaning… the portal accident could've just killed me? I mean…" Danny stumbled over his words, blinking owlishly at the ground before looking up at Zeraphina again. "In the sense that… I wouldn't be what I am today? That I wouldn't actually be here?"

"Of course." She regarded him mildly as he stared at her. "Did you not realize that your accident happened at a specific split second moment that kept you alive?"

"N…no." He looks at his hands as they shake lightly. "No. I didn't. I mean… I went through that portal again when I wanted to get rid of these powers! How can that be possible?"

"That is when the mechanics of your timeline plays their part." Danny continues to stare at his hands. "The timing was precise; ghosts of your timeline surface differently from the ghosts of their timeline. History, the mechanics of the creation of species, life; these all make the difference in the core base of the timeline that moulds it into shape."

"There is a reason why you survived both the accident and the impulsive want to rid yourself of these powers. There always is a reason to everything that happens." Zeraphina's lips curved into another smile as a light hum sounded from the back of her throat. "Now, I believe Clockwork is expecting you in his office."

Danny blinks again and looks up as Zeraphina raises a hand, a green portal forming at the snap of her fingers. "You've done well today little Phantom. Have a good rest."

With his eyes misted over and his mind seemingly wandered off, Danny robotically unfolds his legs and drifts blindly into the portal. The portal ripples as he goes through and slowly fads away once he was gone. Zeraphina brings her hand up, a finger lightly touching her black lips. She turned to the side, snapping the fingers of her hand and summoned yet another orb.

She smiles softly, a sad note in her eyes, as a series of scenes flash past in the orb.

_Flash._ A blonde 17-year-old girl stands in front of the Fenton portal in a white and black hazmat suit.

_Flash._ Bolts of green fly across the laboratory as two shadows hurry down the staircase.

_Flash._ A body covered with a white sheet is wheeled out of Fenton Works by paramedics.

_Flash._ Two shadows run up the wet stairs and into a room. Broad shoulders bang against another door until it bursts open; a hand hangs lifelessly over the edge of the bathtub with blood dripping down its fingers.

"You will understand soon enough why you are seeing this timeline."

* * *

"Ah, welcome back Danny." Danny jumped when Clockwork suddenly appeared behind him. Clockwork raised a brow yet his lips were curved into a knowing smirk. "You've done well, though I suppose one of your… talks backfired on you."

"Huh? Wha- oh." Danny rubbed the back of his head with a downcast look. "I didn't… actually expect her to blow up like that. I mean, I knew how to push Sam's buttons to get her thinking but Casse…"

"Because in your timeline, you do not know such a person." Hesitantly, Danny nodded his head while Clockwork shook his in amusement. "You must remember Danny; not everyone appreciates an invisible voice reprimanding them and acting like they speak for god to them. While you made that Samantha think, because you knew how she thinks, you merely incited the other's anger."

"Did I really…sound like that?" He looked up at Clockwork in confusion. "I mean, did I really sound like I was a… or uh, speaking for god?"

"You certainly did to the young Cassandra." Danny groaned and rubbed his temples with agitation strewn on his face. Clockwork chuckled. "Not everything will go as planned Danny. You of all people should know that."

"…You're having fun rubbing it in aren't you?" Clockwork grinned and turned around.

"I haven't the faintest clue of what you're talking about." Danny grumbled lightly under his breath, 'Lancer', 'idiot' and "Nasty Burger' being the only words intelligible enough to be recognized. "The timeline isn't going to wait for you to settle down to continue watching it."

Danny sent Clockwork another annoyed glare before floating over to the corner to retrieve his bag and floated back to the couch. He settled into the couch with his bag beside him; Clockwork seemingly vanishing into the other dark ends of the office but Danny could still feel his presence around. The screen flickered with a scene as he settled down comfortably on the couch.

He watched silently as a ghost vulture (Vlad's got too many vulture minions, he thought idly) laid a blank package on Casse's bed and quickly disappeared when she entered the room. She picked at the package before peeling off the paper, revealing the blank box. Once she popped it open, she ogled at the ecto-gun inside. Danny stared as she toyed with it, peering at the gun with such glee that he shivered.

He hoped Casse wasn't about to turn into the second Red Huntress of their timeline and kill people.

The screen faded to black when Casse hid the gun beneath her shirt and raced out of her room. Then, the screen began flickering madly before bursting into flashes of scenes that reminded Danny of the time he was showed Shadow's timeline.

-

_Flash_. The Angeles house; the triplets stare at Bruce as the box that was planted on his face fell to the floor, revealing a dark scowl on his lips. Casse had her leg ready to kick Brad while he was halted midway of grabbing her into a headlock.

_Flas__h. _A shop in the mall; Casse steps out of the dressing room wearing a dress that had a clash of dull red, bright pink, yellow and black with a rainbow belt. She twirls, looking pleased but scowls when Brad opens his mouth. Suddenly, Lee approaches her and shoves a red bubble dress into her hands, glaring at Casse with a strange gleam in her eyes that caused the youngest Angeles to scuttle back into the dressing room in a hurry.

_Flash_. Lee's room; Lee and Sam are talking as Lee messes with Sam's hair; both girls wearing dark dresses. Sam is visibly uncomfortable as she speaks until Lee releases a sigh, reaches forward and hesitantly grasps Sam's hand. She says something and Sam nods her head before squeezing Lee's hand in appreciation.

_Flash._ A glamorous ballroom; a blur of bright orange stops in front of the group, shaking Bruce's hand vigorously before turning over to the teens. The woman speaks with Sam before gasping at his alternate self, pinching his cheeks as she grins and squeals in glee.

_Flash._ Night sky, outside a hotel; Phantom clutches his wounded side as he snaps at Valerie in her Red Huntress uniform, his free hand clenching tightly as it glowed with charged energy. He shoots five consecutive blasts at her and plunges his fist into the bottom of her jet sled. As the sled loses altitude, Phantom continuously adds his weight to increase the rate of falling and avoids all Valerie's wayward shots.

_Flash._ Back to the ballroom; Danny strides forward to Lee who is talking to Garth and a pregnant woman with forced politeness. Danny offers his hand to her and leads her to the middle of the room before beginning the waltz with her. Sam and Tucker join them a moment later before Jazz and Brad take to the floor.

The boys swap partners at various intervals until Lee quietly escapes from the ballroom without anyone noticing.

_Flash. _Rainy night, just outside of the hotel; Brad drapes his coat over Lee's shoulders, the eldest Angeles soaked to the bone. Her make-up washes away in the rain and she allows Brad to steer her away.

_Flash._ Rainy night, out on the streets; Danny jogs down the pavement with an umbrella in one hand and a purse in the other. He opens his mouth to call out but stops, his eyes widen and his footsteps falter. Just a few meters in front of him, Brad stands with Lee; both of them soaking wet. Her eyes were glazed over and Brad gently cups her cheeks, tilting her head up as he bent down.

And kissed her.

_Flash._ The Angeles house again.

"**At least I'm not some kid who's stupid enough to believe that he's in love with his big sister for five years!"**

Brad slams a fist at Dick's face a moment later, causing the older teen to stumble backwards before he pushes his way through the girls at the door and runs off. Danny and Tucker give chase while the girls stare dumbly at their retreating backs until Lee begins hacking and coughing violently.

_Flash._ Deserted lot in the run down area of Amity Park; Brad comes to a stop and breathes heavily. He looks up to see Casse's back facing him and frowns. He opens his mouth and calls out; Casse flinches, whipping around with an ecto-gun in her hands. Her fingers squeeze the trigger and a bright green flash shoots out of the barrel of the gun.

Lee stumbles into the deserted lot and freeze as blood splatters all over the ground and Brad falls backwards almost lifelessly.

She screams, stumbling forward hastily as Brad lands on the ground. Lee presses her hands over the wound and looks up to see Casse run away with the gun still in her hands. Lee continues to try to stop the bleeding until her hands began to glow a faint yellow. She stares at her hands as the internal injuries in Brad's chest began to mend.

Suddenly, she begins coughing and spits out blood. A sharp chirp of a bird jolts her attention upwards and sees a black dove perched on the top of a street lamp; her hands stops glowing.

And then she fell.

-

Danny stared at the screen as it went black, his mind whirring with questions. As invoking as the flashes were, his thoughts were dominated by questions that did not relate to the flashes.

'_Why?'_ He wondered as he stared at the screen._ 'Why is it showing me snippets now?'_ "Clockwork?"

"Yes Danny?"

"Why are you… showing me snippets of the timeline now? I mean…" He hesitated, trying to calm down the hurricane of thoughts running rampant in his mind. "You've showed me events that went through so much detail about their growth – I mean – gah… Emphasized so much on them growing up and the change in their relationships, so why…?"

"Danny, Danny, Danny." Danny jumped when Clockwork suddenly appeared beside the couch, his eyes drifting up to see the other ghost's gaze locked onto the blank screen. "There are reasons as to why there are events that are shown to you with such vivid detail and why some are not shown with as much detail. What you have seen so far is simply… a lesson. Tell me Danny;" Clockwork's gaze shifted down to look at him. "What have you learnt?"

Danny's eyes locked with Clockwork's and his thoughts halted; learnt? What had he learnt from the timeline?

"There are infinite possibilities to a single decision…?" Clockwork closed his eyes and shook his head.

"That, is what I told you to keep in mind when watching this timeline." He rested his palm on Danny's forehead; Danny closed his eyes. "Think for a moment Danny; think of what you have told Danielle when she visited, what you have done for this timeline." Clockwork removed his palm from Danny's forehead and the hybrid's eyes fluttered open. "Think about the events of the timeline that were shown to you in so much detail and what had been your thoughts when you watched it."

"There is only so much that you can take in; that is why their beginning was shown to you with such explicit detail and now jumps forward. Take a moment Danny; I will ask you again later." _'How much later?'_ Danny wondered as he watched Clockwork blend back into the shadows. _'Am I supposed to reflect and apply knowledge? Is this some kind of test of my mental capabilities? I'm a damn C grade student; I need help!'_

He continued to stare in the direction Clockwork had gone into before the screen's sudden flickering caught his attention. He turned his head to face the screen and paused. Finally, his mind absorbed the earlier flashes and he flinched when he realized that the timeline had taken yet another horrible turn; Casse really did shoot someone, and that someone happened to be her own brother.

But what did the odd glow in Lee's hand mean?

'_God; why does this timeline suffer so much shit?!'_ He groused as he ran a hand through his hair. _'It's… suffocating! How can one timeline make one group of teenagers go through that much shit? Even I haven't been through half of all that shit!'_

'_Wait… well DUH!'_ Danny sighed and rubbed his temples as he filed through his thoughts. _'I don't have the Justice League or super villains running around like they do and I sure as hell don't know any sets of triplets or anyone with the Angeles surname.'_

He buried his face into his hands, rubbing his cheeks roughly before looking up to the flickering screen. _'Ok, so Clockwork is right; the infinite possibilities thing was something he told me a long time ago. So… when Dani came over-'_

His thoughts were cut short when the screen caught his attention by bursting into an array of colors. He cursed inwardly at the disruption of his thoughts but grudgingly shoved them aside to watch the next series of flashes.

-

_Flash._ Overcast skies, busy Sunday streets; the group meets up at the entrance of the mall. The girls exchange worried looks while Danny continues to look around. He catches sight of a black dove chirping at him from a dumpster. The dove then flies past him and he goes running after it; the rest of the group giving chase when he does not respond to their calls.

Danny stops in his tracks and whips his head about to find the dove but his eyes catches sight of the bloodied deserted lot instead. His eyes widen and he screams.

_Flash._ Amity Memorial; Dick paces around the front of the Emergency room while the rest huddle at the chairs, Casse is nowhere to be seen. Jazz gently wipes the blood from Danny's arms as Sam squeezes his shoulders; Danny simply stares blankly at his hands as the parents come running down the corridor.

_Flash._ Rainy afternoon, the streets; people ducking and running for shelter while a lone figure wanders aimlessly. Danny pauses and looks up, the black dove is chirping at him again from the top of one of the streetlamps. It hops off from the lamp and flits around him, pecking his sleeve before taking off again. He runs after it sluggishly before stopping and sighs. He ducks into an alleyway and changes into his ghost form; the dove strangely waits for him but flies off again when he emerges from the alleyway. But after a few moments, he loses sight of it again.

"**Damn bloody bird." **He curses as he floats down to ground level and levitates forward, his head whipping about and his teeth gritting noisily. **"You'd better not be leading me to another goddamn bloody mess because I swear; when I find the asshole who shot them I'll kill them…"**

He halts when a familiar figure streaks past him. Danny's hand lashes out and catches a hold of Casse's upper forearm; there is no one else out on the streets anymore. He opens his mouth, his expression angry but stops and stares at her frightened look in shock as she tries to struggle out of his grip. When she did break loose, she flees. He stares at her back for a moment before surging forward, catching up with her and grabs her elbow. Danny plants his feet back on the ground.

"**Where the hell ****have you been?" **He demands, pulling her elbow roughly to turn her to face him. **"We've been trying to get a hold of you for hours! Brad's been shot and –"**

"**I don't know anything!"** She squeals as she struggles against his grip. Danny tightens his hold on her elbow. **"Let me go!"**

"**Why the hell are you running for damnit?!"** He snaps, jerking her elbow while tightening his grip. He glares at her as she hides her other arm while trying to loosen his grip. **"You can't be telling me that you don't care that your siblings are in the hospital! How can you let your stupid childish –"**

His words are cut short when he caught sight of the gun that was grasped tightly in Casse's other hand. Casse continues struggling and yelps when Danny's hand tightens its hold on her elbow painfully. He jerks her again and she looks up; wide and fearful met incredulous.

"**You did it." **She whimpers when Danny's nails dug into her elbow. Realization dawning in his eyes as Casse tries pulling away. **"That's why you – and that –… You were the one who shot them!"**

"**NO!"** Casse denies as she tried to hide the gun again. **"I don't know anything! Let me go!"**

She struggles some more; a shadow casts over Danny's eyes but his grip didn't falter, even when she starts banging the butt of the gun on his hand in desperation.

"**So you're willing –"** His voice drops into a deadly whisper and Casse stops hitting his hand. **"To kill your siblings to get what you want; as long as princess gets what she wants, she'll kill to get it."**

"**No!" **She denies again, her tears mixing with the rain as she struggles harder against his grip. A vicious snarl escaped Danny's lips as he glares icily at her. **"I care about them! I wouldn't kill –"**

"**YOU JUST KILLED YOUR OWN BROTHER!"** He roars, finally letting go of her elbow and backhands her cheek. She shrieks and lands heavily on her side, the gun clatters on the ground loudly. The fury in Danny's eyes was even greater than the fury he had when he faced Sam. **"If you cared about him or your sister, you'd be at the hospital right now waiting for any news on them from the ER!"**

"**I've had it with you! You don't use any common sense and you don't listen!****" **His eyes flashes dangerously while his hand clench tightly before pointing a finger at the weapon and then at her.** "For fuck's sake; you're carrying a fucking lethal weapon and unless you're telling me that you're a serial killer, you should have common sense to not use it!" **

"**Don't give me any 'curiosity' shit either; you're a fourteen year old!" **The glow around Danny darkens as he glares almost hatefully at Casse as she shifts away from him.** "You should have MORE common sense than a ten year old!"**

"**You."** He snarls coldly as black rings of light appear from his waist and washes over his body. **"Just crossed the line."**

Casse watches fearfully as Danny Phantom disappears and Shadow stood in his place. His catlike blue eyes glares at her viciously as his translucent green nails extend out menacingly.

"**Now you pay."**

_Flash._ Rainy afternoon, the streets; Shadow taunts Valerie in her Red Huntress garb before viciously digging his heel into her gut. He slices her jet sled into pieces and pierces through her gun by extending his nails into the barrel, causing the gun to explode when she tries pulling the trigger. She is blown into the wall a building, heavily wounded.

He flips upwards, laughing almost maniacally as Maddie and Jack shoot at him. Valerie scrambles away as Jazz, Sam and Tucker race towards the scene; Casse lies unconscious to one side with blood tricking from her temple alongside the remains of a ghost vulture and a half broken camera.

"**You can't even catch a benevolent ghost!"** He taunts as he swipes his claws at the ecto-blasts and slices through them. His tongue flits out and licks his lips almost hungrily as he grins savagely at Maddie and Jack. **"How do you expect to take down a malevolent one?!"**

_Flash._ Rainy afternoon, the streets; Jack, Maddie, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, Dick, Barbara and Casse are scattered around the road, covered with injuries. All the Fenton weapons spark and sizzle, broken and unusable. Shadow strides over to the unconscious Casse and raises his hand, his nails glinting menacingly and poised for the final strike.

Jazz scrambles to her feet, ignoring the pain from her dislocated ankle; she lunges forward and grabs his hand before he brings it down. Shadow snarls and backhands her away. Jazz falls back and grimaces as Shadow turns his attention to her, his nails stretching out again.

"**Don't do it." **She whispers, swallowing loudly as the tip of his nails scratch over her cheek. He pulls his hand back but freezes when she brings her head up and looks straight into his eyes. **"Don't do it Danny."**

_Flash_. Fenton Works; the house is empty. Completely drenched and covered in green and red blood, human Danny stumbles and drags himself up into his room. Thunder roars loudly outside as he falls face first onto his bed and lays there unmoving. Quiet tears flow freely down his cheeks even as he falls unconscious.

_Flash._ Fenton Works, the living room; the Fenton family is scattered around the room. Jazz secures Danny onto her lap and hugs him from behind, whispering softly into his ear as Maddie speaks.

Alive. Brad was alive but just hanging on. _A miracle_, she says quietly as Jack rubs her arms, _even though he's not out of danger yet, surviving a point blank shot to the chest in itself is a miracle_.

Lee's condition is unexplainable; how she lost so much blood without any visible kind of injury confused the doctors to no end. Her immune system was already weakened because of the cold she had gotten. She underwent blood transfusion but had yet to wake up.

Jack had retrieved all the broken devices from their battle against Shadow, including the gun Casse used and some of Red Huntress's weapons. But neither he nor Maddie had started work on them.

All the while when Maddie spoke, Danny's eyes remained blank.

_Flash._ Amity Memorial; Danny treats Casse with open hostility. He growls and glares at her viciously before walking past her and went to the ICU. Tucker, Sam and Jazz exchange wary looks as Casse just shuffles away quietly.

Danny comes up to the room, his fingers twitching awkwardly; there is a tube apparatus down Brad's throat that helped him to breathe. The constant noise of ragged breath and the beeping of the heart monitor were the only comfort to Danny in knowing that Brad was alive.

_Flash._ Amity Memorial, Lee's room; groggy and incoherent, no one could get any information out of from Lee on who had shot Brad. Casse is nowhere to be found in the room. As the adults discuss the matter quietly in a corner, Danny slips over to her bedside and squeezes her hand as he leans forward to whisper into her ear.

"**Casse did it, didn't she?"**

She freezes; the foggy blank look in her eyes vanishes and she begins shaking uncontrollably. But still she does not speak. Sam, Tucker and Jazz watch them closely from the corner as Danny murmurs into her ear and rubs her arms soothingly as she shakes.

_Flash._ Fenton Works, the dining room; Jazz, Tucker and Sam confront Danny about his behavior. After a long moment of silence and when the three of them settle themselves at the table, Danny finally begins talking.

He leaves after he finishes talking, leaving the other three in stunned silence.

_Flash._ Clear late afternoon, outside Amity Memorial; Tucker and Sam run through their plan again before heading in. They lure Casse out of the hospital and try to dig the truth out of her. Casse continually denies them until Tucker loses his temper and jabs a finger at her, hissing angrily into her ear to avoid anyone overhearing them.

"**Damn it, if you don't cooperate with us we can't help you if Mr. and Mrs. Fenton find your fingerprints on that damn gun. They collected every single piece of broken weaponry from that night and they're trying to find fingerprints on them!" **Casse's eyes grow wide and fearful as Sam stares at Tucker in mild awe.** "Red Huntress wears gloves so her fingerprints won't be found, but they will find yours on it because rain isn't enough to wash off fingerprints!"**

"**Just admit what you did." **He snarls pulling her closer to glare heatedly into her eyes. Sam wisely chooses not to intervene and watches them carefully while looking out for anyone listening in on them. **"It's not going to make us feel any better and we're not going to forgive you now or anywhere in the future even if you admit it. But we also don't want a huge fiasco to break loose if you're accused and convicted with the intent of killing your siblings."**

"**What are you going to choose Casse?" **Casse flinches as Tucker lays down her choices coldly. Sam shivers slightly at the intensity of anger Tucker displays. **"Admit your crime and cooperate with us or continue denying it, find yourself convicted of murder, sentenced to jail and ruin your dad's and Mr. Wayne's reputations at the same time?" **

"**Take your pick."**

_Flash._ Fenton Works, Danny's room; Jazz tries to persuade Danny to help them retrieve the gun Casse used from their parents' laboratory. He scowls darkly at her and flat out refuses, but Jazz is undeterred. She continues to wheedle and reason with him. Despite her efforts, Danny refuses again and she relents, leaving his room.

Outside of Danny's room, Jazz shakes her head at Tucker and Sam before looking up to see a subdued Casse. Jazz runs a hand through her hair before turning to Tucker, telling him they needed to use 'Plan B'.

_Flash._ Fenton Works, the laboratory; Jazz diverts her parents' attention from the work bench while Sam and Tucker quickly pick out the gun Casse used. Sam gingerly plucks the gun out of the mess of scrapped metal as quietly as she can with a rubber glove and quickly drops it into the plastic bag Tucker holds out to her; Tucker quickly hides the plastic bag just as Maddie begins telling Jazz of their findings.

All the weapons had the initials of V.P stamped on them and that the creator of the weapons had manipulated the saturation of power in the ectoplasm that made its blasts equally dangerous to humans as it was to ghosts.

Tucker, Sam and Jazz exchanged a look before taking off from the lab.

-

"Argh!" Danny threw a cushion at the screen as it went blank. "This makes no bloody sense! What am I supposed to think about with all of this?!"

He glared at the screen balefully as it remained blank, as if taunting him. While it was expected that the rest of the gang would find out who had shot Brad given that Casse had (stupidly, in Danny's opinion) run off with the gun and didn't go to the hospital, he didn't expect it to happen so quickly after the event.

Nor did he expect anger to fully consume his alternate self into transforming into Shadow.

'_I hate you Clockwork…'_ Danny sighed in agitation as he leaned back against the couch and stared up at the ceiling (or at least, what he thought was the ceiling). _'What kind of purpose do I have by being here watching them? I mean, sure; I've meddled in their timeline that seems to impact on them a lot but why am I still watching them?'_

'_Why am I specifically watching this timeline? How come I'm not watching any other timelines?' _His thoughts continued to roll through his head in a single line, a new one popping up after he ran through one thought. He ran a hand through his hair. _'Dani's watched a whole bunch of them; well that cross gender one is a pretty interesting thought, but why aren't I watching other timelines?'_

'…_Or maybe__ it's because I can't?'_ Danny got off the couch and stepped over to the front. Tentatively he poked one of the smaller screens, almost hoping for it to grow in size and bump the current blank screen away. Instead, the small screen just rippled with each poke and Danny idly wondered if his finger had actually gone into that timeline.

He tried again with some of the other screens but none of them budged. _'Oook… this is getting annoying…'_ He sighed and ran a hand through his hair again while staring at the screen he had last poked. _'I don't think I'd want to dive into another timeline to watch that timeline especially when I won't know when Clockwork's going to be able to drag me out of it or what to expect from it.'_

Danny levitated back to the couch and flopped onto it, folding his legs into a lotus position at the same time he crossed his arms over his chest.

'_Ok… let's see; so the triplets are a huge impact to my alternate self in that timeline. __What's that suppose to mean to me anyway?' _Danny pondered and rested his chin onto his hand, his thumb rubbing his chin thoughtfully. _'Zeraphina said that they exist in my timeline but I've already gone through the huge 'turning into a hero' and growing up phase, so I doubt they're going to put that much of an impact on my life…'_

The screen remains blissfully blank as Danny continued to ponder. _'When Dani came over, it was showing Tobias's past and we were talking about… Oh. OH.'_ Realization dawned in his eyes as he quickly went through what he had talked to Dani with when she visited. _'I started to think about the darker half of being human, the hierarchy of social status…and of course the reinforcement of things happening for a reason.'_

'_Money makes the world go round, ideal worlds that don't exist…'_ He mused lightly as he leaned back and rested his elbows at the back of the couch. _'And everyone is sinned; makes me wonder which of the great sins I'm associated closely with… pride? I could be sloth considering how bad er… 'fun Danny' was when Tucker and Sam told me about it…'_

'_Hmm… now that I come to think of it…'_ Danny paused and leaned forward again, his finger stroking his chin thoughtfully. _'Maybe it's wrath; that other me let anger take over him when he realized Casse was the one who shot Brad. A little different when he exploded at Sam but he stayed angry at her for a pretty long time; well… longer than I think I would stay angry for anyway but…'_

'_I don't know what my reaction would be anyway. It's just like what that other Tucker said; thinking about how you react to a situation and going through it are two different things.__' _A hum emitted from his throat as his train of thought continued. _'You can't say you'd react in a certain way to a scenario, especially with people who like trying to act heroic and everything…- hey. This brings up what Lee and the Martian were talking about when they told her about her powers.'_

"Whoever goes around proclaiming that they'll die for the planet and their loved ones are unbelievable people. Hmm." Danny spoke out loud and weighed the words; he thought it felt more fitting to say it out loud than to think it. _'That sounds just about it. She's right though; not everyone, or maybe even no one actually, is condition to take a bullet to the head in the name of love. Man, it sounds like some cheesy play or something… Romeo and Juliet; 'I'll drink poison to join the woman I love' and 'I'll stab my heart to die and join the man I love' thing.'_

'…_Ew.'_ He scrunched up his nose and stuck his tongue out in distaste. _'Now that sounded really cliché.'_

The main screen began flickering, catching Danny's attention again. _'Well at least I'm not half-way in thought this time.'_ He mused as he brought his knees up to his chest and leaned back against the couch to watch the next series of flashes.

-

_Flash._ Fenton Works, Jazz's room; Casse curls in the corner while Tucker, Sam and Jazz discuss the new information, though it was more so Tucker and Jazz discussing while Sam occasionally chips in. Casse jerks out of her pit of self pity when Tuckers calls out to her and asks her where she had gotten the gun. At her response, the three go back discussing the information, leaving Casse to herself again.

Danny stands in Jazz's room, invisible, watching them for a moment before phasing out of her room through the door.

_Flash._ Amity Memorial, Brad's room; Danny quietly slips into the room and a look of surprise crosses his face when he sees Lee by Brad's bedside on a wheelchair. He leans against the wall but doesn't speak, the only noises in the room are the beeping of the machine, Brad's ragged breaths and the occasional cough from Lee.

_Flash._ Fenton Works, stairway; Maddie stands at the bottom of the stairs and listens in as Jazz, Tucker and Sam try persuading Danny to let Casse into his room. He refuses and a loud bang echoes from the upper floor. Maddie idly wonders about Danny's hostility as she trudges back to the laboratory and misses hearing Casse burst into tears.

_Flash._ Vlad's castle, the laboratory; Vlad dismisses Skulker with a hand, studying the information on his screen in rapt attention. The hunter mutters darkly at his dismissal before flying out of the laboratory.

Vlad replays his minion's last transmission, studying Danny's transformation from Phantom to Shadow. He takes notes of the transformation before halting the video at the frame where his vulture had gotten a good look at Danny's wild and devilish eyes.

"**Untrained."** He mutters distastefully at the animalistic gleam in Shadow's eyes. **"All that power, wasted! Fueled by his emotions and can't even channel his energy properly… he's not even making any effort to control himself!"**

Vlad scowls darkly as he continued the video; it only ran for another moment before the screen burst into static, the screech of the dying ghost vulture piercing through the speakers at that same moment. It fades away and only the sound of static echoes in his laboratory.

The sound continues to bounce off the walls before Vlad flicks it off. He folds his arms over his chest and leans back against his chair, his gaze cold and hard as he stars at the static screen. Then his gaze flickers over to one side; he stands and strides over, tapping the wall to reveal a hidden door.

Behind the door, a green key that is nestled snugly on velvet cushions glows brightly from inside a glass box in the middle of the room.

"**It looks like I'll have to use this sooner than I thought…"**

_Flash._ Casper High, the corridors; Valerie is mocked at because of the numerous bandages that were covering her body as she limps to her locker. She hisses in pain as Paulina roughly drives an elbow into her back and drops her books. Valerie glares balefully at Paulina's retreating back before turning back to her locker, closing it and prepares to squat down to retrieve her books.

Only to find Tucker offering the stack of books she had dropped to her.

_Flash._ Angeles house, the dining room; Danny sits opposite of Lee at the table. A small penknife lies between their hands on the table top, gleaming almost tauntingly at them. He reaches out for it and pulls his left arm forward towards her. He slices a neat horizontal line and places the blade back on the table, blood dribbling slowly out from the sliced flesh.

Her hands visibly shake as she reaches out to the wound, her hands hovering palm down over it before she squeezes her eyes shut and concentrates. A yellow glow forms around her hands and Danny stares as the cut on his arm closes up, leaving only the blood that had seeped out from it left.

He looks up and makes a move to reach out to tap Lee's hands but stops, catching sight of the splotches of blood on the table; splotches of blood where his arm hadn't been. He suddenly grabs her left arm roughly, startling her and flips it over.

And stares at the cut on her lower arm as the blood dribbles down to her elbow.

_Flash._ Amity Memorial, Brad's room; Tucker pushes Casse into the room, Sam and Jazz exchange looks with each other as he does so. He jabs a finger at Casse before pointing to Brad, motioning at the burn on the other's chest as he lays out the severity of the injury to her. Casse whimpers and tries to block him out by covering her ears but Jazz catches her hands and stops her.

Suddenly, a hack and gurgling noises sound. The group freezes as Brad's body tenses and begins to jerk awkwardly, the gurgling noises growing louder. Sam quickly bolts from the room to alert the nurses while Jazz races forward to see Brad's eyes open.

_Flash._ Clear night, the empty streets; Danny growls at Skulker, his eyes flashing dangerously and the glow surrounding his body darkens. He lunges forward, but instead of shooting energy blasts at Skulker, his nails extend out and pierces through the hunter's armor.

Skulker curses and flees, but not before he loses the bottom half of his armor to Danny's slicing nails. Danny does not follow but snarls at Skulker's retreating form until he flinches and looks down at his nails, He stares in horrified fascination as the green nails retract back and dissipate, leaving the tips of his fingers bleeding green.

_Flash._ Angeles house, the living room; Lee leaves the door open for Jazz, Tucker, Sam and Casse to come into the house. Before they can tell her about Brad's waking, she scurries back into the living room to tend to Danny's hands. She never meets Casse's eyes. The rest wander in and freeze when they catch sight of Danny's hands; Danny does not acknowledge them but winces as Lee presses the swabs on his fingers.

_Flash._ Fenton Works, Danny's room; Danny, Sam and Tucker do their homework in silence until Tucker idly brings up the topic of the triplets. Danny pointedly ignores the comments even though Sam tries to wheedle him into listening to them. A blue wisp of air escapes his lips and he takes the chance to excuse himself. He does not wait for them and quickly takes off.

Tucker rubs his temples in agitation while Sam releases a tired sigh.

-

'_Wow. Ok, so I'm bull-headed and stubborn in that timeline.'_ Danny blinked and stared at the flickering screen. _'Really, REALLY stubborn.'_

He leaned back against the back of the couch and expelled his breath. _'Guess I'm not as forgiving there… well, granted that whatever happens there is like ten times worse than what I've been through already.'_

"Man." He threw his hands up and stretched his limbs before allowing his arms to fold behind his head. "So a person's reaction would be different to each event depending on the severity of it…"

"I guess that's the only explanation for him being unwilling to forgive Casse; well, I agree that what she did is way worse than Sam's wish." Danny tilted his head backwards to look up at the 'ceiling'. _'And unlike that time, there isn't anything the other me can do anything to help Brad.'_

A shiver ran down his spine as the image of splattered blood entered his mind. _'But why's he avoiding- oh. Oh wait.'_ His thought cut short as realization hit him. _'Maybe it's because he thinks that they forgave Casse too easily and resents them for it…'_

'_But why is it mostly the girls making all the mistakes?'_ He released his hands from the back of his head and slouched forward again. _'More so Casse than Sam too. What is it trying to tell me?'_

Immersed in his thoughts, Danny didn't notice Clockwork float forward from the shadows towards him. Clockwork's lips formed a fond smile as he waited patiently for Danny to realize his presence. It took a while for Danny to notice the shadow looming over him; he jumped and almost fell off the couch in shock when he came face to face with Clockwork.

"Geez Clockwork! Make a little noise next time?!"

"But where's the fun in that Danny?" Danny huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, his cheeks puffing out in indignation as Clockwork chuckled. "Well now, do you need more time to think of your answer?"

"I…" Danny paused, his gaze flickering over to the blank screen and pondered for a moment. "Don't think so. I think I'm ready to answer."

"I've… learnt about the darker side of humanity; one that I've either never seen in my timeline or never gave any thought about." He spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. Despite telling Clockwork that he was ready to answer, he was still hesitant. "And there's something about… people; that even with events like these happening, some of them just don't change. It's like they're resisting change because it's not fitting to them, to what they want."

"And sometimes it takes… something life threatening to force them to change, to see the bigger picture than their skewed view of it." He stopped, his mind circling around that particular thought before tensing. "And maybe… maybe it means that not everyone can survive through the ordeals that they go through; that one day one of them will really die."

"Excellent Danny. You've figured it out." Danny felt his own words echo at the back of his head, almost missing Clockwork's praise.

"Clockwork…?" Clockwork made a noise of acknowledgement, his eyes gentle and his lips curved in a soft smile. "Wo…would this mean that, one of them will really die? I mean, in the timeline?"

"It may not necessarily be this timeline Danny." The Master of Time reminded him, placing a gentle hand on Danny's shoulder. "But at least, the thought is there. It may happen to them, it may happen to another timeline, or it may happen to you when you return to your timeline."

"S-someone's going to die in my timeline?!" Panic surged in his chest and he leapt up from the couch, almost seizing Clockwork's robes in frenzy but managed to refrain from doing it. "Who?!"

"You know I can't tell you anything of that sort Danny, nor can I confirm what you believe or think." He could hear a buzzing noise at the back of head, his body tense and drumming with the sudden surge of adrenaline and fear. "However, all that I can tell you now is that it will do you good to take heed of what you have thought."

"Everybody dies Danny." Clockwork raised a hand and patted Danny's head. "But what matters is when and how they die; the impact of their death to their precious people and how they continue to live on from there."

"I cannot tell you any more than that." Disappointment mixed in with the fear in Danny's eyes, the small bit of hope that he had gathered dimmed at Clockwork's statement. Just the thought of death was enough to make him scared; who? Who was going to die? With this newfound information, Danny didn't think he was going to be able to live without the fear of someone just dropping dead in front of him.

"Why not?" Tinges of desperation began to claw at his consciousness. "If… if I'm the hero I've made myself to be, why not? Why can't you tell me so that I can save them?"

"Not everyone can escape death like you have Danny." A reminder, a painful reminder of mortality. But still… "You cannot save everyone Danny. Just like your other self in that timeline."

A sudden jolt broke through the haze of fear and desperation, and Danny quickly reflected back to the other timeline. _'That's right. Back then, when he split himself; that girl… and the other guy in the car…'_

"You haven't felt the anguish, the pain in seeing someone perish in front of your eyes." Clockwork gently pushed Danny backwards, the hybrid landing on the couch with a soft thud. "Tell me Danny, would you have thought of this if you did not watch this timeline?"

"…No." It almost hurt to admit that he knew he would have stayed ignorant and continued to believe that he could save everyone. Since the Disasteroid incident, he had felt that he could save anyone and everyone because, hey! He saved the entire bloody world! There wasn't any reason to doubt his abilities and it didn't help that the public also liked to stroke his ego.

"I'm glad that you have come to realize the lesson being taught to you by watching this timeline." Danny raised a brow at Clockwork, his expression saying 'but I bet you already knew I'd figure it out' and caused the other ghost to chuckle good naturedly. "Keep whatever you've learnt in mind; it's not quite time for you to return to your timeline just yet."

"…How much longer?" Somehow, the thought of returning back to his timeline made him feel queasy.

"From this point? Four days." Danny opened his mouth, ready to question why time had suddenly jumped forward but Clockwork raised a hand to stop him. "Remember Danny, you exited my office to roam their timeline. While time flow differs in each timeline, you've passed more days when you were out of my office than when you were in it."

"Oh." His lips curved into an 'o' shape. Clockwork chuckled. "That makes sense."

"There is still plenty for you to watch Danny; whether or not you are needed to intervene in the timeline… is another story." Danny scrunched his face up at Clockwork's retreating back before adjusting himself on the couch, turning back to the flickering screen.

"And by the way." Danny's head whipped to the side to see Clockwork stop in his 'steps' and half turn to face him. "Danielle will unfortunately not be coming back for the remaining duration of your stay here; she has created a few… problems in your realm."

"…I'm suddenly very scared to ask what problems but I don't think you'd answer me anyway." Clockwork grinned and winked, affirming Danny's statement before disappearing back into the shadows. Alone again, Danny sighed and leaned sideways, splaying his body across the couch.

'_This stinks…! How can I go back__, knowing that someone's going to die and not be able to do anything about it?'_ He wondered how Clockwork could continue working when he knew who would die, when and how. _'…Then again he's right; everyone will die sooner or later…'_

'_But… I don't want anyone to die.'_ He rolled onto his stomach and pressed his forehead against the armrest. _'Ok well… that's a really stupid thought since everyone will grow old and die but… maybe at least not because of a ghost attack… maybe… not now.'_

Danny closed his eyes and breathed deeply. It stung; the reminder of mortality and the limitations of his abilities hit home and it just hurt so much. Clockwork, he decided, needed a whole new level of respect for having to abide by the rules, letting people go even though he knew he could save them. But death…

'_Inevitable… huh.'_ He still didn't like it; even if death was inevitable, he vowed to try his best to go against it. _'But I won't let them die without a fight.'_

The screen's flickering broke him out of his thoughts once more, but instead of getting back up into a seated position, Danny remained sprawled across the couch and turned his head to watch the screen. A mild pang of disappointment stabbed him when the screen showed yet another series of quick flashes.

-

_Flash._ Fenton Works, Danny's room; Jazz throws her hands up in exasperation before grabbing a hold of Danny and pushes him into his room to allow the rest to come in. Tucker pushes Casse in, blocking her only escape path. A tense silence falls in the room before Casse begins babbling her apologies; Danny snaps.

"**I'm not the one you should be apologizing to!"**

_Flash._ Angeles house, Lee's room; Sam quietly enters the room and blinks in surprise to see Lee picking at packages of clothes on her bed. Lee hands Sam a package and she questions her about it.

"**It's going to sound really stupid."** Lee sighs and sits down on the floor, leaning back against her bed. Sam follows suit. **"But… I just want to bury everything right now. I don't want to think about Casse shooting Brad, I don't want to remember that fiasco with the future… I just… want to lock it all up and move on."**

"**It's not stupid wanting to bury the past and moving on."** Sam peeks into the package and tugs at the black jacket. **"But why the clothes?"**

"**I guess… it'll be like starting anew? I don't know." **Lee tilts her head up to stare at the ceiling. **"But whenever I see our clothes, it's like going back in time. We always wear the same things and it's like… ugh. I can't explain it well but… maybe it's the association of what we've worn to those… events that's bugging me."**

Sam makes a thoughtful noise before taking out the rest of the clothes from the package and inspects them. Silence settles between the two girls before Sam speaks up. **"I'm digging the new clothes though, and maybe it is time for a change."**

_Flash._ Fenton Works, Danny's room; Danny, Jazz and Tucker raise brows at Sam's new look as she walks in. With surprising confidence and firmness, she tosses them each a package before explaining the reasons behind the clothes.

_Flash._ Amity Memorial, Brad's room; Shayera and Tobias exit the room, bringing Bruce along with them to allow the teens to talk. Still weak from the ordeal and incoherent from the painkillers, Brad doesn't take notice of their change of clothes. He does however, flinch at Casse's touch when she hesitantly takes a hold of his hand and almost jerks out of the bed.

Danny sends Casse a sharp look that makes her scurry to the corner while Lee tries to calm Brad down. Sam sighs at the lack of progress the group is making in burying the past and moving forward.

No one notices the faint yellow glow in Lee's hands as she murmurs into Brad's ear.

_Flash._ Amity Memorial, the entrance; Sam questions Lee if she forgives Casse for what she did as they step out of the hospital. Lee does not answer her immediately but soon responds with a quiet 'I don't know' before confessing to Sam that she's become afraid of her own sister.

Neither of the girls notice Dick watching them intently from behind the front doors of the hospital.

_Flash._ Midday, busy Sunday streets; the crowd of people burst into chaos as Skulker fires a barrage of missiles, roaring for 'the whelp'. Sam quickly pulls Lee along with her to avoid the missiles and ducks into an alleyway. While Sam pulls out her cell phone to call Danny, Lee bites her bottom lip and shivers at the crowd's screams of fear.

Suddenly she transforms into her ghost form, startling both Sam and herself; but a spectral tail replaces her legs. Sam stares at Lee in shock, ignoring Danny's shouts at her from the phone as Lee flexes her fingers before asking Sam to cover for her with a shaky kind of determination set in her eyes.

_Flash._ Midday, busy Sunday streets; Danny streaks across the skies in his ghost form with Tucker, Jazz and Casse following him on foot. He gasps as a black and white figure is blown towards him and swerves to catch Lee before she flies past him. Skulker jeers at her weak attempts to stop him.

Danny feels Lee tremble in his arms before letting her float beside him, taking note of the spectral tail. He claps a hand on her shoulder and catches her attention, his expression firm as he glared almost menacingly at Skulker.

"_**This**_** is how you kick his butt."**

_Flash._ Angeles house, the living room; Jazz fusses over Lee, demanding to know her sudden change of heart in helping with ghost hunting. Danny remains silent but Sam surprises them by backing Lee up.

_Flash._ Casper High, the classroom; a blue wisp of air escapes Danny's lips and he notices Lee wipe the sweat from her face. A thoughtful look crosses his face before he raises his hand to be excused to the bathroom.

_Flash._ Fenton Works, the laboratory; with the parents out, Danny introduces Lee to a few of the Fenton devices the group uses in ghost hunting. While he teaches her and tries to figure out why her legs wouldn't form, Casse fiddles with the Thermos and accidentally activates it, sucking both Danny and Lee into the Thermos.

When Tucker releases them, Lee quickly reverts back to her human form and faces away while Danny scowls darkly at Casse.

_Flash._ Amity Memorial, Brad's room.

"**Uhh… what's with the new clothes?" **Brad's slurred question makes Lee chuckle softly. Instead of telling him the real reason behind the clothes, she makes up the excuse of the upcoming summer for their change of clothes. Her excuse makes Danny frown lightly but he does not speak up.

None of them noticed the soft yellow glow on Lee's hand that rested by Brad's chest.

_Flash._ Angeles house, the living room; Danny lets loose a string of curses when he grabs Lee's hand. She winces but he takes no heed, forcing her to sit down before pulling the top part of her top open to see an ugly burn on her chest. He chastises her for her actions and subsequently reveals to the rest of the group of Lee's injury absorbing powers.

_Flash._ Night, the empty streets; Danny takes Lee along to patrol the town. While he is still angry at her for her stint in the hospital, he smiles at her light-hearted giggles and surprisingly childish antics as they ride the wind. Her legs are still formed in a spectral tail. He is surprised at her sudden confession of being altophobic but their easy night is cut short when they come face to face with a group of ghostly animals.

_Flash._ Angeles house, the living room; Dick hovers around the teens with a suspicious look until a tired and fed up Brad tells him to 'piss the hell off'. Dick gives the group of teens one last suspicious look before leaving with Bruce. Casse is strategically placed with Tucker and Jazz at the far end of the room while Danny sits next to Brad by the door. Sam and Lee sit at the dining table.

Brad convinces Tobias that he's fine and the triplets' father accepts it before disappearing into his study. Once he is gone, Brad gives each person present a wary look.

"**Ok… so what did I miss?"** Danny offers him a shrug before responding to him mildly.

"**Oh… nothing much."** Brad raises a brow at him and Danny lowers his voice. **"Except we found out that your baby sister was the one who shot you and that your older sister can apparently absorb injuries."**

"**Oh yea; did I mention that the same older sister of yours has been healing you whenever she visits you in the hospital, which explains why you're out of the hospital early despite having suffered a point blank shot to the chest,"** Danny sent a disapproving look in Lee's direction, causing her to duck her head in embarrassment.** "And she's also now practicing ghost hunting with us?"** Brad coughs and splutters, giving each of them an incredulous look, landing lastly on Lee before letting loose a shriek.

"**WHAT?!"**

-

"Ow!" Danny fell off the couch with a thud and covered his ears as the shriek echoed in the office. "Geez, I didn't realize he could go that high."

The echoes of the shriek was cut off when the screen turned blank; Danny was grateful for that. Slowly, he clambered back onto the couch and flopped back to his previous splayed position, his mind buzzing with the new flashes.

'_Ok… so Sam and Lee reconciled their friendship, Lee's afraid of her own sister, my alternate self still doesn't want to forgive Casse and Lee can absorb injuries – wait. Absorb?'_ Danny jerked up into a seated position and recalled the flashes. _'She doesn't heal them but takes the damage instead… why does this sound like some warped RPG?'_

'_I guess it's more reasonable than the ability to just… heal; maybe less chance of abusing the power?'_ He 'hmm'ed, stroking his chin thoughtfully as he thought of the possible reasons. _'Or maybe it's supposed to also remind her that even as a hybrid she's can still die if she takes in too many injuries?'_

'_Well at least she's not so against the powers anymore… hopefully makes it easier for the other me.'_ Danny leaned backwards and expelled a sigh. _'Something tells me it's because of that… absorbing injuries thing that made her change her mind. Hey wait; if her hands glow when she's using that then…'_

Danny's back jerked and straightened. _'Oh sh- that explains how she lost all that blood then; she absorbed a part of Brad's injury when he got shot and that's how he survived!'_

'_If she just happened to not have that ability or if she hadn't been there when he did get shot… he'd really be dead.'_ He shuddered at the thought but quickly shook it off. _'Well what matters is that he's not dead. Thank god.'_

"I wonder how's she's going to cope with all the fighting though." He wondered out loud, turning his gaze from the ceiling to the blank screen. His lips curved into a pout as he stared at the screen and raised his voice. "And when this stupid thing is going to go back to details."

The screen flickered, as if sending him a coded message that was mocking him at his pout.

"Fine, be that way; stupid screen." Danny sticks the finger out at the screen, the screen flickers repeatedly as if it was laughing at him, and leans back against the couch. "Ok so since they're like a mirror to my timeline who haven't they met…?"

"Pariah Dark, Freakshow… well they've met Walker already though it's way different from how I met him; Kitty and Johnny 13, the GIW…" He raises a finger as he listed each name down, frowning as he thought hard of his enemies. "Youngblood, Dora, Aragon, Frostbite, Fright Knight… oh wait; what if the Headless Horseman's an alternate version of Fright Knight? Now that would be interesting…"

"Man, they've only met like half of the number of ghosts I've met and they've gone through over ten times the amount of shit I've been through even when I include the stupid Disasteroid." Danny groans and slouches his shoulders forward. "Now I feel depressed; I'm so sheltered compared to them."

'_Hey, how come her legs didn't form anyway?'_ He raises a brow as he looks up to the screen. _'I could change between my feet and tail whenever I wanted, even at the beginning so why…?'_

"Come on, give me some details already!" He threw a cushion at the screen and scowled. He perked up when the screen began to flicker but the scowl returned when he realized that it was another series of flashes. Danny muttered darkly about evil screens and manipulative time masters under his breath before concentrating on the scenes.

-

_Flash._ Casper High, the corridors; the distance Brad and Lee keep between themselves and Casse is painfully evident. However, when Paulina makes a snide remark about their new clothes, Casse defends the designs and fights back.

_Flash._ Casper High, Principal Ishikawa's office; Mr. Sanchez threatens to sue Tobias for Paulina's broken nose. Paulina smirks triumphantly at the triplets who ignore her while Principal Ishikawa tries to calm Mr. Sanchez down.

Angered further by the response (or rather lack thereof) Tobias is giving him, Mr. Sanchez swings a punch at him. Tobias side steps and Mr. Sanchez's fist plunges against the door.

_Flash._ Angeles house, Lee's room; Danny and Lee continue to try to figure out a reason as to why her legs will not form from the spectral tail. When they run out of ideas, they fall silent until Lee suddenly asks Danny if she is wrong to be afraid of Casse. He disagrees and goes on a tirade about Casse's attitude.

Danny gets worked up to the point that his nails begin to glow green and extend out, causing his fingers to bleed.

_Flash._ Fenton Works, Jazz's room; Tucker scowls and reminds Casse what her desires made her do when she makes a comment about wanting to go ghost hunting with them. Casse is put out by the reminder and flinches at Jazz's incredulous comment. Sam watches them in silence.

"**How can you still want to continue driving to be some kind of ****stupid hero after you almost killed your brother?!"**

_Flash._ Night, the empty streets; Tucker and Sam walk down the pavement in silence. Sam suddenly stops and asks Tucker why he forgave her so easily for what she did. Tucker pauses a few steps in front of her; Sam stares at his back until he answers her.

"**I don't have a reason not to forgive you and I know that you're not really a vindictive person."** She does not notice the heat that rises in his cheeks as he continues. **"And I believe in you."**

_Flash._ Casper High, the cafeteria; Danny groans when a blue wisp of air escapes his lips. Lee wipes her brow, complaining softly about a temperature increase as Danny ducks under the table. Tucker concludes that the increase in temperature to Lee is her ghost sense, reasoning with the rest that whenever Danny senses a ghost, Lee begins to feel hot.

They are cut short when Danny, in his ghost form, smashes through the cafeteria walls. Skulker and Technus pursue him and Danny lures them away from the school.

_Flash._ Fenton Works, the laboratory; Maddie frowns when she notices Danny flinch when Jack slaps a hand on his back before heading up the stairs. Her frown deepens when he does not let her take a look at his back. Behind Danny, Lee quickly places her hands on his back and they glow softly as he continues to evade his mother.

Danny winces when Maddie pulls his shirt up and checks his back; she sighs when she finds nothing, causing Danny to blink. She frowns at the two suspiciously for a moment before heading up the stairs and Danny whips over to Lee who has her back facing the wall.

He almost explodes when he figures out that she absorbed his back injuries from Skulker and Technus's attack at the school.

_Flash._ Angeles house, Brad's room; Brad mutters about the changes in the group to Tucker who releases a dry chuckle as he helps Brad catch up with school work. After a while, Tucker asks Brad about his infatuation with Lee and balks when Brad tenses. He hastily tries to retract his question but stops when Brad quietly asks him if he could keep the reason a secret.

Tucker immediately agrees, pushing the homework aside before listening intently to Brad.

_Flash._ Late afternoon, the park; Sam and Casse sit by the swings in silence. Sam sighs softly when Casse suddenly murmurs that there was nothing wrong with her pursuing her dreams. Sam bluntly tells Casse that her dream of becoming a hero is silly and tells her that she will never become a real hero if she doesn't protect her family first.

"**Why are you so obsessed with saving the world?****" **Sam sighs in annoyance, rubbing her temples.** "If you can't even take care of your own family that consists of three people, what makes you think you can save the bloody world that has billions of people Casse?"**

_Flash._ Night, the empty streets; Sam pulls Casse with her as they dodge Skulker and Technus. Danny and Lee intervene, Danny quickly dragging Skulker and Technus's attention away while Lee grabs both girls and brings them to safety.

Skulker starts shooting lasers when Danny caps Technus into the Thermos and a powerful laser shot flies straight for the girls. Same grabs Casse and pulls her down to the ground while Lee squeaks and crosses her arms over her face in a guarding stance as the laser gets closer. The glow surrounding Lee's body brightens and the laser smashes against a yellow shield that forms around the girls.

_Flash._ Angeles house, Lee's room; Danny grabs Lee when she collapses after returning to her human form. Brad and Tucker emerge from Brad's room and follow the girls into Lee's room as Danny carries Lee to her bed.

Sam mentions Lee's legs forming from the spectral tail after releasing a majority of her energy into the shield she threw up to protect them from the laser shots as Danny lays Lee on her bed. Brad and Tucker exchange wary looks with each other while Danny looks thoughtful.

_Flash._ Angeles house, dining room; the triplets eat breakfast quietly. Brad quietly comments on Lee's paler than normal parlor as she gathers the dirty dishes. Lee refutes back about his own pale complexion with a small smile until Casse mutters that both of them should be resting in bed.

Casse keeps her eyes on the table as Lee takes her plate. The triplets are silent as Lee heads for the kitchen to clean up.

"**I don't think we can go back to the way we were before."** Casse and Brad look up to glance over to their sister, who keeps her back to them. **"But I guess all we can do is just adapt and move forward."**

_Flash._ Casper High, the corridors; Danny's ghost sense goes off and just as he moves to duck to the toilets, Lee grabs his wrist with a determined look on her face. They look at each other before Danny lifts a brow and smiles at her.

"**Ready for another ghost hunting lesson partner?"** She sticks her tongue out at him but nods.

"**Right behind you."**

-

"A little cheesy towards the end of… whatever this event's supposed to be, but I can't complain." Danny leaned back against the couch and stretched his limbs, recalling the events that he had been through that ended just as 'cheesily' as the other timeline. "Hopefully Casse finally stops trying to act heroic… Geez. I never realized that there are people who are insanely obsessed with becoming special."

Immediately, his mind began to whirl with his earlier conversation with Clockwork. When he would leave Clockwork's office… he'd have to stay on his toes. As vague as Clockwork had been, it was a clear enough warning to Danny.

But seriously; who, when and how? He had a feeling that the thought was going to plague him forever until it really happened.

'_I guess there's no use thinking about it now…'_ The thought still nagged at the back of his head even as he tried to push it away. _'Ugh. I can't do anything now anyway!'_

His head began to throb and he rubbed his temples hoping to ease it off. Even as he tried to convince himself, his body rebelled to show that he was more worried about the future than he allowed himself to believe and show. The fear was still there.

'_Come on… give me a break; I'm supposed to be on a forced vacation! What kind of relaxation is this anyway?'_ He groused internally, half wanting to curse himself for thinking that watching timelines would be a good way to pass time. Well, granted it was a good and interesting way to pass time, but it was starting to feel like it was more trouble than it was worth. _'Wonderful. Instead of relaxing away from the troubles of my timeline, I'm worrying about the troubles of another timeline. Fantastic. Absolutely fan-bloody-tastic.'_

Danny briefly wondered if Clockwork had ever gone on a vacation but quickly dismissed the thought, realizing that Clockwork's work was far more taxing that his own job of playing protector to a town. _'Someone needs to give Clockwork a medal for all the dirty he has to do… and he's not even complaining about it!'_

He leaned sideways and flopped onto his side, wishing for the throbbing to leave his head. _'Ok, maybe I should've expected that this 'vacation' wasn't going to be as relaxing as it should be since I did think of coming to Clockwork's… but where else could I have gone to in the Ghost Zone anyway?'_

'_Ok fine… Frostbite and Dora would have let me stay with them but I d__idn't want to get my ass frozen off at Far Frozen and there's literally nothing to do at Dora's castle…'_ He sighed and grudgingly admitted that the only place that was interesting enough to spend a 'vacation' was Clockwork's. _'I hate it when it looks like things are calculated to happen.'_

'_But then again, if there wasn't any kind of calculation, it'd be__ like some kind of free for all thing that has no direction.'_ He groaned and buried his face into a cushion. _'Clockwork… how do you survive like this?'_

He brought his head up and rested his chin on the cushion, staring at the arm rest in front of him. Suddenly he was wondering about the various possibilities of the timeline; if Casse really had killed Brad, if Sam's wish was fully granted to the point that his alternate self couldn't do anything to save Lee… Then he stopped and paused, trying to link together a thought that rushed into his mind.

'_Wait. Zeraphina said my accident happened at a certain calculated time that allowed me to survive… what if it's the same for him?' _He got up and stared at the screen, bringing a hand to his chin. _'Then if he didn't survive, it's possible that none of this would be happening. Even if it did go on like this without him then… that means Jazz and Lee might not be alive either! That time when they were kidnapped… the Joker said something about the magic-thingy was suppose to kill them if it was taken off…'_

'_Even if they did survive… if Sam still made that wish, I'm pretty sure that Lee wouldn't be alive… and then if she isn't alive when Brad gets shot…'_ He shuddered when he looked at the possibilities. Their lives were linked so closely to each other now that he came to look at their life and death situations. _'God… in the end it all depends on my alternate self's existence and his decisions. Man, I wonder if he's realized that he's totally responsible for keeping everyone alive?'_

'_What a tight link.'_ Danny dug into his bag and took out the family photograph again. _'I don't think… I have that kind of link with anyone. I mean, granted I've saved both Sam and Tuck from turning uh… evil or getting consumed by their powers but…'_

He fingered the photograph for a moment; his eyes staying on Sam's figure longer than the rest before laying the photograph face down beside him. He looked up as the screen began to flicker repeatedly.

'_Huh… that reminds me; wonder what kind of romance he's going to get himself into__? He seems kinda apathetic towards relationships…'_ He thought with amusement, allowing his mind to wander around the possible relationships his alternate self could get into. A relationship with Sam still seemed plausible since he did accept her back but what he thought looked more likely to happen was a relationship with Lee.

Then he stopped and frowned, recalling Clockwork's words when he had seen their alternate future and blinked. _'Oo… What if he's gay? I think I remember mom, or well at least his mom, saying that he seemed pretty indifferent when he was asked if he was dating Lee… Now that would be both interesting and weird to watch.'_

Well if that was the case, he was betting all his money that his alternate self would hook up with Brad.

He allowed a giggle to escape his lips at the thought of it. While it was mildly disturbing to think of himself, even if it was an alternate self, in a homosexual relationship, it was also strangely funny. He leaned back against the couch just as the screen burst into colors. Idly he wondered if they were going back to details or if the screen was going to remain being evil by giving him flashes.

Much to his delight, the screen flickered into a single scene that alerted him that it was back to details. He grabbed the cushion from the other side of the couch without averting his eyes from the screen and snuggled it as the scene unfolded before him. And he resumed watching the timeline.

* * *

**Authoress's Ending Notes:**

1) Original!Danny's thoughts are more direct; I took a look back at the previous interludes and realized that I wrote a majority of his thoughts in an indirect manner so I did a switch. Hopefully the direct thoughts give more feeling.  
2) Jumped forward by.. around 5 chapters worth for Phantom & Angel in the form of flashes. To avoid stuffing the story up with more angst; I've got this bad tendency to douse chapters with oodles of angst so I'm hoping to actually stop putting in that much angst and make it at least a little more light hearted.  
3) Thank you to the reviewers of the previous chapter; I really appreciate the feedback. And thank you to everyone else who has put this story in their author alerts/favs.  
4) There is an intended sequel to Alternate Timeline. The title is **Inevitable Crisis** which focuses on the Original Timeline, 9 years after Original!Danny watches the Alternate Timeline. There is an introductory mini comic to **Inevitable Crisis** that can be found on my deviantART. Do take a look if you have the chance :)  
5) Thank you all for your support and I hope you've enjoyed reading the Interlude!

**Cheers  
Kenzy-Chan/K.C**


	22. Storm: Brewing

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress's Beginning Notes: University stinks. Writer's block stinks. Christmas? Bah, humbug. There's a likelihood of this event spanning for 3 chapters (dear god the idea refused to leave my brain but was also a pain to write out because of the different perspectives I could have written it out in) but I am desperately hoping to cut it to 2 chapters, nevermind how long the next chapter is going to be. I have to admit, the chapter feeling left me and it sounds bland in the 'most heated' scene. I wonder how it would feel to read something that looks bland but describes a series of happenings that's filled with blood? Curious. Anyhoo, please enjoy. My next year in Uni is going to be the most hellish because it's (hopefully) my last year in Uni but I have to get my butt in gear to pass everything.

* * *

**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 18:**

**Storm (Brewing)**

**

* * *

  
**

Danny watched the screen intently while cuddling the cushion, not wanting to miss any details. He released a thoughtful noise from the back of his throat when the screen focused on the Angeles house but raised a brow when Bruce Wayne came into view with the usual group of teens situated in the living room.

'_Huh, that's weird. I don't think Mr. Wayne's ever appeared in consecutive events since… well, since the beginning. __But then again I don't know how long has passed since that last series of flashes or when he left…'_ He rolled his eyes skyward and pondered before diverting his gaze back to the screen. _'Guess a lot of time must've passed; hopefully Brad's fully healed – without Lee absorbing the rest of his injuries that is.'_

'_Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this?'_ Danny grunted, internally wincing at the thought. _'Well let's just hope it doesn't add up to all the crap that's already piled on them…'_

He took another glance to the photograph that lay face down on the arm of the couch before turning back to the screen as the event unfolded.

* * *

"Oh, so that's why the Observatory's been closed for the past few months; you bought it over and refurbished it." Tucker wrinkled his nose up and frowned. "But why are you inviting us to the reopening of it?"

"Same reason as the party." Bruce pointed to the triplets, ignoring their indignant looks. "Help me look after them."

"I understand if it were just Casse but," Casse threw Danny a hurt pout that he ignored as he continued to speak with Bruce. "I don't think Lee or Brad needs anyone of us around to look after them Mr. Wayne."

"No, Bradley does need it." Brad scowled at his godfather and crossed his arms over his chest as Danny, Sam, Tucker and Jazz curved their lips into small 'o's of understanding at Bruce's emphasis and nod to Brad's chest. Bruce sighed and returned Brad's scowl with a stern look. "Don't give me that look; you're not fully healed from that freak accident Bradley. I don't care if the hospital let you out early because they deemed you healthy enough; you're not healthy enough to me."

"Will you give it a rest already?!" Brad threw his hands up in exasperation when his friends and sisters nodded in agreement to Bruce's words. "I'm fine! It's been like what… two months?"

"You still cough out blood." Brad sent a dirty look in Danny's direction at his comment; an invisible vein throbbed at the top of his head.

"Occasionally!"

"You still get tired easily." The glare shifted from Danny to Tucker but before Brad could open his mouth to refute, Sam cut in.

"You still have that nasty burn on your chest." Jazz rested her hand at her chin and gave a thoughtful nod before adding in after Sam.

"You still need to be reminded to take your meds."

"Oh thank you so much Uncle Bruce, for pitting my friends against me." Brad muttered as he folded his arms over his chest with a scowl. Danny and Tucker gave him apologetic shrugs while the girls giggled lightly. Bruce just gave him a smug look.

"If it helps to keep you in check, why not?" Bruce smirked at the pointed glare that was sent his way before turning back to the other teens. "Well because it's me, the press is going to expect these four – yes, Toby too – to be there since they live in this area. While I've managed to make sure the accident stayed under wraps, it doesn't mean anyone is going to leave them alone."

"So you want us to ward off the press from Brad?"

"He's going to need all the help he can get to hide the fact that he suffered a point blank shot to the chest." Brad huffed at Bruce's words and turned his head away with indignation when Bruce eyed him warily from the side. "Lois and Clark are going to be there Bradley and you know Lois has a sharp eye; she'll spot your burn if you don't wear a proper shirt."

"For fuck's sake, now you want to say something about what I wear?!" Lee patted Brad's shoulder before placing her hands on his shoulders, squeezing them lightly to calm him down.

"Come on Brad, you know Uncle Bruce is right." Brad threw her a hurt look but Lee shook her head and patted his head gently. "Whether you like it or not, one and a half months isn't enough time for you recover from a shot like that and Lois does have a good nose when it comes to sniffing out stories."

"You make it sound as if she's a bitch." Bruce sent Brad a disapproving look while the boys snorted and the girls rolled their eyes. "Oh come on; Fairy said Lois has a good nose for sniffing that makes her sound like a dog since their good at sniffing out stuff. Lois is a woman and the female of a dog is known as bitch; there's nothing wrong with using the term!"

"Why can't you use your brains for school work and not for making up these smart mouth excuses?" Bruce released an all suffering sigh and turned to glare at Tucker and Danny who sniggered childishly at his remark. "You two are the same!"

"But that's what makes life fun!" Tucker flashed a 'V' sign with his hands while Danny turned to one side to continue snickering. Brad's lips curved into a smug smirk from behind Bruce as he scowled at them. "Come on Mr. Wayne; life's short so why not make the best of it?"

Before Bruce could retort, a snort sounded from the outside of the living room.

"Leave the boys alone Bruce; I don't think you were any better when you were at their age." The group looked up to see Shayera lean against the frame of the living room door with her arms folded across her chest, an amused smile playing on her lips. Her wings were, just as the same as during Valentines, absent from her back. "Toby doesn't even have to tell me anything; Alfred's got more than enough tidbits on your teenage years."

"Alfred wouldn't have told you anything unless you asked him." Shayera grinned impishly at Bruce, making the billionaire rub his face with a hand. He released a sigh a moment later. "What did he tell you then?"

The boys quickly sat up and focused their attention on Shayera, their eyes glinting for a chance to know about Bruce's younger years. Jazz snorted, rolling her eyes skyward at their antics while Sam giggled alongside with Lee. Casse however, took interest in the topic and followed the boys' gaze to Shayera who hid her snickers behind her hand.

Three months passed since the 'accident'; one and a half months since Brad was released from the hospital. Before Danny realized it, he turned 15 (though that birthday was less than spectacular than the last; this time blamed to a bunch of stray cats his dad found and brought back the same day. Danny thought it was probably sheer dumb luck that he and Lee managed to keep Brad's phobia of cats a secret) and it hit him it had also been a year since had gotten his powers and got to know the triplets. While the gang was slowly mending their friendship back together, everyone still had their moments of hostility towards Casse whenever she mentioned anything about 'hero stuff'; more so Danny than the rest.

Danny's temper had become precarious and he often found anger pulsing through his veins when certain things were being said or was happening. He began practicing anger management with Jazz after a near slip up incident that involved the A List troupe spreading outrageously false stories about Brad's injuries and him losing his temper at them. His nails had sharpen and began extending out when he tried to stomp towards the A List group but luckily for him, Jazz, Sam and Tucker quickly restrained him before he launched himself at them to dish out his method of punishment.

Lee was slowly getting the hang of ghost hunting with him, though Danny could tell that she was still hesitant over fighting, and that's when Danny realized how different they were in terms of their powers. While he was fairly offensive and had decent defensive capabilities, Lee's energy attacks were close to being non-existent but her defense came up above his by a long shot. She was also slower than he was in flying speed but she had the injury absorption ability that he didn't have and she healed much faster than he did.

Plus she could still do kung fu, so she still had some form of attack. He earned a smack on the head for that 'The Matrix' quote when he mentioned it.

He thanked god when she couldn't produce a 'Ghostly Wail' but figured that she either didn't have an 'ultimate attack' – as Tucker eloquently dubbed his Wail – or wasn't experienced enough to gain that kind of power. Danny hoped it was the former and not the latter given that Lee already had enough trouble with her current abilities to worry about an 'ultimate attack'.

Not forgetting that she and Brad still had some awkward tension between them in the aftermath of the revealing of his infatuation with her.

Casse dimmed down greatly on her quest to become a hero in the past few weeks; something that the rest of the group were thankful for, but they knew that she was still itching to continue it. Even with constant reminders of what she had done, it didn't seem to deter her much from her goal. It was beginning to annoy Danny to the point that he almost wished that his darker half really did kill her when he lost control.

But at the same time the thought scared him; his savage side was revealing so much more about himself that he never realized he had. He only had vague memories of when he had lost control of himself. All that he could remember was anger clouding his mind and a twisted feeling of pleasure when he felt blood run down his hands; Jazz, Tucker and Sam had to fill in the rest of the blanks for him.

"_It was like you were letting out everything that you kept inside of you all this time."_ Jazz murmured into his ear while cradling him in her arms. When they were revealing everything he did, she refused to let him go. _"Your anger at Valerie for killing those two people, at mom and dad for wanting to hunt you down, at Casse for being childish… everything."_

"_Us too you know.__"_ Sam had been soft, still stepping lightly around them even though they had welcomed her back to their circle. _"I know you're giving me a second chance after what I did… but you were holding back when you told me about how angry you were at me."_

"_And I never realized how much anger you've kept to yourself about that time when I wished for powers like you."_

Almost everything had come out into the open; almost everything. At least Shadow hadn't spilled out that he still harbored some resentment towards Jazz for her previous snobbish attitude towards him before she found out about his alter ego.

Sam and Tucker would carefully thread around him now, – though more so Tucker than Sam since she herself wanted to push the past behind her – even though he insisted that he had pushed it all behind him. It stung him; all the power he exhibited when he lost control scared him and the knowledge that he made his friends fear him hurt. None of them told Brad or Lee about Danny's rampage as Shadow and Danny was positive that Casse was keeping silent about it, probably because of the fear of inciting his wrath.

Great. He was back to keeping secrets from one half of his group of friends and more than half of them were scared shitless of him, including his sister. There wasn't any need for her to tell him and no matter how much she tried to cover it up, he could already see and feel it.

And it hurt.

But at the present, it was now their summer vacation. They were all relaxed and eagerly waiting for any juicy information they could squeeze out of Shayera regarding Bruce's teenage years. For the first time in three months, Danny didn't feel any fear or discomfort around his friends and it felt good.

"Hmm, now let's see." Shayera tapped a finger on her bottom lip as she made a thoughtful expression but her lips were curved into an amused smile. The boys and Casse leaned forward in eagerness while Bruce scowled at them all. "I seem to recall Alfred saying something about a distinct liking for second hand ragged street clothes and skateboards."

"Street clothes and skateboards?" Brad snorted and coughed lightly while Danny and Tucker sniggered. Lee patted his back gently to help him ease off his coughs and he continued once he stopped coughing. "Now that would be a really weird image because all Uncle Bruce ever wears are suits and ties."

"I do not; I have casual clothes Bradley!"

"But street clothes?" Brad gave his godfather a wide smirk before turning over to Shayera with a glint in his eyes. "Please tell me that Alfred's got a picture of him in street clothes."

"I think your father should have a copy–"

"Daddy!" Immediately, Casse took off, flailing her arms as she zipped out of the living through and over to the study where Tobias was. Shayera quickly flattened herself against the frame of the door when the youngest Angeles raced past her. "Can I see the picture of Uncle Bruce in street clothes?!"

"Just you wait Shayera." Bruce glared at Shayera who gave him a cheeky smirk in response. The boys sniggered while the girls politely hid their giggles. "I'll get back at you times ten; just you wait."

"Bring it on Bruce."

Casse's excited high pitched squeal cut Bruce off before he could respond and the said triplet came bounding back to the living room with a photograph in her hands. Her eyes sparkled with mischief and glee as she tore over to Brad and pointed to the photograph.

"Look look! Not just Uncle Bruce, but daddy too!" Tucker and Danny scrambled over to see while Lee simply just tilted her upper body downwards from her seat at the table to take a look. Sure enough, a teenage Bruce grinned up at them from the picture with a skateboard in one hand and his other arm slung over the shoulders of a teenage Tobias who was tugging the clothes with a skateboard at his feet.

"That's a lot of holes in the jeans Uncle Bruce." Bruce groaned and rubbed his temples at Lee's idle comment. The boys snickered and poked at the photograph, whispering to each other with wide grins on their faces. From the side, Jazz rolled her eyes and shook her head in amusement while Sam ducked over to the boys to take a look at the photograph. "But it doesn't look like something you'd ever think of wearing. Same for dad."

"It was Billie's idea!" Brad's grin dropped at the mention of their mother and the triplets looked up at Bruce in surprise. Bruce grimaced and looked away from their probing gazes. "She dragged us out to try rollerblading but Toby and I ended up skateboarding instead. We wore those clothes to blend in with the other teens."

Danny peered over to the triplets; Lee was nodding her head, as if accepting his explanation while Casse turned back to the photograph and continued to poke it. Brad on the other hand, became crestfallen. The room fell into awkward silence and Danny noticed Shayera wince from the doorway.

"Anyway." Bruce clapped his hands together to catch everyone's attention. "The reopening of the Observatory is going to be in two days time. You don't need to wear anything formal so just stick to your casual clothes."

"And Bradley." Bruce strode over and plucked the photograph from Casse's hands before regarding Brad sternly. "I'm serious about you wearing a proper shirt for that day. I don't want you to get cornered by any of the reporters."

As Bruce left the room, he rested a hand on Shayera's shoulder. They spoke quietly for a moment; Bruce's expression hidden from them while Shayera's unease was blatantly obvious. Once they were done, Shayera sent them a soft apologetic look before following behind Bruce to Tobias's study.

Once the adults were gone, the room fell into awkward silence again.

"You know, I never pegged your dad to keep long hair though." Tucker piped up, making a few motions with his hands to illustrate what he meant when the rest turned to look at him. Danny realized that he was trying to lighten the atmosphere and shift away from what they had been talking about. "In the picture; he had this low ponytail that kind reached until his mid back."

"Oh."

"By the way," The group's attention turned from Tucker to Jazz who was still sitting at the cushions. "What's Shayera doing down in Amity?"

"Uncle Bruce invited her." Lee explained, patting Brad's head lightly before getting up from her seat. "He said it was time for her and dad to make a public appearance together. I don't understand Uncle Bruce's logic when it comes to media stuff so don't ask me why."

"Are we supposed to call her by an alias in public then?"

"Huh? An alias… oh!" Lee caught on to what Sam was asking before holding her hand up. "Give me sec; I'll go ask her now."

Lee stepped over the gaggle of boys and maneuvered her body to avoid hitting any of them. Casse rolled away from the boys as Lee managed to get through them and trotted out to the study. Tucker wandered back to the cushions but Danny remained sitting by Brad.

And startled everyone by pulling the front of Brad's shirt to take a look at his chest.

"Danny!"

"What?" Danny peered up innocently at Brad who scowled at him and swatted his hand away. "I'm just checking! It's not like I haven't noticed that Lee's been healing you from time to time."

"Give me a heads up before you do that next time or else you're going to look like a perv!" Danny rolled his eyes and pulled the top of the shirt again to check the burn. Brad scowled again and slapped his hand away. The boys glared at each other before engaging in a hand slapping fight with Brad pulling the collar of his shirt up and leaning backwards to avoid Danny who continued to reach out for the shirt.

Tucker snickered quietly at their antics and pulled his PDA from his waist pouch. He tapped the screen softly before holding it up and snapped a few quick photos of Danny and Brad in their slapping fight. He smirked evilly before putting the files in a restricted folder in his PDA and stuffed it back into his waist pouch. He almost jumped when Jazz suddenly sidled over to him and whispered into his ear.

"Give me a copy of it later." Tucker quickly muffled his laughter behind a hand at Jazz's impish grin. He shook his head at Sam who noticed them whispering to each other and caused her to raise an amused and confused brow at them before turning back to watch the hand slapping fight. Casse just tilted her head in confusion.

Lee blinked and stared at Danny and Brad when she returned from the study; neither of them realized that everyone else had their attention focused on them.

"Danny if you're trying to get into my brother's pants, take it upstairs." Brad and Danny jumped at Lee's remark, turning to look at her before turning back to blink at each other. In his quest to grab Brad's shirt, Danny had clambered onto Brad's lap and had his legs hooked around the other boy's waist to keep him in place. That's when he realized that everyone else was suspiciously silent until Sam released a choked laugh that broke the silence.

Tucker, Sam and Jazz dissolved into pearls of laughter while Lee politely hid her smirk behind her hand. Casse had a look of repulsion on her face as Danny quickly scrambled out of Brad's lap; both boys' faces flushing a dark shade of red.

"How do you guys get yourselves in these situations?" Jazz wiped the tears from her eyes as she glanced over to Danny and Brad with a grin on her face; both boys had their backs facing each other and were refusing to meet anyone's eye. Sam grinningly poked Brad's forehead from her perch at the dining table and snickered when he blindly swatted her hand away. "You know I'm half tempted to share the other photographs I have of you two with everyone else."

"You have photographs of us?!"

"You have photographs of them?" Three mischievous, two horrified and one disgusted look was sent in Jazz's direction as she nodded her head. Tucker stared at Jazz before a wide grin spread across from one end of his face to the other.

"Jazz! Give me the blackmail!"

"HELL NO!" Danny leapt up and dashed over to block Tucker from Jazz, the older girl having doubled over laughing at Tucker's demand. With her elbow propped on the dining table, Sam snickered loudly before resting her chin on her hand and sent a lazy smirk over to Danny.

"Wow Danny, I didn't know that you swing that way; I wouldn't have even tried to get your attention if you said so."

"I do no-"

"But at least, I believe that you've influenced his taste." Sam snorted and grinned wolfishly at the two boys who spluttered. Tucker nodded his head sagely as he mocked a thoughtful look. "Pale complexion, a distinct liking for black, individualistic and has a tendency to attract trouble… oh yes indeed. Too bad Danny likes bananas more than pie though."

Just as Sam burst out laughing at the sexual innuendo, Danny launched himself at Tucker with the intent of dishing out revenge on the other. Tucker hastily moved away and took off with Danny hot on his heels. Lee giggled and sidestepped out of their way as they went barreling out of the living room before heading over to Jazz, settling down beside the other girl.

Sam stopped laughing and sent a grin over in Brad's direction.

"So you're a banana addict too?"

"That's it!" Brad lunged at Sam who quickly flew out of her seat to avoid him, the wide grin still apparent on her face. She fled from the room after she released a wolf whistle and Brad chased after her with a menacing scowl. "You are sooo dead!"

Bruce flattened himself against the frame of the door as both Sam and Brad dashed out of the living room. He bent his upper body outwards to glance over to Danny chasing Tucker and Brad chasing Sam before turning to the two snickering older sisters with a raised brow.

"What's with the racket?"

"Nothing Mr. Wayne; just regular fooling around." His brow went higher as Danny cursed loudly over Tucker's hysterical laughter. "Don't worry, they should calm down pretty soon."

"…Right." Bruce looked up and flattened himself against the door frame again as Tucker zipped back in, dancing away from Danny's reach while making funny gestures with his hands. Danny chased Tucker around the room for a moment before Tucker dashed out of the living room again with Danny in pursuit. Bruce then stuck his head out to the corridor of the house. "Bradley! Stop running around like some deranged chimpanzee or you're going to start throwing up blood again!"

"Not until I –cough– kill her!"

Bruce grunted and shook his head before leaving the room while muttering. "I'm not going to understand today's teenagers…"

The echoing noises of Danny and Brad chasing after Sam and Tucker all over the house filled the air as Jazz and Lee giggled. Casse wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out.

"Ew." Jazz and Lee looked up at Casse's remark. Casse had stayed where she was, her face scrunched up in disgust. "How can you make fun of it? Boys together are so… icky."

"The proper term is homosexual." Lee quickly patted Jazz's shoulder and squeezed it to stop the other girl from lashing out at Casse before regarding her sister with a stern frown. "And there's nothing wrong with it. That's what gets you into trouble; you don't word yourself properly. Saying 'icky' makes you sound childish."

"But it _is_ icky!" Casse protested, her lips curving into an indignant pout. Lee sighed and shook her head.

"That's another thing that gets you into trouble; you're being too narrow-minded." Casse frowned and opened her mouth to protest again but Lee held her hand up to stop her, letting go of Jazz in the process. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused Uncle Bruce three years ago for that exact same thing you just said? In front of reporters too, just to remind you."

"You don't think before you speak." Lee continued, not giving Casse any time to try refuting. "You don't open your mind to see a bigger picture and you don't seem to care about how much trouble you cause when you open your mouth and spout out this kind of rubbish."

"And do I need to remind you that you were the one who pegged him as a closet gay?"

Casse flinched, taken aback by Lee's hard words. She had become resilient to Danny, Jazz and Tucker lashing out at her, choosing to ignore them rather than to heed their warnings since she expected them to always have a problem with whatever she did; but her sister's sudden firm stand took her by surprise. Sure she remembered breaking the 'no cats' rule and incited Lee's wrath during Christmas, but all she did afterwards was pretend it didn't happen and ignore her.

That hadn't been a firm stand; it was an enforcing of rule. She understood it that much. But this time…

"Are you even listening Casse?" She jerked out of her reverie at Jazz's snap. In the moments she had been immersed in her thoughts, Danny, Brad, Tucker and Sam had returned to the room (though Brad was huffing and panting more than the other three). Now the four of them were giving her curious looks while Lee remained surprisingly neutral; Jazz didn't bother covering up her annoyance. She did notice that Brad and Danny were sitting far away from each other but their faces were still flushed. "Good. Now that we have her attention, what's the news Lee?"

"Shayera does have an alias but it isn't very different from her real name." Lee turned her gaze back to the other four without batting an eye. "Uncle Bruce made a mention of her to the press as Shaye Hall."

"What's the spelling of that?" At Brad's question, Lee stood up and went searching for something. "It sounds way too close to her real name."

"Mmm… ah here it is." Lee fished out the newspaper from the far end of the room and flipped it open, searching it as she walked back to the group. "It's spelled 'S-H-A-Y-E' and 'H-A-L-L'."

"It's a pretty good name that stays really close to her real one." Everyone turned to Tucker who shrugged at them. "What? Shaye has the meaning of hawk-like and she's the former Hawkgirl. Make any sense?"

"You spend way too much time on the internet Tucker. Have you really been bored out of your skull to actually look up name meanings?" Danny teased with a smirk, dodging the fist that shot out to hit him in retaliation. Tucker stuck his tongue out at Danny who easily returned it with his own.

"Boys. Play nice." Jazz forced her face to look neutral but her eyes were twinkling merrily at them. "So, I guess we're all going to go to the reopening of the Observatory huh?"

"We should let Danny look after Brad." Tucker waggled his eyebrows suggestively and smirked. Sam snickered while Jazz raised a brow and Lee giggled softly. Casse looked away. "After all, he's going to have to protect what's his from the vultures' right?"

Tucker squeaked and yelped when he was assaulted by a rain of cushions that followed immediately after finishing his comment.

* * *

A noise of disgruntlement emitted from Plasmius's throat as he folded his arms over his chest at the remains of the Behemoth that floated in front of him.

"You'd think they'd put a more vicious creature to guard the gates to the castle. What a waste." Plasmius flexed his wrist before moving forward, blasting away the pieces of the Behemoth away from him to clear a path. "But at least it will be easier for me to reach my goal."

He flew through the corridors of the dusty castle, phasing through the accumulated cobwebs and skeleton guards until he reached a pair of huge double doors. He dug out the skeleton key from his pocket and his lips curved into a feral grin. Plasmius grasped the key tightly before pushing the double doors open and floated into the throne room.

Once he reached the foot of the stairs that lead to the throne, that had a sealed sarcophagus instead of a throne, he glanced over to the skeleton that held purple colored pumpkin with a bright green sword stuck deeply in its skin. He then turned over to the other side and floated to the skeleton that held a bright red orb with a ring embedded in. He stared at the key in his hand and studied the skeleton before sticking the key into its nose. Once he turned it, the red orb dissolved and dropped the ring onto his outstretched hand.

"Marvelous; the Ring of Rage." Plasmius smirked as he studied the ring closely before slipping it onto his finger. He dislodged the key from the nose of the skeleton. "Now, where is the Crown of Fire…? I'm sure the ring is useless without it."

He frowned and studied the purple pumpkin while rubbing his chin. Plasmius wandered around the base of the stairs, hoping for a clue, before hovering up to the sarcophagus to inspect it.

The coffin towered menacingly over him but Plasmius ignored the shiver that ran down his spine and focused on the sarcophagus. He ran a hand across the surface of the stone, mentally listing down the meanings of the designs before spotting the flame designs at the top. He stared at the top for a moment before slapping a hand on his forehead.

"Of course. 'Crown'; it should be at his head." He muttered under his breath as felt for a keyhole. His hands stopped when it grazed over letterings, catching his attention. As he felt the message on the sarcophagus, his other hand grasped the skeleton key tightly.

-

_**He who seeks the power of the Crown of Fire, **_

_**Must take heed of the King's immeasurable wrath.**_

_**Once the prison is opened,**_

_**The King shall **__**wake.**_

-_**  
**_

"What kind of message is this?" Plasmius scoffed at the letters and shrugged his shoulders, bringing the key up to the hole near to the message. "Pitiful excuse for opening the coffin of an already dead-"

Once he heard the click of the lock, Plasmius leapt backwards when the door of the sarcophagus suddenly swung wide open. A loud rumble echoed in the room as the large ghost from within the sarcophagus, with a fiery green crown perched on the top of his head, stepped out heavily.

The ghost's steel boots thumped heavily on the ground, the rattling of his armor pieces scraping against each other followed the sound of the heavy footsteps until the ghost stopped moving. Plasmius remained rooted to the spot, severely dwarfed by the other ghost who took no notice of him.

"**Fright Knight."** The ghost's voice boomed loudly in the room as he continued to ignore Plasmius and walked down to the pumpkin. He grasped the sword and pulled it out effortlessly. Plasmius bristled angrily at being ignored. **"Awaken!"**

The pumpkin shook before rising out of the skeleton's hands and burst into a flash of green. A black armored knight landed heavily onto the ground, straightened his back and flexed his limbs. The bigger ghost growled menacingly, catching the Fright Knight's attention and caused him to emit a squeak from his mouth before falling to his knees and bowed his head.

"My King; you have awakened!" The king snorted and threw the sword to the front of Fright Knight. The sword stuck to the ground as Fright Knight continued. "Your orders my King? I am at your disposal for any immediate action."

"**Yes. The intruder."** Plasmius grimaced and dodged the shot the king hurled his way when the king turned and thrust a charged fist at him. The power of the shot blew the pillar behind him into pieces and the aftershock of impact pushed Plasmius across the air. Fright Knight got to his feet and dislodged his sword from the ground. **"Destroy him Fright Knight and return me my ring. Now go!"**

"At once my King!" Fright Knight moved swiftly and swung his sword at Plasmius who grunted as he dodged and traded blows with the armored ghost. As powerful as he was, having honed his powers for twenty years, Plasmius found himself unable to match Fright Knight's skill and speed even though they were on par in terms of power.

'_Curses…!__'_ He scowled as he ducked the sword and thrust his fist towards Fright Knight's gut. Fright Knight moved backwards, avoiding the fist and raised his foot to kick Plasmius._ 'This can't be! Pariah Dark shouldn't be alive; all the information I gathered indicated that he was dead!'_

'_I can't deal with them both at the same time__ if Pariah decides to join in…' _Plasmius took a quick glance to Pariah Dark, who continued to stand at the base of the stairs with his arms crossed over his chest, and blocked Fright Knight's sword with a pink blast that forced the dark armored knight backwards._ 'I'll need to return for the crown another time.'_

He retreated back to the wall and smashed his charged fist against it, grabbing as much tiny rubble as he could and flung it at Fright Knight's face as he advanced towards him. Fright Knight howled, dropping his sword as he tried to sweep the dust away from his eyes from beneath the helmet. Plasmius quickly turned his heel, dodging the blasts Pariah Dark sent his way and escaped the castle with the ring still nestled snugly in his hand.

Pariah Dark released a mighty roar, charging his fist and released the energy into one powerful blast. The blast went through the roof of the castle and shot towards Plasmius as he tried to make his getaway. At the last minute, Plasmius flung a shield up but it lasted for a mere few seconds before it shattered; the blast enveloped him and sent him flying deeper into the Ghost Zone.

Fright Knight growled, his eyes flaring red as he grabbed his fallen sword and made a move to pursue Plasmius until Pariah Dark stopped him by lifting a hand. "My King…?"

"**Let him go; he won't be able to use the ****ring without my crown."**

"But my King, you need the ring to-"

"**SILENCE!"** Fright Knight clamped his mouth shut at Pariah Dark's boom that vibrated in the room for a moment. **"Do not question me Fright Knight. I want you to scout the zone to find out how long I have been locked away; I want everything back under my control…"**

-

Plasmius grunted as he pushed the large football away from the entrance of a portal and slinked in. Once back in his laboratory, he slammed a fist down on the control panel to shut off the power to the portal. He returned to his human form and coughed violently, kneeling down as he clutched his wounded side that colored red and green.

"Curse you Pariah Dark…!" Vlad wheezed, spitting out red blood that was mixed with green and then wiped his chin with the back of his hand. "Damn texts said you were dead, not locked away!"

As he continued to mentally curse the misinformation, he dragged himself towards the mainframe computer and hoisted himself onto the chair, leaning back against it heavily as he checked his mending wounds. Red blood with specks of green trickled down the side of his head and dripped from his chin. Vlad grimaced at the blood that splattered onto his pants before reaching out to the console, grunting at the stab of pain that shot through his body as he stretched, and typed in a few commands.

"Not good…" He muttered to himself as he skimmed through the information on the screen. "Now if _this _information is right… Pariah's going to be interested in our realm when he's finished with the Ghost zone…"

Vlad grimaced again, checking his wounds again before returning to the screen. _'I'll need to shut my portal down completely so that he can't get through to this realm from my end… but then there will still be one more portal to take care of unless he's got a way of coming to the Real Realm that doesn't involve the portals.'_

He debated his options. If both portals were shut, the Ghost Zone would be out of his reach again but he wasn't about to risk having Pariah Dark destroy his home and using it as a vantage point. If he allowed the Fenton Portal to remain open, the Real Realm would still be in jeopardy and there was no clear indication of whether the Justice League would be able to take Pariah Dark down.

And if he allowed the Fenton Portal to remain open, Maddie would be in the frontline of danger.

Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie. His thoughts were constantly revolving around the woman even though she had made it clear to him that she was suspicious of his nature and didn't trust him. Yet despite the tongue lashing he received from her, he still couldn't push away his feelings for her.

He reasoned with himself; she only lashed out because he overstepped his boundaries and miscalculated his steps in advancing towards her. Now he was further away from her instead of closer to her than he had hoped. But he still sought after her, believing that he still stood a chance against the insufferable Jack to finally make Maddie his. Because she was worth it. Yes; she was worth it.

And there was the other factor of Daniel…

The boy baffled him. Vlad could no longer foresee any of Danny's reactions to his carefully orchestrated scenarios and it threw him off completely when Danny reacted in a way Vlad never thought he would. It was infuriating yet at the same time, shocking. None of his plans had gone according to the way he thought them out to be and the results were far from what he expected.

He never expected Danny to have a violent attitude; violent to the point that he would even attack his family and friends without restraint, even with the intent to kill. But then again, Vlad never expected the scenario of Cassandra shooting her brother with the gun.

Danny was no longer the cliché hero Vlad thought he would become after their initial meeting at the college reunion. And yes; the next problem was that other ghost girl…

It didn't take him long to link together the pieces of her identity, but how? The question whirled in his head whenever he wasn't thinking of Maddie. He knew the origins of Danny's powers but how the hell did Wayne's eldest goddaughter get hers? Yet another thing that baffled him; no matter how many times he reviewed over every surveillance video he had of the group, he could not pinpoint which one of them was the one she had gotten her powers from.

Unless she had gotten her powers before he met Danny, but that was close to impossible since he was positive that the girl was born a full human and remained a full human when her family moved to Amity Park. There was a small possibility of it being true but Vlad doubted it to be true; his reasoning was that she was showing up far too late for it to have happened that early since he assumed that she would immediately follow Danny in his crusade. Teenagers, he believed, were always out to prove themselves and would jump at the first chance given to them; hence his belief that she wasn't going to be any different from Danny.

But then again, she was an excellent choice to fall back to if Danny continued to refuse to take his side and if Danny did come to his side, she'd be a bonus.

Vlad allowed his thoughts to roam as he absently patted his healing wound and leaned back against his chair. _'Decisions, decisions.'_ He thought to himself, bringing his hand up from his side and tapped the tips of his fingers of both hands together. The information continued to climb up the screen when Vlad turned his gaze back to the computer. _'But if I do go down to Amity Park, I'll need a good reason… Dropping by for a visit isn't going to cut it with them anymore…'_

He idly raised a hand and tapped the console as he tried to think of an excuse of going down to Amity Park. The information on the screen was soon replaced with online news articles and Vlad absently skimmed through them before one caught his attention. He straightened up, his wound having healed enough that he wasn't in that much pain, and stopped scrolling.

-

"**Wayne to reopen refurbished Amity Observatory!"**

-

'_Well… isn't that convenient.'_ Vlad expelled a breath he had unwittingly kept in. Now he had a good enough excuse to show his face in Amity Park. _'Now I just need to structure a plan…'_

* * *

"Whoever invented summer homework ought to have his brain checked." Tucker grumbled under his breath as he looked over his science textbook. "Why isn't Brad here? He's the one who's freakishly good at science."

"One: he has a medical check-up today." Danny scribbled on his paper before peering over to his textbook. "Two: Lee said that they were going to have lunch with Mr. Wayne after the check up and three: she also said that she'll give us a buzz if they're going to be coming down later on or not."

"If he's not molesting Brad, he's gluing himself to Lee." Danny threw Sam and Tucker a dark scowl that caused them to scoot away from him. "I'm only joking Danny!"

"It got annoying after the eighth time." He deadpanned, resting his cheek on a hand before pointing the tip of his pen at them. "It's not funny anymore when you repeat the same joke about ten times in less than 24 hours."

"You had about a 12 hour break in between." Tucker squeaked and quickly hid his face behind Sam's shoulders when Danny shot him a disgruntled glare. "Ok, so maybe we are taking it too far. Sorry bro."

Danny grunted and returned to his homework. Sam and Tucker exchanged glances with each other before shifting their seats back to their original positions and got back to work. The three were settled in the dining room of Fenton Works with their summer homework spread across the table. Silence settled between them in the dining room as they worked, the only noises present were the flipping of pages and the scratching of pens on paper until Sam spoke up.

"So… Where's Jazz?"

"Library." Tucker and Sam winced at his curt response and a tense silence followed afterwards. It took a moment for Danny to realize it and when it did hit him, he smacked his palm on his forehead. "Ugh. Sorry; I'm just fed up with the jokes."

"It's because you make such a big deal out of it; it's too easy to get you riled up nowadays." Tucker commented lightly, scowling at his science book before turning back to his paper to scratch out his answer. "We don't say these jokes to be malicious, but your reaction – and Brad's for that matter – is pretty funny."

"Ok, so maybe sexuality is a touchy topic and we're threading on thin ice by making jokes about it." Tucker brought his face up to look over to Danny. "But we know you and Brad are open minded to it and aren't as homophobic as Casse is. Plus, you guys give us way too many reasons to poke fun at you guys about it since you two usually end up in really…"

Tucker paused, twirling his finger in a circle as he tried to dig up a word. Danny raised his brow at him while Sam's expression turned thoughtful.

"Sexual looking positions?" Tucker coughed and spluttered, turning his face away from the table as Danny's face went bright red at Sam's suggestion. Sam on the other hand, was unfazed by her own choice of words and shrugged. "What? Lee's told me about that time during Christmas when you were chasing Brad around your room and ended up straddling him and then Jazz showed me some of the photos she took of you guys cuddling in bed."

"…I'm going to kill Jazz." Danny buried his face into his hands, muffling his words as he tried to hide the wild blush that streaked across his cheeks. He heard a choked sound and turned to his side to see Tucker trying to keep his laughter under control. Danny turned back to see Sam raise a brow at him, her lips curved into an amused smirk. "I don't think I'll ever understand you girls; weren't you the one who wanted to hog me all to yourself just a few months ago?"

"I was being stupid back then!" Sam's cheeks flared red at the reminder of her obsession. Tucker's lips curved into an 'o' and his eyes flitted between Sam and Danny as they glared at each other. "Ok, so I took it too far with the unique thing and now that I'm looking at it again, it was stupid to chase you because of the thought that you were unique with your powers."

"Girls are weird." Danny deadpanned, resting his chin on his hand without breaking eye contact with Sam. Sam stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation.

"No wonder you're gay." Tucker sweated as sparks flew between his two friends as they glared at each other. They continued to glare at each other for a while before releasing simultaneous 'humphs' and turned back to their work.

The trio resumed working, only stopping for snacks at one point and when Lee rang Fenton Works. Tucker sniggered childishly as Danny talked to Lee on the phone, earning a sharp glare from the raven head that caused him to force his laughter down and turn back to his work. Sam on the other hand, smirked devilishly during the phone call.

"There's nothing going on between us!" Danny snapped at her when the call finished, glaring at Sam as he put the receiver back in the cradle. "I can tell what you're thinking about Sam and no there's nothing going on!"

"But methinks you've got a fetish for blondes…"

"And methinks that you need to stop poking fun at me now before I decide to hunt you down." Danny didn't realize that his eyes had begun to flash green and blinked when Sam balked, shrank back from him and turned her gaze to the table. It was only when Tucker pointed to his eyes that he realized what he had unwittingly insinuated but at that moment, he couldn't bring himself to apologize to her; he was just too tired of the jokes. "Look, let's just get back to work; Lee said that if they were going to come it'd be pretty late since she's not sure if Mr. Wayne's willing to let them out of his sight yet."

Work resumed in subdued silence; Danny refused to meet Sam and Tucker's eyes while Tucker gently nudged Sam to break her out of her meek slump. While he succeeded in silently cheering Sam up (by balancing chips on his nose and making funny gestures that cracked a smile from her), Tucker hadn't been able to catch Danny's attention to lighten the remainder of the tense atmosphere.

A rumbling noise soon caught their attention and Danny blinked when he saw the pieces of paper shiver on the table top before he realized that the entire room was shaking. The glasses and plates clinked together loudly at the sink and the cupboard doors rattled about. Thankfully, the tremors weren't strong enough to throw anyone off balance. After a moment, the rumbling stopped and the room fell silent.

"Ok… that was weird." Tucker exchanged wary glances with his friends before turning to look out the dining room door, slowly getting up from his seat. "Is it me or did it seem like the tremors were coming from your basement Danny?"

"It wasn't just you Tuck." Danny tilted his head upwards to check the clock. "At least my parents aren't around right now. Hopefully it's nothing big, but I'll check it out just to be on the safe side."

"The boss has spoken." Danny rolled his eyes at Tucker's mock salute while Sam shook her head in amusement. "You want us to come with you?"

"Nah… like I said, hopefully it's nothing big since my ghost sense hasn't gone off." The hybrid waved his hand, prompting Tucker to sit back on his seat. "I'll be right back; just cover for me if my parents come home early."

"Aye aye mon' Capitan." He shook his head, his shoulders relaxing from the earlier tension before he left the dining room and headed for the basement. Halfway down the stairs, he shifted to his ghost form and flattened himself against the wall, inching down slowly for the rest of the way.

He peered over the wall, scanning the room and frowned when he found nothing had changed drastically; only a few items were misplaced because of the earlier tremors and the half finished armor thing his parents had started working on some time ago. Danny cautiously stepped in and slowly made his way to the ghost portal. He blinked when the doors of the portal rattled for a moment and tensed when it rattled again.

At the front of the portal, he hesitated and the rattling intensified. Danny yelped out in shock when the portal doors suddenly burst open and flew into a fighting stance when Skulker stepped out. He blinked when Skulker ignored him and whipped his head around to scan the room before bellowing into the open portal.

"It's clear! Move, move, move, move!" Before Danny could even comprehend what was going on, a huge stream of ghosts rushed out of the portal in a hurry and disappeared as quickly as they came.

Back upstairs, Tucker and Sam yelled in shock as the ghosts flew up and out of Fenton Works. Because they were unarmed, they quickly backed up to the furthest wall of the dining room and flattened themselves against the cupboards in case any of the ghosts decided to attack them.

Danny broke out of his shock and lunged for the portal control, slamming a hand on the close button that cut off the stream of ghosts. Skulker whipped around, finally noticing Danny, and shot a laser at him that Danny quickly blocked with a shield. With Skulker distracting him, Danny didn't see Ember appear behind him and reopen the portal doors. When the doors reopened, Danny gasped and turned only to have Ember blast him with her guitar.

"Hurry!" Danny yelped when his body smacked the steel walls of the laboratory and blindly fired an energy shot, hoping to hit at least one of the ghosts that were running out of the portal. There was a shriek but it was drowned out by the noise made by the other ghosts. He shook himself hard before turning and fired energy blasts at Skulker and Ember, stunning them before racing forward to the controls and smacking the doors to the portal shut again. "Damnit dipstick, keep the damn thing open!"

"What kind of moron do you think I am?!" He snapped, blocking her guitar with his hands and twisted his lower body to avoid Skulker's fist, smashing his foot into the hunter's face instead. Danny thrust his hands up, making Ember stumble backwards, and jumped up. He grabbed a Thermos and attached it to his belt before snagging the strap of Ember's guitar that crossed over her chest and the back of Skulker's suit, hauling the two ghosts out of Fenton Works to avoid damaging his parents' laboratory.

Only to groan in annoyance when he saw the swarm of ghosts circling the top of the Ops Center. "What the hell is this?" He yelled out as Ember and Skulker freed themselves from him and joined the gaggle of ghosts above Ops. "Some kind of ghost gathering or something?!"

"We're trying to stay alive you stupid little-"

"Does the whelp even know what's going on?" Skulker abruptly cut Ember off from her curse and Danny raised a brow at them. He didn't relax his fighting stance, still feeling uneasy with the large group of ghosts. No matter if he had managed to defeat a majority of them before; with such a big group, he was certain that he couldn't take all of them down at the same time.

All the ghosts that were present focused their eyes on him and Danny swallowed the lump in his throat, preparing for the worst. Murmurs rose from the group and it surprised him when a few of the ghosts, most of them he couldn't name, simply flew off without a second glance; but the ghosts that remained sneered at him menacingly. _'Ok… on one hand I'm glad Lee's not here, but on the other hand her help would really be appreciated right now…'_

"I don't care if the boy doesn't know what's going on." Spectra hissed as she licked her lips, rubbing her hands together with glee dancing in her eyes. "This will be good payback…"

"And we're supposed to be running away from here you psycho bitch!" Ember spat back, flipping her guitar over her shoulder and glared heatedly at Spectra. Danny sweated as both ghosts snarled at each other, but the only difference was that Spectra had Bertrand, who was in his jaguar form, snarling along with her against Ember. "If you want Pariah Dark to skewer your ass, then be my guest! I'm out of here!"

"Am I supposed to know who Pariah Dark is?" Danny glanced at the remaining ghosts warily as Ember sped off with a few of the other ghosts. The menacing sneers disappeared, replaced with shock and incredulity, as they stared at Danny with their mouths hanging open. Danny grimaced and inched backwards. "Ok, I probably should but I don't…"

From below, Tucker and Sam raced out of the front door of Fenton Works and stared up at the mass of ghosts hovering above Ops Center. They spotted Danny slowly inching his way away from the group of ghosts and held their breaths.

"This… doesn't look good, does it?" Tucker swallowed loudly as Sam slowly nodded her head.

"Definitely not good." Sam paused then quickly grabbed a hold of Tucker's collar and pulled him back into Fenton Works. "Quick! Where's the equipment we can use to help him?!"

"I say we get rid of him now!" Spectra's lips curved into an unpleasant smirk as she shifted into her shadow form. "He'll be one less pest to worry about!"

"But we're supposed to be banding together against Pariah Dark." Sidney Pointdexter pointed out from his perch on a ghost Danny couldn't name. "The kid isn't a threat that's as big as Pariah."

Danny raised a brow as the ghosts began to argue with each other, but Skulker he noted, was surprisingly not shouting at the top of his lungs that he, being Danny, was his prey. The ghosts' behaviors were confusing; Ember normally didn't have a problem with the idea of beating him up (she wasn't the only one though, he mentally corrected, Skulker too usually just attacked him at first sight).

But seriously, who was Pariah Dark?

"Oh you… do whatever you want, you old hag!" Sidney suddenly snapped, breaking Danny out of his thoughts. He watched as the nerdy ghost gripped the shoulder of the other ghost he was sitting on tightly while scowling at Spectra, who glowered at the 'old hag' remark. "I'll laugh when Pariah Dark comes and tears you apart because you decided that your revenge was worth more than your life!"

Sidney left in a huff with a few ghosts following his lead but Danny took a quick headcount and found that despite some of the ghosts leaving, there were still too many of them for him to handle. Idly, he wondered if Lee's ghost sense was ticking her off; with this huge number of ghosts, he thought, her ghost sense would have made her feel really uncomfortable by now.

"You're going to pay for everything you've messed up boy!" In his brief moment in thought, Danny didn't see Spectra's black tendrils creep towards him and snake around his body. He yelped when the tendril wrapped around his neck and tightened its hold on him, trapping his right arm on his side while his left tried to loosen the tendril's grip on his neck. Spectra sneered and licked her lips. "This will be immensely satisfying…"

"Who the hell is Pariah Dark anyway?" Danny wheezed and fisted his left hand, trying to regain some breath. He grimaced when the group of ghosts went back to sneering at him with menacing glints in their eyes. "At least answer me that one question!"

"I'll be glad to answer that, as your last request." Bertrand smirked and licked his lips as he flew forward. His tongue flitted out from his mouth and he licked the side of Danny's face, as if tasting his next meal. Danny's expression twisted into a disgusted look as Bertrand leaned forward to his ear, his teeth grazing the ear lightly as he spoke. "He's the King of Ghosts; one of, or maybe even the most, powerful ghosts ever to become corporeal."

"But…" Danny grimaced as he gasped for air; Bertrand's claw scraped across his cheek, leaving behind four light scratch marks and he winced as the ghosts began advancing towards him and prepped themselves to attack. "What has that got to do with –"

"Enough talk!" Danny gasped as Spectra tightened her hold on him, cutting off his concentration and the energy he had been charging in his left fist dissipated. The distance between him and the ghosts shortened as Spectra pulled him closer and the ghosts loomed forward. He grimaced. "It's time for some payback!"

Sam and Tucker dashed out of the front door of Fenton Works, both armed with two weapons each. Sam charged the gun and aimed it high, but Tucker quickly grabbed her arm and forced it down.

"No! We can't see him with all those ghosts crowding him!" Sam cursed colorfully at Tucker's implied scenario of them hitting Danny instead of helping him and grimaced when pained shouts echoed from above them. Beside her, Tucker tried to find an opening for them but failed. "Damnit! There's too many of them!"

"Tucker, we're going to need to –"

Sam was cut off by a loud shout and several crackles; both teens looked up to see Danny plummet towards them. Tucker roughly grabbed Sam's elbow and pulled her away as Danny's back slammed against the pavement with a sickening crack. He looked up to see the group of ghosts circle around the Ops Center before taking off into different directions. Sam wretched her elbow free from his grip and ran over to Danny who groaned and curled into a fetal position.

"Danny! Are you ok?" Tucker stepped over quickly as Sam crouched down to check Danny over. Danny however, turned his head to the side, threw her a dirty look and gritted his teeth before groaning and rolling to his front. Tucker too, shot Sam a look and she winced. "Oh fine, so he's not ok… it's a standard question!"

"Standard question or not; if it's obvious, don't ask." Danny waved a hand in agreement to Tucker's statement but his hand flopped to his back and he groaned again. Tucker squatted down and gently patted Danny's back, his eyes sweeping across the road to check for anyone else. God, how did people ignore all the noise? "Sorry we couldn't do anything to help…"

"I was going to tell you that we were going to have to take our chances." Sam commented as she placed her hands on Danny's shoulder blades and began rubbing them gently in a circular motion. Tucker mumbled incoherently, causing Danny to turn his head to look at him and Sam to raise a brow. "What was that?"

"I said I wasn't going to take the chance of hurting him." Tucker's cheeks flushed as his two friends blinked at him. He huffed lightly and folded his arms over his chest, turning his face away from them. "I don't care if situation calls for it; I won't take that chance of hurting him unless he's in his bonkers mode."

"Bonkers mode?" Sam took one of her hands off from Danny's back and covered her mouth to smother her snickers. Danny chuckled quietly and winced as he tried to straighten his back to get back up to his feet. He stumbled and landed on his knees, but Sam caught him in time before he face planted on the pavement. "Whoa, take it easy Danny."

"I wish." He grunted, fisting his right hand and thumped his aching back while Tucker exchanged a look with Sam after he turned back to face them. Danny rolled his eyes and gave them a pointed look. "Hello? A whole bunch of ghosts are running rampant around town; ring any alarm bells?"

"…Oh." Danny grunted again and flattened his hand on his spine as he struggled to his feet with Sam's help. Tucker paused and tapped a finger on his bottom lip. "So… no sleep tonight huh?"

"With that many ghosts running around?" Danny straightened his back and winced at the cracks that sounded. "I'll be lucky if I catch any of them tonight."

"I don't think Lee's going to be able to keep up with everything tonight though." At Sam's mention of Lee, Danny groaned and rubbed his face roughly with a hand. He grimaced slightly as pain shot through his spine again but forced his face to straighten to avoid showing that he was in more pain than he thought. "She barely manages night patrols and there's no way in hell I'd let her solo those ghosts."

"Oo… looks like someone's becoming protective." Sam scowled and folded her arms over her chest, a light shade of red streaking over her cheeks as Danny waggled his eyebrows with a mischievous smirk playing on his lips at her. Tucker blinked and scratched the back of his head before the implication hit him; he quickly turned around and stuffed his fist into his mouth to muffle his laughter. "Is there something going on between you two?"

"Shut up Danny."

"Payback's a bitch, isn't it Sam?"

* * *

"If we weren't supposed to go for the stupid reopening today, I'd kill you Danny." His sheepish laugh was cut off by a mighty yawn and he missed the tired glare Lee sent in his direction. Dark rings surrounded their eyes and Lee stopped glaring at Danny to rub the sleep from her eyes. "Ugh… I'm going to be lucky if Lois doesn't corner me to ask me why I look like a zombie later on."

"I never got to ask but," Danny stopped and yawned again before turning back to face Lee as they walked down the pavement. "Who's Lois?"

"Lois Lane; she's a reporter for the Daily Planet in Metropolis. Uncle Bruce dated her a few years ago but she dumped him." Lee mumbled, stumbling in her steps beside him as she continued to rub her eyes. "They're still friends but Lois likes to stick her nose into our business a lot; Clark's just as nosy as she is but… I guess that's reporters for you."

"Clark?"

"Sorry." She massaged the back of her neck with one hand and covered her mouth with the other as she yawned. "Clark Kent's from the Daily Planet too and he's her rival, or at least I think they are, but they usually gang up against Uncle Bruce when it comes to nosing into our business."

"That kinda sucks."

Both hybrids yawned at the same time and continued to trudge slowly down the pathway. Neither of them had gotten any sleep the night before because of the mass outbreak of ghosts and hadn't been able to catch any of them. They had tried to tackle the smaller unknown ghosts first but because those ghosts traveled together in big numbers, they got overwhelmed. It didn't help that Spectra and some of the other ghosts was still out for more revenge against Danny despite having their earlier confrontation with him in the day; apparently, it hadn't been enough for them.

Luckily, at least in Danny's point of view, none of them held a grudge against Lee – of which Danny deduced was because she had only been in action for a short while and most of the ghosts actually pushed her away from him when they attacked – and Spectra didn't know her human identity like she knew his. Thus, he had been the main target throughout the entire night but when he tried putting his foot down on Lee to stop her from healing him, she overruled him and pointed out that if the ghosts were going to target him, it was all the more that he needed to be healed to face them.

He didn't tell her about the 'Pariah Dark' the ghosts were running from because, hell, he didn't who the ghost was either. But he admitted to himself, inwardly, that he had clean forgotten about the Pariah Dark guy because he had more pressing matters at hand back then. Like, persuading everyone to not come to the night patrol with them.

"_If we're going to look like zombies tomorrow, we're going to need your help to cover up."_

"_But,"_ Jazz sighed in frustration at him after he laid his reason down; Tucker and Sam were less than pleased with the reason and Lee told him that she already put her foot down on her siblings because of Brad's condition and of course, their mistrust of Casse with any kind of weaponry. _"What do we say? I mean, what kind of excuse can we give about a pair of friends, a teenage boy and girl at that, not getting enough sleep?"_

"_What's that supposed to mean?"_

"_Ugh, let's just make him look like a kidnapping perv tomorrow." _

He had been affronted with what Sam said since – _for the love of god and for the umpteenth time_ – he and Lee were just friends! Why did spending time with female friends equate to a serious relationship? It made no sense! Why the hell did everyone like to blow things out of proportion anyway?

Besides, it wouldn't explain their lack of sleep unless it was something more than just making out. Danny was pretty sure that Lee could look after herself well enough to kick anyone, even him, in the balls if they/he tried that kind of stunt on her. Plus, he'd get decapitated if that word ever got out to her godfather; he had no doubt that the billionaire would go that far to protect his wards and godchildren.

"So… why are we out here so early?" Lee tilted her head and glared at him again, the bags around her eyes seemingly got darker as she glared at him.

"I already told you why when you got shoved out of your house!" He winced at the agitation that was present in her voice and inwardly berated himself for not listening to her when she did drag him out of Fenton Works earlier; all her words just went in one ear and out the other. All he could give her was a sheepish smile while she scowled at him and then continued. "Uncle Bruce dumped the idea of having someone go in early to sweeten the reporters up and give him time to wrestle Brad into another shirt."

"But two hours before the opening? Are you sure anyone is going to be there in the first place and why am I coming along?" Again, he received another glare and he quickly scooted away from her, holding his hands out in a pacifying gesture.

"Firstly, Uncle Bruce takes his own sweet time to do stuff; he always comes to events late and yes, there are idiots who come three hours before the scheduled start of an event." She deadpanned and pointed a finger at him. "And about you coming along with me: Jazz called me over, kicked you out of bed, shoved you at me and said that if we were going to be zombies, we're to zombie together."

"You don't get her reasoning?" This time, he chuckled at her exasperated look.

"I'm not on the same wavelength as she is today because I'm exhausted and I still have to do damage control later on." She ran a hand through her hair, scowled at empty air before muttering, "It's not like she even gave me a reason anyway."

"Well, let's zombie through the day together I guess." She snorted and bumped her hips against his with a half hearted roll of her eyes. He grinned and returned the bump, receiving another roll of her eyes and yelped when her hand lazily slapped his back, close to his butt. "Hey!"

"I'm too tired to aim high Danny."

"And they say I'm the perv!"

"Neither of us are pervs." She pointed out and softly punched his arm with an annoyed glare. "And may god help you if you're calling me one."

Danny stuck his tongue out at her childishly and danced away from her reach when she growled and started to chase him. Their chasing game went on until they stopped at the bottom of the hill that lead to the Observatory and by then, the dark rings had lightened and they were panting for breath. Lee lifted a foot and kicked Danny's leg lightly with a huff.

He whined and sent her huge doe eyes that she seemingly ignored. Well at least they weren't slouched, feet dragging zombies anymore.

"Oh god, I didn't realize how hot it is today." She moaned, fanning her face as sweat rolled down the sides of her face. "And I don't think it's that ghost sense thingy that's throwing me off."

"It's not just you." He agreed, wiping his brow with his arm and straightened his back. "They say this summer's going to be hotter than last year's, but didn't say how bad it was going to be."

"Thank god the Observatory's going to have air con."

"Oh now that sounds really good right about no- oh hey! That looks like the new game I want to get!" Lee rolled her eyes at Danny's quick change of attitude as he zipped down the pavement and across the road to the store; she laughed when he pressed his nose against the window (but not so far as to make his nose fully squished and make him look like a deranged kid). "This is awesome! They have it out on demo and their preorders are open!"

"Boys." She muttered with an amused smile as Danny grinningly waved at her from across the road before turning back to the store. She shook her head slightly and called over to him. "I'll go on ahead then! Don't take too long or else I'll really skewer you later for leaving me alone to the vultures!"

"OK!" He shouted back and waved as she started walking up the hill to the Observatory. Danny turned back to the window, watching the players for a moment and looked at his watch. Ten to fifteen minutes of fanboying wouldn't hurt.

Besides, Guitar Heroes was just too _fucking_ awesome to miss!

* * *

The first thing she did was check which reporters were already snooping around before heading to the toilets to freshen up. She listed the names as she splashed water on her face and sighed at the cool feeling of freshness it left behind.

'_Mm…__ Lois and Clark brought Jimmy with them this time… then there's Parker, Jameson, some new guy I don't know…'_ The list continued as she shook the excess water away from her face and hands. The blessed cool air from the air conditioning skimmed across her skin as she went to dry her face and hands. _'I'm surprised that there's so many other people here early, even the caterers are done putting everything up! Why can't Uncle Bruce be an early bird for once…?'_

Lee trailed back to the main room, lost in her thoughts. Just as she preened her hair backwards and got ready to push the doors open, a wave of heat swept through her body and she groaned. She wiped her brow and nervously peeked into the room full of people. _'Oh please not now…'_

She quickly turned her back when Lois turned to her direction and hurried back to the toilets without looking back. In her panicked haste, her invisibility activated and she didn't notice Lois peer out from the main room with a raised brow. Lee didn't realize she was invisible until reaching the toilets and didn't see her reflection on the mirrors.

'_Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap –'_ Lee inwardly cursed herself for the slip and prayed that no one had seen her. She took in a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart and bit her lip. _'…crap. This is going to be the first time I'm doing this on my own! Danny! Why'd you have to abandon me, of all times, for a game?!'_

Fear began to pulse in her veins, followed by the familiar rush of adrenaline she had become accustomed to feeling whenever Danny pulled her along with him to fight ghosts. After her first meeting with Skulker, she couldn't help but feel fearful of fighting any enemy, even the random passing ghost animals that didn't really pose a huge threat, alone. She knew that she was far weaker than Danny was and had bad aim (though Tucker would console her and point out that he didn't have much of a better aim), but at least her energy shots weren't lethal to really hurt anyone or do massive damage if she missed her target.

She hadn't quite confessed to anyone that she was acting purely on raw instinct and was actually scared shitless whenever any ghost appeared. Lee was pretty sure (and most of all, hoping) that she was doing a convincing job of looking as if she was fine whenever they went ghost hunting. Their (meaning Sam, Brad, Jazz and Tucker) presence made it easier but none the less, she was still afraid; of both messing up and getting killed in one of the attacks.

Back-up she could do; front line? No way.

Another wave of warmth washed over her and Lee glared up at the air conditioner. _'Why couldn't it have been these things that got short circuited…?'_

Right. She was still invisible and there was a ghost running loose. She peered up and around the walls to check for surveillance cameras but still slipped into a stall just in case. The familiar feeling of energy washed over her body and she quite flew out of the toilet, still invisible and activated her intangibility. _'How does Danny willingly do this…? Why am I doing this willingly?'_

A total hypocrite. Yes. Lee was beginning to believe that she was a hypocrite who didn't know what the hell she really believed in and what she wanted to do. Oh fate was so enjoying biting her ass. Contrary to belief, she could swear; not only in English, but in various other languages she picked up from the rich snobs at parties. It's just that she chose a more delicate way of showing her disapproval rather than to curse like a sailor.

'_Ugh… Focus girl, focus! No wonder I can't do this stuff properly…'_ She grumbled to herself as she cautiously stuck her head through the door to take a look at the room. There was a few more people in the room, more of the rich snobs than reporters, but that was the only change she noticed. While she knew she was invisible, Lee couldn't help but thread cautiously around the room to find the ghost that was loose.

"I thought I saw Amilee just now." Lee stopped and turned; Lois had a hand resting on her hip and a glass of punch in the other hand, pointing a dainty finger at the larger broad shouldered man facing her. "It's strange though; it was almost as if she vanished into thin air when I reached the door to check if it was her."

"Are you sure it's her?" Clark pushed his glasses up his nose before peering down at his notepad. "The opening doesn't start in an hour or so and the family usually comes together."

"Smallville, you and I know Bruce long enough that he'll get weird ideas and the only one he'd trust coming alone is Amilee." Lois rolled her eyes, took a sip of her drink and gave Clark a pointed glare. "We all know that Bradley is a trouble seeker and Cassandra's a motor mouth with no restraint."

"I think they've both grown up enough that Bradley doesn't actively seek trouble and that Cassandra realizes that she has to keep quiet about certain things." Lee, standing beside Lois invisibly, shook her head. Oh Clark was so wrong, Casse was far worse than she had ever been as a kid. "Anyway, it could've just been your imagination; I don't think they'd come separately like that. It's either you get all three of the kids or none of them."

'_Clark, you have no idea how much things have changed.'_ She held back the dry laugh that threatened to rise from her throat and decided that she had eavesdropped enough. Lee frowned as she combed the room and wondered if the ghost was somewhere else in the observatory when the heat wave, that was much stronger than the previous waves, washed over her.

Suddenly, she had a very bad feeling of what was going to happen.

"What's that rumbling noise?" Lois's voice seemed far away as Lee looked up to see the walls shiver and heard the rumbling mixed with the tinkling sounds of the metal cutlery. A large green portal winked into existence in the middle of the room and then, the roar sounded.

'_Oh__ my fucking god.'_ Lee's eyes widened as the large armor clad ghost stepped out of the portal. _'Danny, where the hell are you?!'_

_

* * *

  
_

"OH FUCK YOU UNCLE BRUCE!" Maddie winced at Brad's yell. For a kid who suffered a point blank shot to the chest, his lungs were doing perfectly well after three months. "YOU'RE SICING MRS. FENTON ON ME?!"

"Now Bradley." Maddie had the distinct feeling that Bruce was enjoying annoying his godson but she also understood his reasons when he came to her the day before, asking for help in regards to 'wrestling' Brad into a suitable shirt for the day. But she hadn't expected him to come into Fenton Works with everyone in tow – and with Brad tucked under his armpit shouting and kicking – after Jazz had literally kicked Danny out earlier to 'help' Lee at the Observatory. There was one and a half hours more until the scheduled opening time. "You know I would have to resort to something and please, mind your language or I'll ask Maddie where she keeps the disinfect and wash your mouth with it."

She didn't expect Brad to be so vehement about changing his shirt but then again, maybe Bruce was having too much fun riling him up or Brad was just being rebellious; or well, maybe even both. Brad glared balefully at his godfather and opened his mouth to retort when he began to hack and cough violently. Startled at his sudden fit, Maddie swooped down and rubbed his back soothingly, whispering softly into his ear.

"Take it easy… calm down. Shh…" Maternal instinct came to her so naturally (of course it should, she muttered inwardly, I'm a mother of two!) and for most part, that she regretted, it was because she pitied the triplets. She knew she shouldn't feel that way, but the pity came as easily as the maternal instinct.

Maddie recalled an earlier conversation with Shaye over the matter; the winged heroine admitted that she didn't know whether or not it was her maternal instinct flaring or if it was pity running through her. But the triplets were far from pitiful and both women knew that.

"It's not too bad Brad; the shirt's plain and not bright." Brad shot her a wounded look but hacked at the same moment. She shook her head in amusement. Ok, so it was time for a little bit more maternal force although she was pretty sure he would resent her for it. "Come on, you don't want to get spanked for being rebellious do you?"

Choked giggles sounded from the doorway and Maddie didn't have to turn around to know that everyone was not so subtly spying on them trying to get Brad to wear a proper shirt in Danny's room. She could hear Jack chuckle along with the giggles and couldn't help herself, "And if the others outside don't stop spying, they'll get spanked too."

She could hear Casse release a horrified squawk while Jazz's giggles became louder. Tucker and Sam knew her well enough to know that she was kidding and Maddie wasn't terribly surprised when she heard Shaye giggle.

"There's nothing –cough– wrong with my shirt!" Ah. The teen was still resisting and Maddie had the feeling that it wasn't just the phase of being rebellious; she never saw Brad being outwardly rebellious to Tobias (but then again, the man usually let his son do as he pleased) but Bruce always seemed pretty pushy when it came to the kids.

"Bradley Thomas Angeles." Brad froze at Maddie's use of his full name and the stern tone. "You need to wear a round neck shirt that's close up to your neck because your burn can be seen from under this shirt."

"No buts young man. I know you don't want to have any questions directed at you; there'll be more than enough when they see you taking your medication." Maddie heard the small squeak of glee from the door and directed her stern glare to Casse. "Don't revel in your brother getting scolded young lady; I've never stood for Jazz or Danny to laugh whenever I scold any of them and I certainly won't stand it from you."

Maddie was in full Mom-mode. Casse was quickly silenced.

Maddie turned to Brad, her stern look still on her face and Bruce wisely stepped aside. Her eyes gazed into Brad's and she rested her hands on his shoulders. Brad averted his gaze and she sighed.

"Look, I don't want to be your enemy but your godfather's right about the shirt Brad. Please—" Suddenly, alarms blared around the house, startling everyone and Maddie could hear Jack hurriedly lumbering down the stairs to the lab. "What on–"

"MADS!" Jack's bellow could barely be heard as the alarms continued to wail. A cold chill ran up her spine and Maddie moved, racing through the group of teens, down the stairs and to the lab where Jack was hurriedly pressing commands on the super computer they rigged up. "There's a sudden large mass of ectoplasmic energy forming around the Observatory. I can't calculate it because it's massive; more than we've ever gotten with the other regular ghosts we've seen so far."

"The Observatory's going to be reopened today." She breathed in fear, her hands flying over the consoles beside her husband and the faint sound of footsteps hurrying down the stairs entered her ears, softly reminding her to switch off the alarm. Even with the alarm off, the sound still pounded in her head. "Jack, we have to get there now and put up a shield around the Observatory. Humans can go in and out of the shield so –"

"Any human inside can just run out and the… ghost will be trapped inside." Maddie noticed her husband's hesitation of classifying the large mass of energy. Truthfully, she wasn't sure if it were a ghost; none, even Phantom and that new girl Angel had any energy readings this high. Jack suddenly stopped and turned to her, his eyes fearful. "Mads… didn't Danny and Lee go to the Observatory earlier?"

Her hands froze in mid-type as it sunk in and she was sure that the cold wasn't just affecting her.

"Oh… god. We need to hurry!"

* * *

He hadn't done it on purpose, but the game just sucked in him so much that he didn't realize he overshot fifteen minutes. It was only when the store owner asked him if it was ok for him to 'leave his missus hanging' that he checked the time and swore out loud, forgetting to correct the store owner that she was just his friend and nothing more.

Lee was going to kill him.

Danny thanked the store owner, checking up the price of the game before handing the guitar to the next person and flitted out the door. He double checked his watch as he slipped into the alley beside the store, not noticing the Fenton RV parked at the foot of the hill to the Observatory or his family and friends at that area, his focus concentrating solely on his watch. He overshot his fifteen minutes by thirty; Lee was so going to kill him.

Ok fine, he spent a majority of the time waiting for the guitar to be passed over to him to try the demo but it had been interesting to see others play it; he was impressed with the game play and was eager for the official release. But right now, he hoped that Lee wouldn't skin him alive for leaving her to the hungry press and make sure that he survived until November to get the game.

Flying would definitely be his best hope for shortening the time traveling up to the Observatory, but faster into his inevitable doom. That's when he began shivering violently and the blue wisp of air escaped his lips. He gasped and rubbed his arms to calm the shivers.

'_Now? Wait, the store was way too cold earlier… was it my ghost sense triggering and not the air con?'_ Danny cursed himself for not checking and swiftly changed into his ghost form. _'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit… She's never been on her own against another ghost since Skulker!'_

He didn't have time to think about why the shiver was more massive than before and shot out of the alley in a hurry but yelped when a green shield suddenly formed in front of him. Unable to brake in time, Danny slammed face-first against the shield hard and cursed loudly as he fell backward, holding his nose as he hit the ground with a thump.

"_Motherfucker-_"

"Danny?" He looked up to see his sister and friends turn their heads about from their positions at the Fenton RV and blinked. _'Oh, looks like Mr. Wayne didn't manage to make Brad wear another shir—wait… HEY! Why are they all out here and why's this damn shield up?!'_

Danny bristled when their eyes slid away from him and frowned before he realized that he was in his ghost form and was currently invisible. Mentally he berated himself and turned visible again, startling the group of people that had begun to surround the shield. By now, there was a crowd surrounding both the shield and the Fenton RV, many of them demanding to know why the 'great big shield' was there for when they could go through it and punctuated their point by sticking their hand through the shield. That's when Danny realized that Shayera, no… _Shaye_, wasn't among the group but then a loud flap of wings and the Thanagarian woman descended from the sky in full uniform.

The people surrounding him spluttered at his sudden appearance but Danny decided to wave it off and floated upwards and towards the group. He caught the ending of a rant one of the men were shoving at his mother's face and frowned before descending downwards. So far, they were all too preoccupied, despite the fact there were other people around them sniggering and point up at him, to notice him.

"—and what's the point of this thing when humans can go through it?!"

"The main point of this shield I believe, is to either trap a ghost or protect yourself from one." They jumped and Danny could see the signs of relief on his friends' and sister's faces when they saw him and wondered exactly what was going on. The blood from the man's face paled dramatically and Maddie's hand shot out to force Jack's gun down. Danny stared at the pale man with bored look on his face. "You're not a ghost so the thing isn't solid to you as it is to me."

He punctuated his point by rapping his knuckles against the shield before turning to Maddie, ignoring the spluttering man who paled further and backed away from them, and raised a brow at her. He was surprised that she hadn't immediately whipped out a gun and pointed the barrel in his face. The brow went further up when he noticed that she was pushing Jack's hand with the gun down.

"So… am I allowed to ask why are you putting this thing up?" Danny tried not to fidget as Maddie scrutinized him, her eyes staring straight into his own and he forced himself to straighten and return the stare with equal force. "Or is it for 'human only knowledge'?"

Adrenaline thrummed in his veins. The shield was blocking him from getting to Lee and he had absolutely no clue on who she was up against. Skulker? Spectra? Ember? The Headless Horseman? There were too many possibilities, none of which he liked unless it happened to be Box Ghost, Lunch Lady or Ghost Writer; otherwise he had every reason to fear for and about her.

"Mom, you haven't told _us_ what's wrong." Jazz grabbed Maddie's arm and pulled, her eyes flickering worriedly between Danny and Maddie as they continued to stare at each other. Danny's eyes flickered to his friends; true enough, they were all confused (and in Brad's case, a little ticked off but Danny wasn't so sure) and were waiting for an explanation. Tobias seemed carefully neutral while Bruce too, looked as if he wanted answers. Jazz squeezed Maddie's arm. "Mom!"

"Fine, 'human only knowledge'." Danny muttered bitterly, unsurprised that Maddie didn't respond, even to Jazz, about why they were putting up the shield. _'Probably because I'm around. Wonderful.'_ "Bring it down."

"Why should I?" There was a cold edge to her voice, something he expected and he growled softly before intensifying his stare into a glare.

"It's 'me only knowledge'." He sang out sarcastically, narrowing his glare and smirked when she bristled at his response. Idly he wondered if she realized that he hadn't said 'ghost only knowledge' that separated him from the other ghosts. "_Quid pro quo_ sounds good about now don't you think?"

A small nagging voice at the back of his head screamed at him that he wasn't helping the (and his) situation much by talking like an asshole, but the larger part of him was screaming even more loudly that there was something really wrong. He could see Jazz send him a mortified look but another shiver ran down his spine; he needed to get in there!

"You're in no position to threaten me!" Maddie pushed Jazz behind her and snarled at him. Jack had shifted and now the barrel of a gun was aimed at his face.

"Same to you lady." He snapped, anger slipping into his voice. Tremors of foreboding ran through his body and he clenched his fists tightly. "What do you expect me to do? Lie down and let you kill me with your oh so wonderful reason of 'all ghosts are evil'?" Danny snorted and glared at both his parents. "Please, you wouldn't be any better than that loose cannon and poor excuse of a human, Red Huntress!"

"Don't you dare compare us to her you little—"

"MOM! DAD!" Jazz erupted, her face twisted into a mix of fear and anger. She grabbed Jack's hand and forced it down before turning to grab Maddie's arm. Danny vaguely noticed that Sam, Tucker, Brad and Casse were scooting away from them and Tobias, Bruce and Shayera were watching their exchange closely. "I don't fucking care if Phantom's around, but tell me what the fuck is going on!"

Danny blinked and scooted back slightly at Jazz's curse. Jack and Maddie likewise, stared at Jazz in shock. "Jazzy-pants! Watch your—"

"I don't care if I'm fucking cursing!" The anger overrode the fear on her face and she glared at not only her parents, but Danny as well. "Put that damn hate away and tell me what in the fucking world is going on!"

"Look out for the demure ones; they're the ones who always bite the hardest when you're not looking." Bruce's idle statement did little to ease the tension and Danny was just about to go wild and destroy whatever it was that was holding the shield up to get to the Observatory. Fine, humans could get in and out, but he was certain that Lee had gone into her ghost form to fight the ghost. Surely her ghost sense had triggered!

"Jazz honey, please! He's dangerous—"

"Not as much as Red Huntress is!" Danny suppressed the want to whimper and squashed the bubbling anger that threatened to surface. _Dangerous_. He was dangerous. His _mother_ called him dangerous. A sharp stab of pain lingered in his heart but he forced his face to remain neutral. _'She'd think differently if she knew it were me.'_ He silently consoled himself, willing the pain to go away. _'She would… she would…'_

"Maddie, we don't have time for prejudice." Shayera was gentle but firm, clapping a hand on both Jack and Maddie's shoulders before turning to Danny. She eyed him critically and he just folded his arms over his chest, staring back with equal force. He blinked in surprise when she smiled at him. "As far as I know, he's only been proving himself to be good. I trust him."

"But—"

"Ange is in there." All heads turned to look at him; the rest of the crowd had dispersed from the shield but there were still a few curious onlookers to their group. Danny swallowed, feeling a lump form in his throat. "Angel, I mean. She wanted to see the Observatory and went to explore it earlier; I was held back because there's a whole freaking bunch of ghosts who've suddenly appeared in Amity wanting my head."

"She's… she's not ready to face any enemy alone; she's still… new to everything." He diverted his eyes from them, feeling their stares pierce right through him. The intensity was suffocating. "Look, I just want to get her out of there and this shield is making me hell nervous because I can't go in and she can't come out. That makes her trapped in there with whatever ghost is there too." _'And I wouldn't be able to look at Brad or Casse in the eye or forgive myself if anything happened to Lee!'_

"But…" Maddie was softer this time and Danny strained his ears to hear her. "If we let the shield down, that ghost will have an opening to come out and—"

Maddie was cut off when the earth began to rumble and Danny stared at the ground in odd fascination as the pebbles shook and shivered around the road. He concentrated his ears, hearing faint noises from the top of the hill grow louder and louder…

The wall of the Observatory suddenly exploded outwards with a terrific bang; the back of a black of white figure hurtled towards the shield and smashed against it with a sickening smack. People screamed; the noise roared in his ears but somehow the splatter of liquid rose above them and he looked at the shield. There were splotches of the shield that looked darker than the rest at the other side and that's when he realized, with horror, that the dark splotches were actually splatters of blood. Ghost blood.

And the body who's back that was sliding down against the shield with a stomach turning squelching noise was Lee in her ghost form.

"Ange!" His hands slammed against the shield when her body finally reached the ground. She wasn't responding and his mind was screaming as his eyes took in the increasing puddle of blood beneath her. His fists pounded the shield frantically. _'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck—'_ "Ange!"

Thundering footsteps and a cold feeling of dread rushed through his body. He trembled as he looked up and saw the huge armored ghost, stepping heavily down the hill with a smirk on his lips. Danny gulped audibly; the intimidating aura, the cruel smirk, the casual strolling manner the ghost had… suddenly, the name just seemed to make sense in his head as he recalled the main reason why the ghosts had fled the Ghost Zone. The name just slipped out of his mouth.

"Pariah Dark…"

He didn't notice the others staring at him, but as the ghost got closer, a surge of panic rose in his chest. Lee needed to get out of there _now_.

"Put the shield down!" He swooped down to Maddie, shaking her shoulders violently. She blinked back at him in mild shock but didn't move. "Please! This ghost… he's more of a monster than any other ghost! She won't – he'll…!"

"Ho…" The rough voice chilled him and Danny's head snapped to the side to see Pariah Dark looming over them from the other side of the shield, standing right in front of Lee's body. He moved away from Maddie quickly and glared up at Pariah with defiant eyes. The gleam in the Ghost King's eye made him shiver. "Monster? Is that the best you can come up with little fledging?"

"I've got no other words to describe you." Inwardly, he flinched at his bold spit but the damage was already done. Pariah Dark's smirk went wider, almost amused that 'a fledging' was talking back to him with such defiance. A sick feeling pooled in Danny's stomach as he glared at Pariah. "What do you want?"

"Oh… nothing much. This… that." Pariah's arms went wide and the sick feeling intensified in Danny's stomach when the tongue flitted out of the Ghost King's mouth and licked his lips. "Everything."

"You've got the Ghost Zone." Even with his body trembling and his fear of Pariah even when he hadn't even fought him yet, Danny was surprised at the strength in his voice. But then again, he was only trying to stall for time. Her movement had been small and quiet, but Lee was shifting uncomfortably at Pariah's feet and Danny didn't know if the Ghost King knew if she was conscious. She hadn't lifted her head yet but her fingers made twitchy movements that Danny had seen.

"And not bat an eye at this… whole new world that I have just discovered? A world that has become linked with my territory?" Dread began to mix with the feeling of sickness in his stomach when Pariah released a booming laugh that caused everyone to jump. From the corner of his eye, Danny saw his mother grab a hold of Jazz and pulled her back from the shield.

"Humans." His stomach began to do flip flops when Pariah sneered and directed his gaze to the said group. Jack wrapped his arms around Jazz and Maddie protectively while Bruce, Shayera and Tobias stood in front of the remaining teens. "Disgusting creatures, don't you think? And here you are, begging them to lower a shield that suppresses ghosts and allows their own to walk freely in and out, not caring about your little companion because, oh dear me, she's not one of them."

Danny's fists banged the shield again when Pariah suddenly swooped down and slammed his large hand over Lee's body. The hand was large enough to encase her head and neck. Roughly, Pariah swung his arm up, bringing her battered body with it; Danny's blood curled and screamed when he heard the whimper and soft plea.

"Help… me…" Her hands jerked upwards to Pariah's, struggling helplessly against his grip over her head and neck. Her legs thrashed weakly, kicking thin air. As she struggled, Danny felt his heart plummet at her weak cries; cries that were calling for him. "Let… let go…! Danny…? Danny! Help me… Help me!"

"Let her go." His fists clenched tightly against the shield and he ignored the rest behind him. "You've already beaten her."

Pariah only smirked at him and Danny could _hear_ the hand tighten over Lee's head and her whimpering sounded so much louder in the tensed silence. Anger pulsed through him as Lee continued to struggle in the grip of the hand; her pleas were laced with fear and the feeling of being lost. His fingers dug deeply into his palm, his eyes still locked with Pariah's menacing gaze.

And he slammed his fists repeatedly against the shield violently, inwardly cursing it before letting everything fly from his mouth.

"LET HER GO YOU MOTHERFUCKING—"

Pariah only laughed at him, but this time there was a cold edge to it. As if to further anger Danny, Pariah swung Lee around towards him and flapped her limp body like a flag. The green blood splattered against the shield and Danny pounded his fists again when he heard her cry of pain. Her hands tried to claw at Pariah's hand but the Ghost King just smirked and tightened, the faint sound of his hand clenching over her head echoed in Danny's ears.

"What's stopping you from making me let go of this fledging?" The smirk grew wider and Pariah mocked a remorseful tone. "Ah yes, the humans and their little shield. Not going to let it down for the fear of their own miserable lives; a single fledging is of no importance to them."

"But then… humans are strange creatures; and so is this fledging." Pariah tilted his head as he gazed at the growing crowd from the other side of the shield before lifting Lee up to his eye level. "Curious really. This little fledging wanted to protect those selfish little humans up at their dwelling; humans that disregarded her, cursed her being… but yet there was still one human who tried to stand up to me when I had her beaten."

"The thoughts are troublesome." He swung his arm to the side and released his grip on Lee's head. The girl sailed through the air and crashed against the shield, crumpling into a heap. Pariah drew out a sword with a skeleton head at the hilt and pointed the blade in Danny's direction from the other side of the shield. "But the humans' behavior have made me realize that order is needed in this world. Who else to take up this task but I?"

Pariah swung his sword and leapt backwards before sinking the sword into the ground. The earth began rocking violently and people began to scream, running wildly away from the shield as Pariah laughed crazily. Green energy burst from the sword, creating a column of light that surrounded the sword as the energy shot upwards, burst through the top of shield and headed for the sky.

"I'll begin my reign over this world once I have devoured this area! This world will be mine!"

Danny could faintly hear Shayera shouting but he couldn't make out her words. The sky began to grow dark and the green energy spread out from the column of green light. The ground gave a violent shake that knocked people off their feet and that's when Shayera's voice became clearer to his ears.

"J'onn? J'onn! My signal's been cut off!"

He looked up to the sky and balked when he recognized the eerie green surroundings with scattered stairs, windows, swirls and floating purple doors. Danny turned to his gaze down to Pariah who simply smirked at him.

"We're in the Ghost Zone…"

"What?" He didn't bother turning back to face them or think of how they managed to hear his whisper.

"The Ghost Zone." He repeated loudly, keeping his gaze on Pariah. From the corner of his eye, Danny could see Lee trying to crawl away, her right arm hanging almost limply at her side. "He's transported us – no… the whole town into the Ghost Zone!"

'_So he's trying to cut us__ off from the rest of the world; makes it easier for him because we can't call for help and he'll have unlimited support from the other ghosts that are serving him…'_ Danny bit his lip, not liking the odds that were against him or rather, the town. _'But why hasn't he taken down the shield? He's probably powerful enough to take it down unless… unless the shield is more powerful than I think it is or he doesn't want to break it.'_

Without warning, Pariah moved. The Ghost King moved without a sound and so quickly that Danny barely knew what was going on until a cry of pain jerked him out of his shock. He turned his head to see Pariah's heavy foot planted firmly on Lee's head, squashing her cheek against the road. Danny clenched his fists even tighter than before, his nails almost digging out from his glove and into his palm as Pariah smirked cruelly. He couldn't hear or see anything else; all of his attention was focused on Pariah.

"I've had to teach those brainless humans there," He jerked his head to motion to the Observatory at the top of the hill, his eyes still staring straight at Danny. "Exactly how powerful I am. Of course, using this interesting little fledging as an example when one of them tried to go against me since I experimented and have concluded that the human body is pitifully weak; it can't hold up against even a fifth my power."

"I won't kill her… No. Certainly not. She has piqued my interest enough for me to let her live. After all, she is one of the very few who have been able to shield against me even if it is for a single blow." Pariah roughly picked her up again, this time his hand grasping the top of her head and pulled her up to smirk into her eyes. Danny flinched at her hazed half lidded eyes and growled when Pariah _nuzzled_ her bloodied cheek. "Fascinating fledging… not even a year old and she has enough power to block one attack from me. Of course, pouring in so much of her energy into it in the process…"

"So…" Danny's eyes widened and felt a cold feeling wash over his body at the merciless gleam in Pariah's eyes. "Let me teach you what happens to fools who dare to cross my path."

* * *

Fear.

That was the only emotion that was running through her body. She wanted to tear her eyes away and run far, far away, but her body wouldn't obey her mind's screams and she watched in horror as the scene played out.

The ghost—no, the _monster_ was ruthless; it didn't matter if he had a name, to her he was a monster. Angel was thrown around like a rag doll; fist after fist was planted against her stomach, many a times her body was slammed against the shield and her blood stained the walls and the ground. She no longer cried out in pain or plead for help, after the monster broke her arm and waved her around like a flag, smashed her body on the ground, against the shield and she was sure that the girl's arm was completely shattered. The arm now remained limp at the girl's side, the black sleeve ripped apart to reveal bruising white flesh. That was a while ago, she couldn't tell exactly how long ago it was.

And many a time she saw the half lidded eyes of the girl from the other side of the shield, the side of the shield with the monster, staring at her lifelessly when the monster threw her face first into the shield.

Blood poured from her mouth and down the side of her face from her temples; by that time, Phantom had disappeared. The boy had been pounding the shield furiously the entire time, screaming for the assault to end. He went as far as to blast the shield at different points but it didn't budge. The monster had taken pleasure in slamming Angel's limp body in Phantom's direction, watching as her body slid against it and crumpled on the ground with a twisted, sick smile.

Shayera had tried rescuing her but whenever she grabbed Angel's body and tried to fly out with her, the girl's body would slam against the shield, while the Thanagarian went through, and slide back down into a heap. Shayera then tried to take on the monster but was repeatedly thrown out of the shield's perimeters; her mace was able to hit him, she was definitely a formidable foe against him, but the monster wasn't interested in her.

Angel's face was smashed against the monster's raised knee and her head jerked backwards; she was sure the girl's nose was broken. Blood continued to spill and a sick feeling twisted in his stomach as the monster painted the ground with the girl's blood.

Kick, slap, punch, kneed; rinse and repeat. There was no more resistance. With Angel's body being tossed about like stir-fry, she couldn't help but wonder: when did the ghost girl look so young? Why were her maternal instincts flaring and why was fear gripping her heart at the knowledge that the monster was torturing, beating Angel up, for his sick twisted pleasure?

She couldn't turn away. Her stomach lurched at the constant spill of blood, but she couldn't turn away. There was that nagging feeling of something worse that would befall on the ghost girl if she dared to look away but she didn't know what worse that could happen.

Then, he was suddenly in there.

Phantom.

Her mind didn't manage to comprehend or even think of how he had gotten through the shield; he was yelling, cursing (rather colorfully) to be more precise, but he was surprisingly faring well against the monster. Heavy hits, hisses of charged energy, more curses; the monster was being pushed back and she realized that Angel was now curled on the ground, away from the fight with a puddle of green pooling beneath her. The motionless body allowed her to believe, just briefly after she reminded herself that ghosts were not live beings, that she was dead.

Phantom hadn't let up on his attack; he slammed his fists against the monster's repeatedly, threw energy blasts that was so hot she could see the distortion from the heat that was left behind. His eyes were blazed with so much anger that she thought he would morph into another monster to take this one down. The monster didn't seem too shocked at getting pushed back in fact, he looked as if he was enjoying himself.

The adrenaline was wearing off; Phantom's hits were weakening and he was getting slower. And then Phantom laid a lucky shot, a charged fist, at the monster's cheek and the monster's head jerked to the side. The monster stumbled back a step, blood dribbling down from the side of his mouth as he turned his head back to Phantom and glared.

Then the monster began his retaliation.

The fist didn't meet Phantom's gut, it met his nose and the crack that emitted from the impact resounded in her ears. He flew backwards, blood spewing from his nose, but before he smashed against the shield the monster had moved behind him (his speed so fast she barely saw the blur) and thrust an elbow at his back, sending Phantom flying forward.

He landed face first into the pavement and lay there for a moment before struggling to his knees, she could see the blood dripping onto the ground when Phantom lifted his head; the monster looked far from done. He strode over to the boy in an infuriatingly casual manner that made her blood boil and brought his hand down against Phantom's head, slamming his face back onto the ground before picking him up by the hair.

Phantom was tossed up into the air, the monster grabbed his left ankle as it went past his face and swung the boy around like a baseball bat. The boy was slammed against the shield and the ground; back first, face first, head first… but the boy wasn't going to lie over. He released beams of energy at the monster, hitting him at the chest but it did nothing. Instead, the monster swung his arm downwards and Phantom smashed against the ground so hard the road cracked. However, that was not the only thing that broke.

He howled and clutched his limp leg, gasping and breathing heavily like a drowning man. The pain was evident in his eyes; his leg was broken. The monster's hand was still clenched around his ankle and again he swung Phantom around, grinning like a child who had gotten what he wanted for Christmas. Then, he suddenly released his grip and Phantom crashed heavily against the shield in front of them. She could see it clearly, the awkward jut of bone from the shoulder and the limp of his arm; his right shoulder was dislocated.

The monster moved in that casual manner again, bent down , clasped his hand over Phantom's neck and lifted him up to his eye level. She could tell that Phantom was glaring heatedly at the monster, the monster's lips were curved into a smirk that felt disconcerting to her, and then the monster licked his lips as if he was getting ready to eat his next meal. The hand tightened and she could hear Phantom gasping for breath and the clangs when his left fist pounded against the hand that held him.

Flung up into the air, a punch to the stomach that made him breathless, a foot to the back of his head that she was sure would make him concussed, a fist to his face to keep him airborne; Phantom's face was a bloody mess and his body was beginning to look like a haphazard tangle of limbs that was decorated with green. One pant leg had been torn off along with the boot from the same leg, one side of his black shirt ripped away and blood was trickling down the side of his face.

But still, Phantom raised his head and shot a defiant glare in the monster's direction which only served to amuse the giant further. Again he was roughly picked up by the scruff of his neck, slammed into the shield face first before he was tossed into the air again where the monster flew up to follow him and began to pummel the boy at a speed so fast that all she saw was blurred shapes in the sky.

Maddie was so absorbed in watching the horrifying scene that she didn't take notice of the small crowd of ghosts that were approaching them.

Until one of them lurched forward and grabbed her arm.

Shocked at the sudden touch, Maddie flinched and turned. She came face to face with a pregnant looking woman wearing what looked like a uniform that workers who worked in cafeterias wore, the green skin gave her away as a ghost, but before she could pull her arm away, she stopped.

The ghost woman was crying.

"Please…!" The ghost's grip tightened and Maddie could feel her hands shake. "They're only children! Bring it down… Bring that… shield down! They won't survive in there… they're only children!"

_Children_. The word echoed in her mind. But she didn't move, didn't accept the reason. Her mind still screamed that ghosts needed to be purged; never mind that Phantom had saved them numerous times. That single time he had gone rogue – she knew it had been him, somehow, she had just known it was – was enough to make her hate him.

He had hurt her family, why should she help him?

But looking at the ghost woman, hearing her plea and after watching what was happening… Maddie wasn't sure anymore.

"If I let it down," She whispered, her arms that were wrapped around Jazz tightened. Jazz had fought against her grip when the torment started, but she hadn't let go and still wasn't going to. "I'll be putting everyone else in danger."

"You can't or you won't?" The cold statement stabbed her and she looked up beyond the plump ghost woman to a male ghost with dark glasses and white hair that was slicked back. He was frowning at her coldly with his lips set in a thin line. "I am more inclined to believe it is the latter because your hatred of our kind is legendary human. How many of us have you torn apart for your greed of knowledge? Or did you tear them apart for your own self gratification?"

"Nicolai!" Another male ghost clapped his ratty gloved hand on the other ghost's shoulder and gave him a firm stare from behind clear glasses. "Now is not the time."

"Of course I know now is not the time, but what good can we do with this forsaken wall that's standing in front of us from helping the children?!" He snapped, pointing an accusing finger at the shield and winced when Phantom's cries could be heard from above them. "I don't have any fucking joy in watching children, who haven't been corporeal for a _single year_, get beaten up by, of all the fucking ghosts, Pariah Dark!"

"Raging will not help them."

"Neither is standing out here watching them suffer!" Maddie's gaze shifted from the male ghost to the ghost woman who was still grasping her arm, giving her pleading looks as the male ghost, Nicolai, continued to rant. "For god's sake Sage, I've fought those children and I don't like them but I certainly don't wish them to die! These humans aren't even taking to consideration that those two are mere children! They practically infants in our terms and they're letting them die because they're too fucking prejudiced against ALL ghosts!"

From beyond the two men was another ghost woman with braided blonde hair wearing medieval clothes. Maddie watched as the blonde ghost felt the shield and pressed her body weight against it, as if trying to push the shield. Beside the blonde ghost was a tiny green pup, head butting the shield with her until he blew up into a monstrously large size and resumed head butting the shield; but the shield still held despite the large dog's increase in power.

The dog continued to butt his head against the shield but it started to sway and slow down in its vigorous attack. With a final butt, the dog shrank back down to its pup size, its head slid down from against the shield and whined, pawing pitifully at the shield. A violent shake of the earth and an audible crack made her look up, back to beyond the shield. Phantom was lying face first on the newly cracked road surface, struggling to get back up but only slipped and went back to kissing the ground. The monster was sneering from above them with his arms folded across his chest.

And from the sky he dropped, planting a foot against Phantom's back that made a sickening cracking sound. Maddie felt her blood run cold at Phantom's scream of pain as his upper body jerked awkwardly and clawed the ground with wild desperation in his eyes; his legs remained sprawled on the ground, motionless. His spine was broken.

Without realizing it, Maddie tightened her hold around Jazz who began squirming and screaming, ignoring the whimpering pleas of the ghost woman who still gripped her arm.

The monster lifted his foot, grinning widely before striding away from Phantom, who continued to claw the ground in agony, and towards Angel, who Maddie realized had been trying to crawl away.

"Oh, so you're still conscious. Good, good." A squeak and whimper sounded as the monster grabbed a hold of her body, encasing her lean frame in his fist and brought her up. He was smirking again, at them as he squeezed the girl tighter in his fist. "The lesson's almost over."

"No…" Maddie gasped when Phantom lifted his head and turned it to glare at the monster; his hands were clenching the rubble from the ground tightly, his eyes bloodshot, wide open and glaring. "Stop…! Let her go!"

"I'll let her go." A sense of foreboding crept up her spine as Pariah grinned wickedly at Phantom. "I'll let her go… after I do this."

He tossed her towards the shield and shot a beam of energy at her; it slammed into her stomach, ripping the uniform to pieces and burned her flesh. More blood spilled as she slammed against the shield hard and fell sideways onto the ground. She made no noise. Phantom screamed and reached out, trying to drag his battered body towards Angel's motionless body but fell short when the monster stepped forward and grabbed his hair, jerking his head up to meet him.

The monster whispered something into Phantom's ear before slamming his face into the ground; Phantom's body jerked and stopped moving after. Maddie could feel Jazz shake in her arms and there was a suspicious wet feeling on her hand. The female ghost that had grabbed her loosened her grip and fell to her knees, whimpering at the two motionless bodies.

"Let this be a lesson, to both human and ghosts." Maddie saw Tobias and Bruce grab onto the remaining teenagers and Shayera as they tried to run forward to get through the shield. Shayera was hissing, gripping Tobias's arm that held her back tightly with one hand and the other hand that held her mace trembled violently. "This is what happens if you dare as to oppose my rule, but rest assured vile humans, your kind up there are still living… but I won't guarantee they'll stay that way for long."

Fear was back to grip her heart. _Danny_.

"And to you spineless ghosts out here: you'll never escape me." The ghost pup shrank back and the blonde ghost cuddled him in her arms, shrinking back from the monster's menacing glare. Nicolai gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly, Sage's lips thinned into an almost invisible line and the ghost woman continued to whimper at Maddie's feet. "Never!"

Strength left her legs and Maddie collapsed to her knees, bringing Jazz with her. A clanking sound and she saw the gun Jack had held, lying innocently on the ground beside her. Jazz's hands were trying to pry her tight grip apart.

"Mom… please…! Let go. Let go—" _"Let… let go…!"_ Her grip tightened as their voices overlapped in her head and for the briefest moment, saw _Jazz_ in the pool of blood, trapped behind a shield she couldn't get through, on the side of the shield with a monster looming over her. Maddie began to feel dizzy but her eyes were glued to the two motionless figures at the other side of the shield and could only hear the echoes of pleas and screams she didn't respond to pound in her head.

"_Help me… help me!"_

"_Please…! They're only children!"_

"_You can't or you won't?"_

"_No… Stop! Let her go!"_

"_Let… let go…! Danny…? Danny! Help me… Help me!"_

"_These humans aren't even taking to consideration that those two are mere children! They practically infants in our terms and they're letting them die because they're too fucking prejudiced against ALL ghosts!"_

"_ANGE! ANGE!"_

"_They're only children!"_

"_What do you expect me to do? Lie down and let you kill me with your oh so wonderful reason of 'all ghosts are evil'?"_

"_Ah yes, the humans and their little shield. Not going to let it down for the fear of their own miserable lives; a single fledging is of no importance to them."_

"_Help__… me…"_

_-  
_

"_**Help… me…"**_

-

**TBC in Chapter 19: Storm (Thunder and Lightning)  
**

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**Authoress's Ending Notes:**

1) I apologize is this isn't up to standard from the rest of my chapters (though it should be better than the first.... 4-5 of them at least). It's complicated, but I'm feeling apathetic to how this chapter came out. Probably because it's Christmas, or maybe because I've lost interest? Not quite certain about that though. It's more likely because of the former than the latter. But that's (me feeling apathetic) probably the reason why the 'gore' scene seemed bland and flat to me.  
2) Merry Christmas to you folks.  
3) Thank you **Abyss of Essence**, **cyanbilbo**, **Ambiance23** and **rebabe** for the reviews of the last chapter.  
4) **Ambiance23**: Hoo thank goodness. I feel like failure if the plot goes missing. Well the next events will strengthen their friendships but not necessarily mean that no one's going to get hurt (points to this chapter) I mean... King of Ghosts. He has to pwn ass. Really, pwn ass. (while apathetic to the chapter, I still had this distinct enjoyment in getting them, being Danny and Lee, beaten up).  
5) **rebabe**: I'm not worthy D: thank you, and I'm glad you're enjoying my (lame) writing.  
6) MISC NOTES FOR THE CHAPTER:  
- How did Danny get through the shield? **ANS**: He went invisible, turned back to his human form and went through it. He still had the conscious thought of not wanting to blow his cover.  
- What were the rest doing not appearing in the gore scene? **ANS**: Set in Maddie's perspective, she glued herself to the scene and vaguely realized what ever else was happening (i.e. Shayera barreling through the shield trying to fight) but doesn't look back to see what exactly WAS happening. But if you must know; the rest of the group was paralyzed in fear. Pariah is the first ghost to thoroughly beat both Danny and Lee together without breaking a sweat. But why Pariah has not killed them at his first chance will be explained in the next chapter.  
- Why didn't Shayera just beat the crap out of Pariah when she can hit him with her mace? **ANS**: Pariah repeatedly threw her out of the shield whenever she came in because he wasn't interested in her. After getting thrown out (and into buildings and the ground) too many times, Tobias and Bruce held her back.  
- Who the hell are the ghosts? **ANS**: Lunch Lady, Nicolai Technus, Sage Ghostwriter (Yes I gave him a name), Dora and Cujo. The rest (but may not be the usual culprits of ghosts) will appear later.  
- Where the hell is Valerie? And Vlad? **ANS**: Next chapter, next chapter.  
7) Thanks for reading (flops to bed)

**Cheers  
Kenzy**


	23. Storm: Thunder & Lightning

Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)  
Authoress's Beginning Notes: Guh. I apologize for the sudden hiatus; I ran into a block for the past two months and now I'm going to be even slower in updating because I have to concentrate on my University studies. I'm not totally happy with the chapter, but I would have probably lengthened it too far and break my resolve of keeping the Reign of Storm rewrite in two chapters. In the last few chapters of P&A, it will focus more on the secondary characters, mainly Tucker, Sam and Jazz (Possibly Maddie and Jack as well, but this is not confirmed) and their relationship with Danny. I am hoping to close P&A in 4-5 chapters and then begin on **Inevitable Crisis**. Until then, please enjoy :)

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**Phantom & Angel**

**Chapter 19****: **

**Storm (Thunder and Lightning)**

**

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**

'_**I'm going to die.'**_

_No more aching__, no more pain, no more feeling blood dribbling down skin; only blessed numbness. _

'_**I'm going to die.'**_

_No more screaming, no more whimpering, no more pleading; voice lost a long time ago__, all was silent._

'_**I'm going to die.'**_

_Vis__ion blurring, figures darkening, all tinted green, and then… there was nothing but black._

'_**I'm going to die.'**_

_**

* * *

**_

'_This can't be happening.'_

"Let—Let go mom!" He could hear Jazz crying but couldn't see her from where he was. "You can't do this… you can't do this to them! Let go of me mom!"

'_This can't be happening.'_ The mantra repeated almost mockingly in his head. Fear paralyzed his body; he couldn't move, couldn't run forward to help them or even scream his throat hoarse and his mind went blank. His eyes remained fixated to the gruesome scene beyond the shield, not taking note of whatever else was happening around him.

He barely took notice of Sam trying to force her way through their protective shield that was Bruce and Tobias; he didn't even realize that she was screaming. He didn't see Brad shove Casse behind him, keeping her there with his arm raised and refusing to allow her to watch when the scene unfolded nor did he realize that Brad was trembling with a conflicted expression. Hell, he didn't even notice the small crowd of ghosts coming forward towards them.

Tucker stared at the motionless bodies swimming in pools of green blood and slowly, his mind processed what was happening, took in everything he missed and his senses slammed back into power.

His first reaction was to hurl; the bile rose up to his throat as an overwhelming stench (that he realized was actually the blood; ghost blood actually smelt the same as human blood) filled his nostrils and the processed sight of two mangled bodies beyond the shield destroyed his already weak determination to squash the need to hurl. Sam and Brad's shouts for him met deaf ears as Tucker bolted to the alley behind them and emptied his stomach as soon as he reached the closest trashcan.

He barely realized that he was shaking violently until he began swaying on the spot. Weakly, his hand scrambled for the wall of the alley and leaned his arm against the wall with his other arm wrapped around his stomach as he continued to heave. Tucker barely took notice of Sam running over to him and rubbing his back in soothing circles.

"Tucker?"

"I feel sick." He whimpered, breathing heavily as another wave of nausea coursed through his body. Tucker vaguely wondered what the damp feeling on his cheeks meant until Sam quietly spoke into his ear, her hand still rubbing circles on his back with her other hand grasping his shoulder tightly.

"You're crying."

"Oh." Suddenly, desperation clawed his chest; to be lied to that everything that they witnessed wasn't real, that Danny and Lee were just waiting for them up at the Observatory with disgruntled looks on their faces for having the job of sweetening the press hours before the opening. But when Sam reached out and thumbed a tear away, Tucker knew that it was real. "I… I… c-can't…"

"It's ok." Sam squeezed his shoulders tightly before wrapping her arms around them and pressed his back to her chest, her body was trembling along with his and her voice cracked as she whispered into his ear. "I know."

A whine and nudge at his ankles made him look down. Cujo blinked up at them with worry in its eyes and the pup whined again, butting his head gently against Tucker's ankles again and pawed at Sam's shoe. When Sam bent down to pick him up, Cujo hopped out of her reach and jerked his head back to the group, whining as he did so. When they didn't move, Cujo barked, bit down on Tucker's pant leg and tugged at it.

"I can't… I can't look at them anymore Cujo." The pup whined and tugged harder, but Tucker ignored him and turned his head away. The tugging on his pant leg stopped but soon there was heavy (and smelly) breath on his neck. He yelped when a huge snout nudged him and began pushing him and Sam back to the group. "Cujo! Stop that; bad dog!"

Cujo didn't respond to the admonishment and as they got closer to the shield, Tucker clapped his hands over his nose, whimpering as the stench of blood invaded his nostrils once more. Luckily for him, Brad grabbed him and Sam before Cujo managed to forcefully push them past Bruce, Tobias and Shayera, and through the shield. Tucker kept his hands over his nose and mouth, desperately squashing the need to hurl again. Cujo whined again and this time, Sam admonished him.

"Bad dog!" Cujo whimpered and reverted back to his pup size, flattening his chin against the ground. Tucker heard Sam release an exasperated sigh but with his back turned against the shield and from the rest, he couldn't tell what Brad and Casse's expressions were (though he could imagine Sam resting her hands on her hips). "Cujo, do you want Tucker to feel even worse than just now?"

"He's just worried about them!" _'Oh neat.'_ Tucker grumbled in his head as Casse defended Cujo's actions. _'She's more worried about the dog than me.'_ He swore he could hear Bruce voice out, "Wait, they know that thing?" but didn't hear anyone respond to him.

"And if you are half the friend you're supposed to be, you would actually know that Tucker gets sick whenever he smells blood!" Sam's hiss was venomous, reminding Tucker just how cold and dangerous she could be. Danny knew how bad it got for him if he smelt too much blood; it didn't matter if all he ate was meat, and when they had followed Danny to the empty lot where both Brad and Lee had been back then…

It hadn't been a pretty sight.

Casse refuted and Sam's next words were hissed out so lowly that Tucker strained to hear it. He could almost feel Brad tense from somewhere beside him and the air suddenly felt suffocating.

"Oh right, _of course_ you don't know; you were too busy trying to save your ass by running away after you _fucking shot your own brother_—"

"That's out of line Sam." Brad's voice was soft, but it cut Sam off cleanly and tense silence settled between them. Tucker opened his eyes, still keeping his hands over his mouth and nose. Sam was sneering at Casse despite having been told off by Brad. Casse had a deflated look on her face that was laced with some fear in her eyes while Brad was massaging his temples.

Wait, what the hell were they doing?

As if picking up on his thoughts, Cujo barked unhappily at them and bit down on Brad's pant leg. The pup whined again as he continued to tug at the pant leg and looked up at them pleadingly. Tucker turned around along with everyone else towards the shield when Pariah Dark's loud footsteps began thumping on the ground. _'Oh good, the asshole's leaving! Maybe we can—'_

"I see… that's why he's not going to kill them." Tucker's train of thought halted and he turned to look at the bespectacled ghost who was stroking his goatee thoughtfully. He wondered if the ghost was speaking loud enough for them to hear for their benefit or if it was just a slip up, but when the ghost turned his head to look at him, Tucker knew what the ghost had aimed for. The ghost smiled and then pressed a finger to his lips.

Tucker exchanged glances with Sam and Brad and took a quick look around their group; the adults seemed bewildered, though Maddie was still gripping Jazz tightly in her arms, and Casse had her gaze focused on her brother. His eyes swept towards the ghosts and eyed them warily, trying to think up of reasons of why those few ghosts were there with them.

Just when Pariah walked a fair distance away from the shields, five long claw marks suddenly appeared nearby to the bodies and a shout sounded from the widening rift that was forming from the claw marks. All eyes snapped towards the rift.

"Shadow, SIC!"

A large black shadow shot out of the now single hole and lunged at Pariah. It shrank down and slithered across the ground, dodging the blasts Pariah aimed at it and shot back upwards, slipping and sliding around the Ghost King. With Pariah engaged with the shadow, a large furry yeti-like creature lumbered out of the rift and quickly stepped over to Danny's prone form. Following behind the creature came two individuals on a motorbike, skidding to a halt beside Lee's body.

The ghosts worked quickly, the creature carefully scooped up Danny in his large hands, mindful of his back, and the green haired girl heaved Lee onto the motorbike before hopping on behind her. Behind them, Pariah roared and grabbed the tail of the shadow, forcefully throwing it against the shield with a loud smack. The blonde male ghost grimaced as he revved the engine of his bike.

"Shadow, get back now!" The shadow nodded his head and slipped back towards the ghosts as they hurried back to the rift. "WULF! NOW, NOW, NOW!"

Pariah released another roar, cupping his hands together as energy filled his hands. He released the energy in a mighty beam of red as the creature jumped into the rift. The motorbike sped and flew in, the shadow slithering along behind them, and long claws stretched out of the rift and began closing it when the beam reached the area with the rift.

A high pitched yelp echoed from the hit but a majority of the beam smashed against the shield and exploded; when smoke cleared, the rift was nowhere to be seen but lying on the ground in the pools of blood were five sliced nails. Pariah didn't seem too bothered with the escape; he just straightened his back and smirked at them.

"So, there are more of you. Interesting; it seems that ghosts have gotten braver in the past few millenniums." He released a low laugh and licked his lips. "More challenging in taking over; I like it."

Tucker shivered at Pariah's voice and felt Sam's hands rest on his shoulder from behind him, squeezing it tightly. His eyes shifted to his sides, gauging everyone else's reactions to Pariah's words and blinked when he realized that the ghosts (except for Lunch Lady who was still kneeling on the ground) were standing tall and firm, staring back at Pariah with defiance.

"Excellent." Tucker tried to breathe through his mouth but tasted the foul smell of blood and clamped it shut, fighting the urge to hurl again as Pariah smiled at them wickedly. "Then… the war shall begin."

He raised his arms and spread them wide, gesturing to the smashed Observatory at the top of the hill. "The humans in the building are mine. I dare you, both you pitifully brave ghosts and weakling humans, to try to defeat me. I love a challenge, but I also love absolute control over everything."

"We'll give you that challenge." As 'Nicolai' responded to Pariah, Sam pulled Tucker backwards and hesitantly whispered, "Wait, isn't that Technus?" Tucker did a double take at Nicolai and nodded his head mutely when he spotted the similarities; Nicolai continued to speak, his tone trembling with rage. "Not all of us have remained spineless in the years of your imprisonment; we will reclaim our home and stop you Pariah."

"For the useless, weak humans?" Pariah snorted and leered at them. "How pathetic."

"Don't misunderstand Pariah; it's not for the humans." They stared at Nicolai who didn't seem to waver and Tucker felt his shoulders tense as Sam's grip on his shoulder loosened. "We're defeating you for the purpose of regaining our homes; the humans have nothing to do with it. It's only that in the process of defeating you that their home will be spared from you."

"Humph. Excuses." Tucker took in a shaky breath, choking at the smell and bit his lip from releasing a whimper. Pariah snorted again and waved a hand as he turned and walked away. "I'll take much pleasure in torturing you until you beg to be killed when I devour this town."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Nicolai muttered darkly as Pariah disappeared through the gaping hole in the wall of the Observatory. "Sage?"

"Wait for it…"

Casse shrieked when five nails stuck out in the empty air and ripped the space next to her. She leaped away and grabbed the side of Brad's shirt while Cujo barked eagerly, letting go of Brad's pant leg and bounded towards the rift. Tucker froze in place, holding his breath and prayed.

The ghosts flew out of the rift in a hurry; the yeti-like creature thundered to one side and lay Danny face down on the ground and gently began touching his back, Nicolai strode forward and both ghosts began to work. The motorbike's engine died out as the green haired ghost lifted Lee off into 'Sage's' arms and carefully laid her on the ground. Emerging from the rift was Box Ghost, who immediately flew to Lunch Lady's side, and lastly Wulf, with one of his claws bleeding heavily and missing all of its nails. Wulf grunted, raising his other claw and closed the rift as the blonde female ghost came to tend to him.

"Severed spine, leg broken in three different places, most likely concussed, dislocated shoulder, _nine broken ribs_?! Good god, he'd be lucky if none of them punctured his organs!" Bile was rising in Tucker's throat again as Nicolai cursed, muttering to himself. Sam's grip on his shoulder returned, her nails digging into his shirt but he was miles away from feeling the pain. "Damn you Pariah…! Frostbite, once I shift his spine back into place, cast it in ice; it will keep his spin in place and numb any pain if he feels any. Hopefully he will have enough regenerative power for it to mend without it halting because of the ice."

"Sage!" Nicolai looked up and barked in the direction of 'Sage' who was tending to Lee. "The girl?"

"Her arm's been completely shattered." Tucker heard a whimper and blinked when he realized it was Brad who released it; Sage continued to list out her injuries. "A few broken ribs, possible punctured lung, dislocated shoulder we can fix, third degree burn on her stomach and she might have a cracked skull. She's lost, and still is losing, too much blood and her regenerative powers are draining her; she's fading fast."

Lee's body jerked awkwardly as choking and gurgling noises erupted from the back of her throat. Sage slipped his hand at the back of her head and tilted it forward towards her chest; she vomited out blood and continued to retch as her body continued to convulse, the blood dripped from her chin and splattered onto her torn uniform. Nicolai cursed colorfully.

The stench struck Tucker's nose again, stronger this time, and he closed his eyes, desperately holding his breath. _'Oh god… nononononono—'_

"—om… MOM! Let me go!" Jazz's shout jerked him out of his internal mantra and he turned just in time to see the older teen pull away from Maddie's arms. She tore away from them and went straight to Nicolai, shaking his shoulders so violently that made the ghost bark angrily at her once he managed to set Danny's spine in place.

"What?!"

"Ghost blood is ectoplasm isn't it?!"

"Of course it is!" He snapped and turned back to Danny's body, continuing to check his leg as 'Frostbite' started forming ice over Danny's back. Jazz stood there for a moment before taking off to the Fenton RV; Jack quickly lumbered over when loud clangs sounded from the vehicle.

"Jazzy pants—"

"Will this do?" She stuck her upper body out of the back of the RV, dangling a sealed bag of ectoplasm from her hand. Nicolai looked up, ready to snap again until he saw the bag of ectoplasm and blinked.

"… it could suffice long enough for us to take them to a safer location to continue treatment." He paused, eying the bag warily. "And if we have the proper instruments to transfer the blood to them."

"Our place then."

"Jasmine!" Jazz threw her father an exasperated look but Jack shook his head and grabbed her wrists. "We're not giving them the ectoplasm nor are we letting ghosts into our home!"

"So you're going to let them just die?!" She shrieked and struggled against him, going as far as to raise her foot and kick Jack's knee in fury. "You'd be no better than that ghost who did this to them then!"

Tucker shivered and wondered briefly if Jack and Maddie would jump at the chance of helping the ghosts if it meant that Danny and Lee could be saved, if they knew that Phantom and Angel were them in the first place. He contemplated telling them but squashed the urge down; no, not his place to tell the parents their secret. Bruce looked calculative and when he voiced his decision to back up Jack, Jazz shrieked louder. Tobias and Shayera made no move to stand on a side; none of the teens did either and Maddie was strangely silent. The ghosts simply continued to work; only the blonde ghosts, Wulf, Box Ghost and Lunch Lady watched them in silence.

"You can't do this to them! They're living beings too!"

"They're ghosts Jazzy pants!"

"So what if they are? They're no different from us!"

"We have to help them if we want to bring that ghost down." He swallowed when Bruce narrowed his gaze on him and took a single step back; everyone's gaze focused on him.

"Why do you trust them? Is it because the two of them—" Bruce gestured to Danny and Lee before turning back to him. "Are your friends?"

"That's not the point Mr. Wayne. Yes, they're our friends; they've saved our butts numerous times but that's not the point of trusting these other ghosts." Tucker looked around the group of humans, swallowed again but found a little bit more strength when Sam and Brad nodded to him with encouragement. "We need a truce; no firing at each other because we've all got one common enemy right now: that guy Pariah Dark. If all the ghosts are so afraid of him and he's that lethal, what can we do, especially now that we're cut off from the Justice League and can't get any other help, to bring him down?"

"I don't think Shayera is going to be enough to take him down without putting the hostages at risk; no offence." He blinked and stared at Sam as she sent a quick apologetic look in Shayera's direction. "But if he's a king, he's going to have some minions with him."

"We are not letting ghosts into our home." Jack repeated firmly, keeping his grip on Jazz's wrists while giving them a hard stare. "You're not the ones making the decisions here!"

"I don't believe you dad." Sam grabbed him before he could jump in to respond to Jack and pressed a finger to her lips. Tucker pursed his lips and watched as Jazz stared at her father before wrenching her hands from his grip. "He's saved my life; why can't we return the favor by saving his?"

"They are dangerous; _he_ is dangerous!" Tucker jumped when Sam's hands pulled him away and looked up; Shayera was pulling Sam, with him along, and jerked her head to the side where Maddie was getting up from her kneeling position. He turned to look back at Shayera and saw Tobias, standing behind her, simply exchanging a look with Brad who had a firm grip around Casse's wrist. Bruce raised his brow as Maddie walked towards Jack and Jazz but neither of them noticed her coming. "You've seen him lose control and attack you; how will we know he won't turn against you again and hurt you or worse, kill you? We're trying to protect you from them!"

"He's just like any other human being who loses control of themselves when they get angry!" Jazz took in several deep breaths while glaring heatedly at Jack and just when she opened her mouth to shout again, Maddie tugged the bag of ectoplasm from her hands and headed into the RV. "…Mom?"

"See? Your mother agrees with me!" Jack puffed his chest up with a triumphant expression, but his face fell when Maddie re-emerged from the RV with tubes and needles along with the bag of ectoplasm. "Mads?"

"What's wrong with Mrs. Fenton?" Brad's soft 'shh' followed straight after, silencing Casse while they watched Maddie walk over to Sage's group and kneeled on the ground beside him. He could hear Sam take in a deep breath, her hand clutching his sleeve tightly as Maddie brushed aside Lee's blood crusted hair from her face.

'_Please help them, please help them__. Please please please please—'_ Tucker barely noticed that he was holding his own breath in anticipation, the stench of blood bypassing his mind, as Maddie continued to look Lee over. After a while, she stopped and stared at the body.

"Will purified ectoplasm work better than impure?"

"Yes." Tucker's eyes shifted to Frostbite, who was working on casting Danny's leg in a block of ice. He realized that the ghost didn't look up from his work as he responded to Maddie's question. "Because the body will not need to cleanse the impurities, it will help them immensely in aiding their bodies to concentrate on healing."

"Alright. Most of our purified ectoplasm is in our home, so we'll need to move them quickly." Maddie dropped the items into Sage's hands and stood. "Use this first and give me a minute."

He watched as Maddie grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him away, too far away for Tucker to hear the exchange. After a while, Jack's shoulders slumped forward and Maddie stood on her toes to plant a kiss on his nose before moving to the RV. Tucker released his breath when she emerged with another bag of ectoplasm and set of instruments, handing it to one of the ghosts, who immediately delivered it to Nicolai, before motioning to the human adults to come towards her.

"They'll be ok." Tucker wondered if Sam was trying to convince him or herself if they'd all be ok as she squeezed his shoulders again, watching as the adults gathered, and murmured. "They'll be ok."

"I hope so." He swallowed and bit his lower lip, his stomach lurching as the nausea returned with a vengeance. Deep breaths did nothing to soothe his stomach and the stench of blood made it worse. "Because I'm not."

Tucker tore away from Sam, dashed back to the alley and vomited again.

* * *

She sighed, crumpled the piece of paper in her hands and absently tossed it over her shoulder. She could hear Cujo's panted breath behind her, imagining the pup crouching down with his tail wagging about as the ball of paper sailed through the air, and pouncing up at it as it descended. Noises of Cujo gnawing and ripping the paper apart were loud in the tense room and she heard Brad deliver a soft admonishment to the pup.

"Be quiet Cujo." She could imagine Cujo's expression falling and him dropping his chin onto the scraps of paper littering the ground when crunching noises sounded. She then heard a sigh that was followed by shuffling and patting noises. "Come here boy."

Sam turned just in time to see Cujo pounce up onto Brad's lap and butt his head against his hand. She choked and sniggered when Cujo rolled onto his back, seemingly satisfied with the amount of petting he received, and blinked up innocently at Brad with his tail wagging about eagerly. Brad flushed and looked around the room, scowling at anyone who grinned at him when he scratched Cujo's stomach. The pup released contented noises, propelling his feet about happily and Sam snorted, hiding her grin behind her hand when a pointed glare was sent her way.

"You hate animals." At the comment, Sam warily turned her head to stare at Casse who was giving Brad an incredulous look. Brad bristled lightly but ignored Casse and continued to pamper Cujo with stomach scratches. Incredulity turned into anger. "I hate you!"

"That's nothing new." Sam winced at the low murmur and at Casse's livid expression. "You hate me enough to want me dead anyway."

"I wish you were." She hissed, clenching her fists tightly as she glared at him. Tucker looked up and shot Casse a cold look, one that made Sam shiver. She could tell he was pulling in his temper by the way he was clutching his PDA tightly and the grounding of his teeth; Casse didn't take any notice. "I never got to keep any pet because of you!"

"Shut up drama brat; pets are the last of our bloody worries." Valerie snarled from a corner of the room, glaring at the ghosts who occupied the rest of the room. "Why the hell are you housing ghosts anyway? They're the damn bastards who've gone and declared war on us!"

"If you don't shut up Valerie Gray, I swear I'll kick you out myself!" Jazz snapped, got up from her seat and began stomping towards Valerie. Tucker and Sam leapt up to intervene but tinkering noises stopped them and everyone looked up to the door to the living room. Lunch Lady stood by the door with a tray filled with assorted foods and the green haired ghost, Kitty, behind her with a similarly filled tray.

Sam wasn't thrilled with the number of meat dishes Lunch Lady cooked, but the salads did look appetizing. She then realized just how hungry she was, once her stomach growled at her to feed it, she looked up to the clock and winced. _'It's been eight hours already?'_ She thought to herself as Kitty and Lunch Lady handed out the plates.

Their parents, being hers and Tucker's, had come barging in almost immediately after they unloaded everyone into Fenton Works. Tucker's parents waited as long as they could for an explanation, but her parents threw everything into complete disarray. Pamela had even riled Shayera up to the point that Tobias had to restrain the winged woman, with Bruce's help, from smashing her mace into Sam's mother's face.

After lots of yelling, with many elbow-in-gut moments and clawing, Maddie finally laid down the law and threatened to throw the Mansons, not including Sam, out of Fenton Works and outside of the ghost shield that they had eradicated around it. Despite being pompous snots, her parents knew that the safest place they could stay protected from the ghosts was Fenton Works and quieted down just enough to not create any more trouble. Just when everything was about to settle down, the Grays and Vlad had to come over to seek shelter.

Maddie made it very clear that she was not happy with Vlad's visit, never mind his excuse of coming down for the reopening of the Observatory, and showed it by slapping a spare (and large) piece of steel on his head at first sight. Whenever Vlad opened his mouth to speak, Maddie would shoot him glares and his mouth would creak shut. Sam promised herself never to get onto Maddie's bad side ever.

And Valerie was definitely not pleased with having to sit in a room full of ghosts while most of the adults, both human and ghost, convened to the labs; especially when one of the ghosts was the same one that cost her father his job and her luxurious lifestyle. But what did pique Sam's curiosity was why the Grays were even here, and accompanied by Vlad for that matter. Something was amiss and Sam didn't like it.

Kitty handed her a plate and Sam's bit her lip; littered on the top of the leafs of vegetables were tiny balls of meat. She wondered how she was going to tell Lunch Lady that she was a vegetarian; now, Sam wasn't going to harp on about being an 'ultra-recyclo vegetarian' and about how cruel it was to eat animals but still, she just didn't eat meat. It didn't help when she recalled that Lunch Lady's malevolence trigger (which she still didn't understand despite Danny's explanation) was anyone who dissed meat.

"Don't worry; if you don't eat meat, just shift them to one side and after I bring Edna back to the kitchen, give them to Wulf or Cujo." Sam blinked and looked up to see Kitty give her a wink. "As long as she doesn't see you doing it, it'll be fine."

"Thanks for the tip." She managed to smile at Kitty, who returned it with her own, and continued to hand out the plates. Sam grinned when Cujo tried to paw food from Brad's plate, after having seemingly made permanent residence on his lap, and Brad lifted his plate away from Cujo with a scowl on his face. She looked up to see Kitty steer Lunch Lady out of the living room and called out. "Cujo, come here boy."

'_Cujo__'s the perfect example of 'puppy eyes'.'_ Cujo bounded over to her, eyes big and bright with his tongue lolling about, panting eagerly as she scooped up the meat into her spoon and dropped them into his eager mouth. The room was quiet, sans for the munching noises and Sam took her time to observe everyone while continually dropping food down into Cujo's open mouth.

Brad had shifted well away from Casse and was now perched on the arm rest beside Tucker at the side of the couch. Sam blinked when she saw Tucker shift a sizeable portion of his meal aside before leaning over Brad's legs and dropped the portion down onto Wulf's plate. Wulf, pleased with the extra grub, yipped and leaned his snout over to Tucker's hand as it retreated and nuzzled it. She caught Brad's gaze and nodded slightly; Tucker was probably still feeling sick from earlier and wasn't very hungry.

Casse and Valerie were both isolated from everyone else; Valerie by her own choice, back in the corner where she refused the plate of food, and those who had been around Casse shifted away from her after her hissy fit. The youngest Angeles poked her food sullenly and shot glares at her brother every now and then. Sam sighed at Casse's behavior and dropped more food down at Cujo who munched it happily; Danny had told her, Tucker and Jazz that Casse was over exaggerating about Brad hating all animals and that it was just one type of animal that really wasn't allowed. But he didn't reveal to them what animal because of his promise to Brad.

Well, she was sure of one thing; he was just fine with dogs.

She dug around for any piece of meat she missed and gave Cujo an apologetic look when she came up with none. The pup nevertheless, thanked her by butting his head at her ankles before trotting over to Brad's feet and sat down in front of him, his tail wagging about in a beg for more food. Sam poked a lettuce leaf and chewed, wondering why Cujo wasn't going to Casse; she was positive that Casse would pamper Cujo rotten, after recalling the Ember incident, and Cujo knew it; but the pup was surprisingly avoiding her.

Maybe because Cujo liked Brad better, she speculated, and returned to glancing around the room. Jazz was talking to the blonde ghost, Dora, while nibbling on her food and the other blonde ghost was checking them out openly; that is, until Kitty returned and threw a plate at him square in the forehead. Miraculously, the plate didn't crack.

"Ki–Kitten! I wasn't—"

"Johnny, you either stuff it and finish your food or I get to play ping pong with your balls." Johnny 'eep-ed' and turned his gaze back to his food, the shadow that loomed behind him at the wall snickered at its owner's misfortune. Kitty huffed, retrieved the plate and stomped off, muttering darkly under her breath. "Of all the times he has to do his damned 'babe watching', why now?!"

By this time, Wulf had already devoured his plate, including the extra portion he received from Tucker, and was eagerly eying Valerie's untouched plate. Sam quietly set her plate to one side and went over to Valerie's corner, where the other girl completely ignored her. She took the plate, knowing that Valerie counted her pride as more important than to give in to eat the food made by someone of a species she despised, and slid it over to Wulf who eyed her curiously. Sam jerked her head in Valerie's direction and shrugged, pushing the plate closer to Wulf before heading back to her seat and went back to her salad.

Just as the plates were polished, Kitty returned again with another heaped tray but stopped at the door down to the laboratory.

"Want us to come with you?" Sam wondered if she sounded too desperate to make it an excuse to go down to check on Danny and Lee. She felt antsy; none of the adults emerged from the labs ever since they convened there a few hours ago, the exact time left her completely, and there was no word on how they were doing. Kitty looked relieved, but still seemed hesitant to wander down to the labs with one of them. "Or maybe we could do it for you?"

"That's a good idea." Tucker gathered the plates and stacked them up neatly, completely missing Casse's hand that was handing him her plate. Casse scowled at him and threw the plate at him in a fit of anger; luckily for Tucker, Cujo bounced up and nabbed it before it got too close to him. "Why don't we bring the dishes back to the kitchen and then do the delivery? I think you'd be doing two trips because that doesn't seem enough for the whole party downstairs."

"Well…" Kitty glanced at them briefly before slowly nodding her head. "Ok I guess. Edna's cleaning up the kitchen now."

"Hey Brad, grab the tray from her and I'll be right back." Tucker swiftly exited the room with the plates and Cujo trotting behind his ankles while Brad slipped off the arm rest and took the tray from Kitty. Sam hopped off her chair and proceeded to the door along with Jazz, bouncing lightly on her toes in nervous anticipation.

"You can't be leaving me alone with these freaks!" She snapped her jaw shut and gritted her teeth, hands clenching and unclenching by her side as she willed herself to not turn around and sink her fist into Valerie's face.

"We can and we will." Tucker returned with the second heaped tray and gave Valerie a pointed glare before moving towards the door. "Suck it up or shut up. Seriously, you sound like a broken record."

"And if we don't move now, I swear I'll sic Cujo on her." Sam sniggered at his low grumble and followed behind him. "Hey Brad? You ok?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because of Casse's temper tantrum." She halted her steps and shifted to the side as Tucker twisted his head to look up at Brad standing behind her. "She's got no right to wish that you were dead, especially since she almost did kill you."

"Well, she's not going to change since we're all alive and kicking aren't we?" She glanced up to see Jazz frown heavily over Brad's shoulder at his light remark. "Burn me a memo to tell me if she does change when I really die because of what she does."

"That's not funny Brad." Sam murmured softly and shivered at his half-hearted shrug, as if he had given up in believing that Casse would change her ways. She couldn't exactly blame him since Casse was putting her own interests first before family, but it felt… unsetting that he was certain that he'd be the one to die if Casse made another mistake.

The remainder of the trip was silent, at least among themselves; below them came a wave of murmurs and clanging metal. Tucker stopped abruptly at the foot of the stairs and Sam's face squashed against his shoulders when she didn't stop in time. She shifted herself and sidestepped from the mouth of the door, her eyes concentrating on the scene before her.

Jack, Maddie, Nicolai, Tobias and Frostbite were working at the far end of the lab, next to the now shut down Fenton Portal. Sam shivered at the new equipment, large tubes that held one of each of their friends in them floating in what she initially thought was water, though the green hue gave it away as ectoplasm thus she corrected herself, and hooked up with multiple wires over their bodies. The rest of the adults were by Sage at another part of the labs, listening to him intently as he spoke, though Sam noted that Vlad was obviously thinking of something else if the telltale sign of his daydreaming wasn't obvious enough.

And the smell of food directed all of their attention to them; especially Jack's when his stomach released a loud growl.

"Kids, what are you doing here?" Mrs. Foley descended on them, worry creasing on her face. "Did something happen?"

"Nutrition delivery." Sam personally thought that Tucker's response was too smooth, a cover up of what he was really feeling, and was sure that Mrs. Foley noticed it. Sure enough, the woman frowned at her son but Tucker continued to smile. "You're the one who's told me never to miss a meal right mom?"

The parents eyed them all critically and Sam blinked, swearing that she saw something in her mother's eye that she never thought she'd see; but the look was gone as soon as it came. As Tucker and Brad handed out the food, Sam took the opportunity to inconspicuously sneak up to the front of the lab to check up on their hybrid friends. Danny's back, waist and leg were cast in a thick layer of ice, a majority of his minor injuries had healed up and there was a new scar that started from his hip and ended halfway down his upper thigh.

'_Hopefully his parents won't see it __when he's back to put two and two together.'_ She turned over to Lee, who looked a little better than Danny did despite being the one who got pummeled first and lost more blood, and noted that there was no casts of ice on her. Sam wasn't sure if it was because they couldn't put ice on her or if her arm had already healed. _'But even with her accelerated healing, her arm was completely shattered! How could it have healed, completely, in eight hours?'_

"How come Phantom's got ice casts over his body and Angel doesn't? I mean, I know the casts are probably to help keep his bones in place, but doesn't Angel have a broken arm too?" _'Looks like Jazz picked up on my thoughts.'_ Sam allowed her lips to curve into a smile before it dropped back to its neutral line and turned to face the rest as Frostbite answered Jazz, after dropping a sizeable portion of his plate into his mouth.

"Indeed, you are correct." Frostbite paused, swallowing his mouthful and tossed a steak into his mouth. "Her right arm is completely shattered, and is still in pieces actually, but it seems that her aura refuses to allow ice to remain solid on her body unlike the young Phantom. It's possible that we have an elemental factor that does not allow us to use ice as casts for young Angel."

"I'm lost." Tucker scratched the back of his head and blinked. "What's this elemental factor you're talking about?"

"As the name suggests, it has to do with elements." Everyone turned to Sage whose thick book magically appeared at his hands. He adjusted his glasses and peered at the pages. "It seems that Phantom and Angel each have an elemental power; interestingly enough, it also seems that the elements are oppositional from each other."

"You mean they can like… spout fire from their mouths and create tornados or something?" Sage nodded his head to Tucker's query and he broke into a wide grin. "Cool."

"How that equals to cool is beyond me; spout fire from their mouths Tucker?" Sam snorted at Brad's deadpan look as Tucker continued to grin like a loon. "What, you think they'll turn into dragons next? And that's cool?"

"It's a plausible thought, but highly unlikely." Frostbite laughed and tossed the remainder of his food into his mouth. "By far, there are only two ghosts who can interchange between humanoid and dragon form; Dora's one of them, the other is her tyrant of a brother, Aragon. Just ask Sage, he's got the list of all the ghosts in our realm."

"All of them?"

"Hey, then that means you must know about the Wisconsin ghost!" Sam blinked and saw a strange gleam in Jazz's eyes. She exchanged a look with Tucker as Brad raised a brow at Jazz and blinked again; Jazz was definitely trying to do something. "Tell us about him; we saw him in Vlad's castle a few months ago."

"There are actually two ghosts who reside in that area, one is—"

"Well, why don't you go upstairs and talk hmm?" Vlad cut Sage off and laughed shakily, sweeping his hands towards the stairs and gave them a fake smile. "We need the space to work, I'm sure you can understand that."

"For someone who hasn't exactly been very helpful, he should probably go upstairs as well to give us some space right?" Maddie stared hard at Vlad, who sweated nervously at her stare, with her fork poised in front of her mouth before turning back to her plate and chomped down. "By the way kids, who cooked the food?"

"Lunch Lady, you know." Tucker wiggled his hands to illustrate who he was talking about. "Ghost with the cafeteria uniform?"

"She has proper name and it's Edna." Nicolai corrected, pointing his fork at Tucker before returning to his food. The human (and lone Thanagarian) adults blinked and stared at him, Nicolai huffed with indignation. "We do have proper names and what do you expect us to eat? Thin air?"

"It's something we need more time to get used to." Sam turned back to the tubes and ran her fingertips on the cool glass. Something was missing, but she couldn't put her finger on it and frowned in thought.

"Worried young one?" She jumped and turned to come face to face with Frostbite's large teeth. "It's understandable; it will take a considerable amount of time for them to fully heal given their injuries, but Sage says that Pariah will not advance on us until at least a week or two."

"How can he know that?"

"Rather brilliant, and sharp eyed, that Sage." Frostbite tilted his head and flashed her a grin. "You see, Pariah needs two items to keep him powered; the Ring of Rage that helps him absorb negative emotion and the Crown of Fire that amplifies his power. Sage mentioned that Pariah only had the Crown of Fire with him and not the ring."

"Now, there's always a positive and negative side effect to such artifacts of power." Sam nodded and listened intently, a small part of her was yelling that what he was saying was what she felt was missing. Brad quietly sneaked up behind her and listened in to their conversation. "The Ring of Rage will fill him with power from negative energy yes, but if he does not discharge that power, his molecular structure will not be able to hold all that power in him and thus, he will become unstable and begin to degenerate. What I mean by degenerate is that he literally begins breaking down and becomes nothing more but liquid ectoplasm; it's actually quite like death in a sense. However, the ring can only work if the bearer has the Crown of Fire."

"And so… what about this Crown of Fire?"

"Like I mentioned earlier, it amplifies the bearer's powers." She blinked when Frostbite held up his ice claw to her and blue wisps formed in his palm. The wisps swirled and an ice diamond formed from it. "However, it drains the bearer much faster. You see, it's just like how humans get tired after doing strenuous activities; you use up your energy and if you're doing only normal activity, you don't tire so quickly. The Crown of Fire can work on its own but with the Ring of Rage, Pariah would be unstoppable."

"So… the Ring of Rage is like a charger or a direct plug and the Crown of Fire is just an amplifier?" Frostbite grinned at her and nodded.

"Exactly."

"What's so big about saying 'negative' energy anyway? Is there positive energy around too?" Sam jumped and her hand lashed out instinctively, the back of her hand smacking soundly against Brad's nose. "Ow! Sam!"

"Don't sneak up on me you moron!" A blush rose up her cheeks when she realized that everyone was now concentrating their gazes on them. She flapped her hand about as soon as the dull pain entered her mind and scowled darkly at Brad who was holding his nose with a hand. "Stupid Pikachu."

He glared at her and she stuck her tongue out at him once she saw the rude gesture from the hand that was covering his nose.

"Bradley! Language!"

"I didn't even say anything!"

"You gestured." Bruce scowled and glared sternly at Brad who glared back defiantly. "I'm not blind Bradley."

"You need glasses if you can't tell the difference between my index and middle finger!" She snorted when Brad huffed and turned back to Frostbite. Sam could hear poorly concealed snickers from Shayera, Tucker and Jazz from behind them. "So what about this negative energy thing?"

"That's simple; what I mean by negative energy is negative emotions that humans exhibit. For instance," Frostbite held up his claw and swept it across the room. "Earlier today, there were plenty of negative emotions in the air, though it was mainly fear, and that is possibly one of the reasons why the young Phantom and Angel were both severely overwhelmed with Pariah's power."

"Unlike most ghosts, Phantom and Angel draw their power from positive emotions." Sage took over the explanation and adjusted his glasses on his nose. "Therefore, if they were thrown into a situation where there is a strong presence of negative emotions, it would weaken them and if the negative emotions are powerful enough, render them unable to fight. Vice versa for ghosts who draw their power from negative emotions."

"In today's case, the power of the negative emotions weakened them significantly, but not so much that they were completely incapable from defending themselves." A cord struck in Sam's head and she frowned heavily, trying to piece her thoughts together while continuing to listen to Sage. "Though the negative emotions in turn, made Pariah stronger against them. Hence the utter defeat."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." She could feel their eyes train on her, but she held onto her thoughts tightly. "So you're saying that based on our emotions, the ghosts absorb them to either get stronger or weaker right? And they can't choose what emotions to absorb?"

"Well there's no such thing as 'choosing' what to absorb when it comes to emotions; unless you're saying that it's possible for humans to choose what sort of emotion to feel at certain times."

"Our emotions are your energy right? So if we feel negative emotions, it feeds the malevolence in ghosts that makes them… go crazy?"

"If you trigger the malevolence, then the negative emotions absorbed will make the malevolence stronger and make it harder for them to break away from it. Human emotions mildly influence ghosts' state of minds, but not completely. Somewhat similar to what you would call…" Sage tapped his chin and his index finger flickered out at the same time his eyes lit up. "Mood swings I believe."

Sam pondered the clarification, thinking back to when Danny had lost control of himself and the fiasco with the future. Just before she could make clear sense of her thoughts, Tucker picked it up and went on.

"Wait, so what if we have some kind of emotion filter, something to filter out negative emotions and make the positive emotions more prominent to be absorbed by them? Wouldn't it… wouldn't it help them heal faster?"

'_Tucker you bloody genius… why didn't I catch that sooner?'_

"The boy's a blood genius." Nicolai grabbed a pen and scribbled hurried on pieces of paper. Maddie totted towards him and peered over his shoulder. "It's plausible idea, a device that filters emotions… theoretically it should work and –"

"Perhaps we should convene upstairs to give them more space to work." Sage sent a meaningful grin to Frostbite who returned it with a wide toothy one. "We should tell you what we have all discussed so far to keep you up to speed."

"Is it really necessary for the kids to know what's being planned?" Damon Gray shifted nervously, his eyes turning towards the stairway. "I mean… this is almost – well, probably it even is – war here; the kids aren't going to go fight!"

"We have already established that the children will not be fighting alongside with us." Frostbite frowned and his eyes narrowing at Damon in annoyance. "Good man, this is the eighth time you've brought this up. I believe we've even agreed that the children should know what is being planned so that they will know what to expect."

"I can't help it; I'm just—"

"You're not the only one who's worried about the kids Damon." Amanda tugged the pile of plates from Tucker, slapping his hand away with a mock scowl before turning to Damon with a look. "Don't think that you're the only parent around here."

"Come on kids; up you get." With a gentle smile, Amanda motioned for them to move to the stairs. Sam trotted behind Frostbite and paused, turning around to see Brad staring at Lee's tube. As everyone continued to file out, Sam watched as Brad ran his fingers across the glass at the area where her face was before his hand clenched into a fist.

'_He__'s got it real bad…'_ She winced as the reminder of Brad's crush on Lee resurfaced and the idle thought wandered into her head if Dick had opened his big mouth and blurted it out to Bruce and Tobias. She waited quietly as Tobias strode over to Brad and rested his hand on his shoulder. They shared a look before Brad stole one more look at Lee and moved away. Sam searched Brad's face closely, but found it heavily guarded as he walked towards her.

Unsure of what to do, Sam simply jerked her head towards the stairway and Brad nodded, following behind her as they climbed up in silence. She stole a glance back down and prayed that everything would turn out alright.

* * *

Three days. Three very long days and Jazz was just about ready to kick Valerie out of Fenton Works. The ghosts had set up a system, that they would push back Pariah's army as much as they could with the numbers that they had and Sage's prediction had been true so far; Pariah did not make any appearance since the day he thoroughly defeated Danny and Lee.

But the number of ghosts with them was few; Frostbite and his people, Dora, Johnny 13, Wulf and Cujo were the only ones capable of going out to fight. Edna was going to conceive soon, Box Ghost was banned from going out, Kitty refused to use her power, Nicolai was busy working alongside her parents to build something (and watching over Edna) and Sage, who even though did have enough power to fight, simply remained as the information broker; that took them out of the running to fight.

And even though the ghosts were fighting their own kind and protecting them, it didn't seem to matter to Valerie who continued to treat all ghosts with open hostility. It didn't help when she triggered Edna's malevolence by making rude remarks about her cooking one time; after that, she was forced to stay silent or be kicked out.

And just when she was calmed down, Edna went into labor.

Jazz found that ghost pregnancy and birthing were not very different from human ones. Although the ghost version of a cesarean was the doctor putting his hands straight into the womb (through the stomach with his intangibility on), cut the umbilical cord from inside and lift the baby up just like that. While it looked gruesome for his hands to be stuck straight into Edna's stomach, Jazz thought it made perfect sense for ghosts to use this method as a cesarean. Nicolai worked swiftly, lifting the bawling ghost girl out of Edna and into Kitty's hands before turning back to finish patching up Edna.

Ghost babies didn't look very different from human babies either, Jazz noted, once the newborn was cleaned, fed and burped. A patch of thin black hair, small little hands that pulled Box Ghost's hat off him once he got close and two tiny feet that kicked his nose when he went to tickle her.

Brad and Tucker shuddered when they announced her ghostly name to be Box Lunch and her parents had no idea what to give her as a proper name. With no proper name, they ended up having to use her ghostly name.

Valerie would slip away from Fenton Works to join in the fight when Pariah sent his minions out on them; with a new fancy suit, a whole bunch of new (and more lethal) weaponry and improved skills, she destroyed anyone in her path. But the only problem was that she attacked _all_ the ghosts; it didn't matter if one half of them were supposed to be her allies, she just went all out and severely injured a few of Frostbite's people in the process. Jazz could tell how frustrated her mother was whenever she tried, and failed, to reason with Red Huntress to get her to set aside her single minded goal of eliminating all ghosts to work with them. Valerie would swoop down, fight and fly off (whenever they were either finished fighting or if she ran out of ammunition) without another word.

Sam confessed to Jazz that she was itching to reveal Valerie's identity to everyone and get her thrown into jail, but she was holding back in respect to Danny's wishes.

"_Besides, Danny has first dibs if we're going to reveal her."_

Vlad threaded as carefully as he could around her parents, particularly her mother because Maddie was apparently still steaming over his behavior from before. He was however, flamboyant with the other parents, the teens and Bruce, who was uncharacteristically silent and calculative, a different person from his usual playboy persona in public. And with the threat of her mace in his face, Vlad stayed clear of Shayera.

Jazz did take note that Vlad was speaking with Valerie very often, but brushed it aside to worry about more important things.

Tucker's idea was surprisingly working very well; Danny and Lee were looking much better than the beaten pulps they had been when they first started out. Nicolai did give a warning that they had no idea if there were any side-effects to both hybrids with the absorbing of filtered positive energy to heal themselves. Now it was just a matter of time before they would wake up, though they still looked battered and there were still some bruises on Danny.

None of them, being the teens, were allowed out of Fenton Works and Valerie was slowing driving away all of their patience. So was Casse, but to a much lesser extent. Jazz still didn't understand why Casse was throwing a tantrum for not being allowed to have pets but Casse and Brad hadn't spoken to, or even looked at, each other since her 'wish' for him to die. Jazz could only thank whatever deity was looking down on them that Desiree wasn't with them to grant it.

"What are you building now?"

"Well, initially we were just making armor." Maddie tightened the screw and frowned, checking over her work. "Then we came up with the idea of building something that can mirror the Crown of Fire, so we took it apart and started on that."

"You mean an amplifier for ghost powers?" Jazz watched as Tucker and Sam exchanged wary looks with each other. "Wouldn't that be… dangerous? And who's going to use it?"

"The techie gh- I mean… Nicolai says that our best bet to win against the big ch- I mean, Pariah is Inviso- gah!" Her lips twitched into a crooked smile as her father scowled and smacked the side of his head. Inwardly, she was thrilled that her parents were being open enough to give the ghosts a chance (and trying to treat them normally) and was hoping that it would change their perspective to judge each ghost as their own person and not as a whole. "Phantom."

"He's the best bet because he's the only one by far who has been able to push Pariah back, even when Pariah has the Crown of Fire; the ghosts who initially sealed Pariah have all moved on and had no offspring." Nicolai tapped on newly made console in his hands and peered into it. "And at the rate he's healing, he should be fully healed in… two days. Besides, I don't believe any ghost can come in or out of here to steal this unfinished work with this shield around the place."

"What about Angel?"

"According to Frostbite, she has fully healed but it's just the matter of her to wake up." Jazz shifted her gaze up to the tubes. "It will most likely be the same case for Phantom once he's fully healed."

"Will there be enough time for them to totally recuperate after waking up?" Sam side-stepped and toed her way through the mess of metal, with Tucker in tow, towards the tubes where Brad was standing. "I'd think that the people in the Observatory would be frightened enough to give him the energy he needs to power up."

"True, but he needs a large amount of energy before he proceeds; if my calculations are right, with the information we have, he needs at the very least one week to recuperate." More tinkering and clanking noises sounded as Nicolai passed Maddie the console and shifted to another pile of metal. "But he too will need to plan on what he wants to do next; it's glaringly obvious that he does not have the Ring of Rage to come out himself and while he enjoys doing things himself, he won't risk it. So he will have to send his minions to do his bidding for the moment."

"I hate waiting." Jazz heard Sam mutter as she weaved her way through towards them. "I feel even more useless."

"Join the club." Sam gave her a wry smile and turned back to the tubes. "At least they look better than when…"

"We're lucky they're alive." Tucker whispered quietly, his eyes shifting between both tubes. "If they were in regular human form…"

"Don't think about it." She shuddered as the thought crossed her mind. Jazz alternated her gaze between the tubes and her working parents. She could tell that her parents were tense and worried, both believing that Danny was trapped in the Observatory in the presence of the tyrant ghost. It was both good and bad, good that Danny and Lee's identities were still a secret, but Jazz felt bad that their parents were worrying so much when Danny was right in front of them; a little worse for wear, but alive.

With the limited amount of time they could spend in the lab, Jazz, Tucker, Sam and Brad stayed as long as they could to keep an eye on what was going on and make sure that Vlad didn't tamper with any of the weapons. But the only ones who stayed in the lab for most of the time were her parents and Nicolai; Frostbite came down now and then to check up on Danny and Lee's healing process and since Vlad was still trying to get back into Maddie's good graces, he came down often to offer his help but was always rejected.

Apparently, Maddie was less than forgiving if it came to matters regarding her family.

----

***B****EEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP***

----**  
**

"What's that?"

"Move! One of them is up!" Jazz acted swiftly, grabbing the other three teens and pushed them to one side as the adults rushed up to the tubes. Brad shoved her hand away and craned his neck over her shoulder to see what was going on; Jazz turned her head to do the same, but the adults were crowded around the tubes that prevent her from seeing who had woken up.

They didn't have to wait long to find out; Lee's tube was drained of the ectoplasm and once it was lifted away, the adults quickly stepped back as the hybrid collapsed on the floor. Nicolai was immediately at her side and checking her pulse, but she curled into a fetal position and whimpered. Suddenly, a yellow shield threw Nicolai backwards and the ghost disappeared through the wall before returning back through it with a shocked look.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know… we need Frostbite down here! Someone call him down!" Jazz exchanged a look with Sam and Tucker; Brad was too fixated to move and Tucker nodded his head before charging up the stairway, shouting at the top of his lungs. Nicolai next tried to coax her out of her fetal position from behind the shield, but all he got out of her was whimpers.

Moments later, Frostbite phased through the ceiling with Tucker tucked under his arm and set him down with the rest of the teens ("That was so cool." Tucker giggled once his feet were on the ground) before lumbering over to Nicolai. The two ghosts whispered to each other, both wearing confused expressions as they continued to coax Lee out of her fetal position.

"Physically, she just fine." Frostbite laid a hand on the shield and Jazz squinted her eyes, realizing that Lee was shivering violently. From the stairway, the other adults filed in and Casse poked her head out to peer in from the stairs. "I'm guessing that she thinks that she's still in danger and is afraid; her mind has yet to process that she's now safe and her fear's overriding her rationale."

"She still thinks that Pariah's around." A tense nod was enough response as Frostbite tapped the shield. Jazz could feel the tension vibrating from Brad and grasped his arm firmly to hold him back from leaping forward. "How do we snap her out of it?"

Nicolai and Frostbite shared a look before turning back to Maddie and shrugged.

"Let me go Jazz." She blinked and turned to face Brad at the soft command, his face was still concentrating on Lee. His muscles tensed from beneath her hand as his hands clenched and unclenched. "Let me go."

Sam and Tucker exchanged a look and stepped forward, both ready to grab Brad in case he broke away from her. Jazz alternated her gaze between them and Brad, tightening her grip on Brad's arm for a moment before making her decision. She shook her head at them and released her grip; Brad zipped forward and squeezed through the adults, Jazz, Sam and Tucker followed him as closely as they could. Maddie and Jack caught them from moving any closer to the shield.

"Kids! What are you doing, stand ba—"

"L—Angel. Angel, Angel. It's ok. You're safe." Nicolai exchanged a look with Frostbite and with a nod, they moved backwards to give Brad space. He laid a hand on the shield and knelt on the ground. "It's me, Brad. Come on, put the shield down."

"Br…Brad?" Small, meek and laced with fear, Lee's voice sent shivers down Jazz's spine when she finally spoke after a long stretch of silence.

"Yea, it's me." Jazz glanced over to the other adults and noted that Bruce was staring intently at Brad as he continued to coax Lee to put the shield down. "Come on, it's safe now. No one's here to hurt you."

"..S..Safe?" Her head tilted up slightly and Jazz realized that she was crying.

"It's safe Angel." Not liking Bruce's stare on Brad, Jazz slipped away from her parents and to the front of the shield. She knelt down and rested her hand on the shield. "It's safe. Just us, you know, Brad, Sam, Tucker and me, Jazz."

"Safe, safe, safe, safe, safe…" She curled back into her fetal position, sobbing lightly with her hands clutching the back of her head.

"Yes, it's safe." Jazz bent down lower, hoping to catch eye contact with her. "Put the shield down… please? We need to check how you're doing."

"C…" She coughed, her head lifting up again and Jazz stared straight into her eyes. "Check?"

"You were hurt." Jazz lifted a hand and clapped it over Brad's mouth, raising her index finger to signal to him to let her handle it without breaking eye contact with Lee. She could feel Bruce's stare on their backs and she didn't like it. "We need to see if you're alright. Put the shield down, please. Come on Angel, you can trust us."

Silence, but both girls didn't break eye contact. Jazz watched as Lee's eyes searched hers and kept her hand at Brad's mouth until he pushed her hand away. It took a while, but the shield dissipated and Jazz took the opportunity to crawl forward. She flicked Brad in the nose and discreetly pointed to Bruce behind them to warn him of his godfather's watching eyes, but Brad ignored the warning and went forward with her.

Once they were close enough, Lee launched herself at the closest person and latched onto them. Jazz frowned at Brad, who pointedly ignored her again, and wrapped his arms around Lee, whispering quietly into her ear as she cried. Jazz released an exasperated sigh and carefully glanced to Bruce who was now frowning heavily, though he wasn't the only one frowning in the room.

'_Well he's obviously not thinking about the consequences… __But I can't blame him.'_ Her eyes traveled up to Danny's tube and sighed. _'I'd probably do the same for Danny.'_

Jazz took the opportunity to give Lee a quick check through; all her injuries were healed, save for a few greenish spots that looked like bruises, but her uniform was still a torn up mess. She paused as a shadow loomed over them and looked up to see Frostbite peering down at them with a hesitant look. He moved away quickly when Lee's shoulders tensed at his shadow and slowly knelt down, careful to not let his shadow cast over her again and did his own check on her.

He looked up to Jazz and mouthed, _"Ask her how she is feeling."_ Jazz waited for Lee to calm down a little before shifting closer to her to ask the question.

"How are you feeling Angel?" As she shifted closer, Jazz realized that Lee was breathing heavily and her hands were clutching onto Brad's shirt tightly. Her response was muffled and Jazz leaned downwards to try catching it again, but received choked sobs mixed with noises that sounded like she was gagging. "I think she's feeling sick."

"It could be one of the side-effects…" Nicolai was up and pacing, tapping a finger on his chin as he voiced his thoughts out loud. "But what kind of sickness and how did it come up from this?"

"Jazz… Jazz!" Her head whipped over to Brad and he dipped his chin down to Lee, a frightened look crossing his eyes. She followed his line of vision and gasped when she saw Lee's elbow literally liquefy before it went back to being solid. But in the process of liquefying and solidifying, drops of green splashed on the floor and her yellow aura flickered about like an S.O.S signal.

"Nicolai, her molecular structure is falling apart!"

"That's it!" Jazz watched as Nicolai flew over to them in a hurry and the adults exchanging confused looks with each other as he examined Lee closely. Her body fuzzed out, liquefying again before it went back to solid. "There's a limit to her healing capabilities but with the influx of power, it was stretched to its maximum and the excess energy that wasn't being used is now stored in her body. She needs to released the excess now or she'll fall apart!"

"But how—"

"Jack!" Maddie's exclamation cut Jeremy off and all eyes went to her as she raised her hands. "The Energy Container, where is it?"

Jack's eyes lit up as realization hit him and the large man quickly lumbered off to the Fenton Vault. But even as Jack left, Maddie kept her hold on Tucker and Sam. Clangs and noises of shuffling metal echoed from the vault before Jack re-emerged with a large machine that looked similar to the incubators premature babies were placed in after birth, including the two slots where hands could go in. Jazz shifted to the side to let him through and Jack placed the device on the ground while Maddie pointed to the two slots.

"Put her hands through there when Jack switches it on; it should be able to hold the energy she needs to release."

"It should?"

"We haven't tested it yet!" Maddie snapped, whirling her head around to glare at Pamela. "We didn't have a test subject to try it out on before!"

"Then we'll just have to trust the theory behind the device." Nicolai motioned to Frostbite who reached over and clamped his hands over Lee's arms. The girl squeaked and her legs began to flail about. "Calm down! We want to help you child, and if you want to feel better, you need to trust us!"

"Let go! Leggo, leggo, leggo—"

"Shh… it's ok. It's ok. Just trust me, trust me ok?" Brad wrapped his arms around Lee's stomach and whispered into her ear, his hand stroking the side of her stomach gently while calming her down. Jazz stole a quick glance back; Casse had moved from the foot of the stairs to the back of the crowd of adults and didn't look like she was going to step forward to help. When she turned again, Brad was slowly guiding Lee to the device with his arms now crossed over her chest; one part of her mind was yelling at her of an ulterior motive but the other part was telling her that it was nothing,

"Concentrate on releasing your energy through your hands." Frostbite wheedled gently once her shaking hands were in the device. "Come now, we want you to feel better."

Brad leaned forward again and whispered into Lee's ear, but this time, Jazz couldn't hear what he was saying. Then moments later, Lee was scrunching her face up in concentration and her aura glowed brightly before it shot down to her hands. A bright flash shone from the slots and the device whirred noisily, the arrow in the meter that sat atop of the device jerked awkwardly to the maximum measurement.

"Alright, that should be enough." But her face stayed scrunched up and her hands still glowed brightly. The device then began to beep frantically as the meter shivered and the arrow flipped beyond the maximum measurement. "Pull her hands out! She'll overload the device!"

Again, Brad whispered into her ear and his hand gripped her shoulder firmly as he pulled her backwards from the device; Frostbite relinquished his grip over her wrists as she was pulled back into Brad's chest. Her hands were still visibly shaking as the glow dimmed and her aura relaxed; her eyes remained squeezed, her bottom lip trembled and she bit down on it, as if holding back from crying.

"Good job." Jazz blinked and turned to her father, who was gave Lee a small and hesitant smile before turning back to check on the device. Pride and relief swelled in her chest and she couldn't resist letting her lips curve into a grin. Lee's eyes cracked open and she stared at the device for a moment before shifting her gaze to identify where she was. Jazz took the opportunity to reach out and grasp her hands, rubbing them as soothingly as she could.

"Welcome back." Lee's eyes locked with hers and Jazz inwardly winced at the redness of her eyes. With her back snuggled comfortably against Brad's chest, Lee stared at Jazz who gave her a small smile. "You're in our lab at my place Angel."

At the mention of 'lab', she was gone, but Jazz could still feel her shaking hand and squeezed it. The adults, however, were looking around the lab, whispering loudly.

"Where did she…?"

"She's still here." She cut through the throng of voices and leaned forward. "It's ok. It's safe, my parents aren't going to do anything to you."

"Perhaps we should give her some time to adjust; there seems to be too many unfamiliar and 'dangerous' people here." Frostbite sent Maddie and Jack a mild look before sweeping his hands forward in a gesture for everyone to move away. "We should let the children take over."

"But—"

"She trusts them, not us." Pamela closed her mouth and Jeremy placed her hands on her shoulders and led her away. Sam and Tucker hurried over once Maddie relinquished her grip on them and set out to coax Lee back to visibility. Frostbite gave them encouraging looks before pushing Nicolai along with him to the stairway. As the other adults dispersed, Bruce remained rooted to the spot and observed them intently with a look that made Jazz's skin crawl. The stare felt familiar, yet she couldn't place where she had felt that stare before.

Casse peeked out from behind Bruce, eyes uncertain of what to do. Hot anger began to pulse in her veins and Jazz squashed the impulse to chew Casse out in Bruce's presence. Instead, she counted to ten to cool off, turned her back on Bruce and Casse and tried to ignore the stare.

"We'll talk later Bradley." Brad didn't acknowledge Bruce's warning and continue to focus all of his attention to Lee. Jazz saw Sam release a small sigh from beside Brad once Bruce turned his back and walked away. Only the teenagers remained in the lab.

"If you're done gawking, you can leave now." She snapped tersely, squeezing Lee's hand once more before leaning forward to her again. "It's ok. It's just us. Just us. Nobody else is here."

"I'm not gawking! I just—"

"Well you're not being useful and we don't need your help, so you can just carry on with your temper tantrum." Tucker deadpanned, groping air before landing on something solid. "Uh… please don't tell me my hand's on her—"

"It's her shoulder Tuck."

"Oh good."

"You won't let me help!"

"Because all you do is think about yourself and make things even worse than when it first starts out."

Casse's bottom lip trembled and she focused on her brother, who didn't look up to acknowledge her. The lab lapsed in silence, Jazz and Sam scowling darkly at Casse while Brad continuing coaxing the still invisible Lee, and Tucker's attention had seemingly wandered off to Danny's tube, though Jazz could see that he was eying Brad closely. After a few minutes of stare down, Casse stormed up the stairs in a huff; Brad and Tucker hardly took notice of her departure.

"Come on Lee, it's just us here." Sam's eyes darted to the stairway and kept her voice low, flicking Brad's ear with a finger with a semi-annoyed scowl. Brad gave her sideways glare as Lee flickered back visible, still nestled snugly in his arms. The transformation rings appeared from her waist and Sam quickly clapped her shoulder and shook her head. "No, no. Don't transform back."

"We'll explain everything once we get you cleaned up." Lee's mouth closed and the transformation rings dissipated, her eyes peering at Jazz questioningly. She didn't realize that she was in her brother's arms, even when Tucker hoisted her up and out of his embrace. "Sam, Tucker, take her up to my room, I'll dig something out for her to wear once I'm done. Brad, we need to talk."

Sam and Tucker each took an arm and slowly guided Lee across the lab and up the stairs. Jazz exchanged a look with Tucker, who flicked his head in Brad's direction and nodded, and watched them leave. Once they were gone, she turned over to Brad as he got up to his feet. "What are you doing Brad?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" She crossed her arms over her chest and leveled a glare at him. Brad mirrored her and scowled darkly, the earlier gentleness having disappeared once Lee was out of sight.

"Are you making use of her, being scared and confused, to express your feelings? Because I don't like it." She reveled in their slight height difference as Brad bristled when he had to tilt his head up to meet her eyes. "It looks as if you're using this as an opportunity to show her something you wouldn't normally show and since she's in her ghost form, no one else will realize it."

"I'm not using this as an opportunity!"

"Well it sure looks like it!" Jazz bent down slightly and went nose to nose with Brad. "You want to express yourself to her publically but you're afraid of what everyone else will think because she's your sister!"

She received a cold glare but he did not refute her words. They continued to glare at each other until Brad spoke up coldly.

"I'm not doing anything. It's not a crime to worry about my sister."

Jazz watched as he stormed out the lab with his hands shoved into his pockets, she rested her forehead in her palm and sighed.

"Yes you freaking **are** doing something. Stupid boy."

* * *

Even though she was cleaned, fed, and was up to speed with (almost) everything, Lee still looked deadbeat. She spent most of her time huddled in a corner where she warily eyed anyone, except for Jazz, Sam, Tucker and Brad, who came near her. The only time she was seen moving about was in the evening, to go upstairs. While most of them got the hint that she needed time to herself, one was seemingly oblivious to it and another was making use of it to cause trouble. Because of Casse's persistence in wanting to talk to her and Valerie's attempts to make her even more miserable than before, Lee spent most of her time invisible.

Dressed in an oversized shirt and a pair of Jazz's old shorts, she quietly toed down the stairs and froze halfway when she realized that the kitchen was bustling with activity in the middle of the night. She slowed down and pressed herself against the wall once she reached the base of the stairs, forgetting that she was in her ghost form and had powers that would have spared her the effort of creeping around.

As she inched forward closer to the door frame, hands reached out from behind her; one clapped over her mouth and the other wrapped around her chest, pulling her out of Fenton Works and into the alleyway beside it. She thrashed about wildly, eyes wide in fear until her captor revealed himself to her.

"Hello Angel… or should I say Amilee Angeles?" Plasmius smirked as he tightened his grip on her arm. She struggled some more and her flailing foot dug into Plasmius's crotch, he grunted and his grip on her weakened. "Stupid little… calm down!"

"Get away from me!" He snarled and swung his fist, catching her jaw and sent her flying into the ghost shield.

"Shut up you stupid little wrench!" With his arm pressed against her throat, his hand over her mouth and her back against the shield, Lee struggled and choked for air. "I'm just here to give you a proposition."

She dug her nails into his arm and tried to bite through his glove, but Plasmius's grip remained firm. After a while she stopped struggling, but her body remained tense. Plasmius slowly removed his hand from her mouth, keeping his arm firmly at her throat and she croaked. "What do you want Vlad?"

"Ah, so you know who I am; good, no need to waste time on introductions." He leaned forward and leered. "The Crown of Fire; I want you to get the Crown of Fire for me and in return, I'll give you the Skeleton Key to lock Pariah back in his sarcophagus."

"You're crazy if you think I can pull that off." She hissed and resumed her struggling. "You're stronger than I am, go get it yourself! I'm not going near him and I don't even know if he has a damn sarcophagus!"

"Well I do know that he does have one." His hand clapped over her mouth again as he leaned closer. "You see, if you don't do this, I'd say that… you'd have just signed your family's death sentence."

"Think about it." Lee stopped struggling again and stared fearfully at Plasmius. "He won't stop until he's completely devoured our Realm and he's ruthless regardless of whether you're ghost or human; so tell me, will any of your family be able to survive if he attacked them the way he did to you?"

Silence, but then Lee dropped her gaze and Plasmius released his grip on her. She remained leaned against the shield as he pulled away and turned his back on her. "You won't have much time to think it through; I need your answer by tomorrow night and if you say anything about my presence here or about the proposition…"

He left the threat hanging and when she looked up, he was gone.

* * *

'_**Where is this?'**_

"Damon, can you please control your daughter? I know she hates ghosts, but this is ridiculous!"

"I'm trying to Maddie, but she's just… She's just unhappy with what's going on and about the living arrangements."

"Unhappy is an understatement."

'_**Who's there?'**_

"Look, our house isn't lavish and isn't meant to house this many people. We aren't happy with the situation either, but the ghosts are already squeezing themselves in the corners of the rooms to keep away from her! If she doesn't stop Damon, I _will_ kick her out."

'_**Why am I here?'**_

"B-but—"

"Isn't that too extreme Madeline? She's just a teenager with some issues; you can't be serious in throwing her out into that pit of danger."

"I didn't ask for your opinion. Valerie's already threading on thin ice Damon; we're not going to get any closer to finishing anything if we're always getting called up to calm things down because Valerie's pushed another malevolence trigger!"

'_**What's going on?'**_

"Cut her some slack! She's been on the edge ever since I lost my job so please—"

"But that doesn't excuse her behavior."

"Ghosts were the reason I lost my job Mr. Wayne, and frankly I don't blame her for being hostile towards them!"

'_**Why can't I move?'**_

"Sure, then let her starve because she won't eat the food a ghost cooks to feed us. Need I remind you that your daughter's here, in one of the safest places to be, and not stuck in the Observatory with a tyrant looming over her?"

"Now now Bruce; showing attitude isn't—"

"Shut up Masters."

"You don't know what it feels like to lose everything you worked hard for!"

"So, material possessions are more valuable than your lives?"

'_**Why **__**does my body hurt so much?'**_

"Look, all we want is for Valerie to stop causing trouble Damon. It will save us the headaches and the time wasted to work."

"And why can't you understand that she's just stressed?"

"She's not the only one who's stressed here!"

'_**Wait… I can remember…'**_

"Damon, you're just finding excuses for her. You can't justify her attitude like this; it makes you look cold-hearted to everyone else but your daughter."

"The other kids are picking on her! Of course I'm concerned about—"

"The other kids haven't approached her at all Damon. See? You're making excuses again! Look, she's safe here Damon, the ghosts here are not going to hurt her. You're just blowing everything out of proportion because you don't like ghosts. What about Maddie and Jack? They've spent their entire career hunting ghosts and now they have to work with them to save their son."

"We aren't being heartless to Valerie, but our main concern now is to find a way to beat that… ghost and free the others in the Observatory."

'_**Shield… Pariah… Fight… Pain…'**_

"Don't try to blame the other kids for Valerie's unhappiness; she's making herself miserable."

Silence.

'_**Blood… Angel… Lee…LEE!'**_

----_**  
**_

***BEEP* *BEEP***** *BEEP* *BEEP***

-------

"He's awake!"

"Quick, someone call Nicolai and Frostbite down!"

Distorted voices echoed in his ears, but he ignored them and focused on breaking free. He forced his eyes open to find his vision swimming in green, the figures in front of him were shadowed and distorted, looming over him so menacingly that panic surged in his chest and he could feel a rise in the energy in his body before it burst out.

He could hear the noise of something cracking, and it was soon followed by the shattering of glass and gush of liquid. His buttocks slammed down against a cool metal surface and he looked up again; the green tint was gone, but it took him some time to recognize the figures in front of him. The panic was back and was joined with fear when he realized that he was in the lab.

"Phantom…" She was coming closer, slowly, but too close for his liking. In his panicked mind, he saw her with a surgical knife and a wicked smile on her face, ready to dissect him, take him apart bit by bit to satisfy her insatiable crave for knowledge. Everyone else in the room had similar terrifying looks on their faces, gleeful that he was going to get what he deserved. Lee was nowhere in sight and immediately, images of her getting tortured and sliced up slammed into his brain, sending his panic into overdrive.

"Get away from me!" A burst of energy flew from his hands and he scrambled back, falling off whatever it was he had been sitting on until his back pressed against the metal wall. His mind didn't register the hole just opposite him, a hole that he had just created. Something was pulsing in his veins and his stomach curled, protesting against his sudden movements and screamed to be quelled. "Wha... what did you do to her?!"

"Phantom! Calm down, please!" She was coming closer again, the wicked smile was growing wider and… were her hands shaping into claws? The room, the rest of the people, everything was morphing into something darker, more sinister, and his mind was screaming for him to get away. "You're safe here, we won't hurt you!"

"You're just waiting!" Bile was rising in his throat, his stomach was churning and… was that Technus coming down the stairs? Sirens began to wail in his head and a bright red DANGER sign blinded his sight. The _fucking_ apocalypse was already here! Everyone was coming for him! "You just want to drag it out, tear me apart molecule by molecule because you just _fucking_ hate me for just _existing_—"

"Phantom, you have to calm down! Look, we're not going to attack you and the humans won't… do whatever it is you think they were going to do to you!"

"—and probably already got to her. What did you do to her?!"

"We haven't done anything to her! She's upstairs, resting!" Her face twisted and got even more unpleasant as he pressed himself further up against the wall when she tried to step forward. "Please, you have to trust me!"

"Why should I trust you when you don't, and never have, trusted me?!" He spat and groaned, his stomach lurched and he swallowed to push the bile down his throat. But he continued on his tirade. "I'm dangerous to you and all you've ever wanted is to put me in a cage and do tests on me, rip me apart molecule by molecule and examine my remains!"

"I told you your hatred to our kind was legendary."

"He needs to calm down." Danny bit his lip as a large unfamiliar furry creature appeared from the ceiling. More of them?! He wasn't going to win this! "His energy readings are far higher than what Angel had when she woke up and he's too emotionally charged."

"How can we keep him calm when he's not listening to us?" Huh. That's weird… Why did that sound like Mrs. Manson? His head began to pound as more familiar voices sounded. Why did these people sound like his friends' parents…? _And why won't his stomach shut up about wanting to throw up?_

"Should we sedate him?"

"Call Angel, she's upstairs isn't she?"

"Get away from me!" One more step forward and everything snapped. He didn't bother to keep his power in check; Danny opened his mouth wide and released a terrified wail that blew everyone, and everything, backwards. The ground rumbled violently, the walls began to crack and the portions of the ceiling came apart. _Out, out, out!_ He wanted out _now_!

"Phantom! Phantom stop!"

'_Jazz?'_ Abruptly, he shut his mouth but pressed his back against the cracked wall again, still tensed for an attack. His eyes whipped around wildly before landing on the foot of the stairs where Jazz was pushing against their father to get to him. The danger sign was back and his mind identified their father as an enemy, an enemy who was going to hurt her. His vision went green again as he shot forward and delivered a kick to Jack's gut, causing him to lose his grip on Jazz. Danny scooped her into his arms and shot backwards, cradling her protectively and snarled angrily.

"Jazz!"

"I won't let you hurt her!"

"He thinks that we're the enemy here." He tightened his grip around Jazz, thoughts running rampant in his mind and wondered if he should simply phase through the wall to escape. All the menacing figures were keeping a safe distance away from them. "Back away; he won't hurt her, but he thinks we want to."

"Phantom, Phantom listen to me." He focused too hard on escape plans that he didn't hear her, until her urgent hiss (and an elbow to the stomach) snapped him back to reality. "Danny, snap out of it!"

"I won't let them hurt you." He growled and held her closer, not realizing that his nails were beginning to extend out, making his fingers bleed, and that his body was liquefying and solidifying at awkward intervals. "I won't let them!"

"They won't hurt me or you."

"They hate me!"

"Do you trust me?" She suddenly twisted in his arms and looked him square in the eye, and after staring at him for a while, repeated softly, "Do you trust me?"

He stared back at her and the tension in his muscles diminished as he slacked his grip on her, but he didn't let her go. "I trust you." He murmured weakly, not realizing that his body was trembling violently. "But I… I want to protect you."

"I'm in no danger, so just trust me." She grasped his hands from around her and brought them to his face, showing him the extended nails. He looked at them in awkward fascination as the blood dribbled down his fingers. "Calm down first… ok?"

Jazz rubbed his hands soothingly and coaxed him to sit down on the ground. Just as his nails slid back its normal length, he flinched when his hands liquefied and dripped before they solidified again.

"Wh-what's happening to me?"

"We… we pushed your healing powers to its max." Her hand brushed his fringe away from his face and rubbed his forehead. "Your body can't keep the excess energy that's been absorbed. You need to… release that excess energy so that your body won't de-molecularize."

"W-was this an—"

"No." She whispered fiercely, staring into his eyes before pulling him into her arms. "This wasn't an experiment. We just wanted you to heal faster, to get better, but we didn't know what kind of side effects there were going to be and we were desperate."

"I would never let them hurt you." She stroked his hair and pressed his forehead against her shoulder. "Just like you won't let them hurt me."

Something about Jazz's protectiveness of him soothed his panicked mind and he took deep breaths to calm himself down. His muscles slacken and he buried his nose into her chest. Her embrace felt warm, comfortable and safe; almost enough to lull him to sleep if it weren't for his squealing stomach. He groaned and heaved.

"Feeling sick?" After one nod, nausea washed over him and he choked, bringing his hand to his mouth to clap it shut while he tried to push the bile back down his throat. "Bear with me for a while ok?"

"Mom, dad, where's that energy container thing?" Jazz's hands rubbed his back, even as he bent forward to curl into a ball in an attempt to ease the pressure that was building in his stomach. His vision blurred and he wondered if his friends were the ones who were racing down the stairs as rampant thumping noises entered his ears. Whispers, metal scrapping and huffing noises flitted through the room and Danny shrank back as Jack came forward with the large device.

"Shh… it's ok. He won't touch you." She pulled him back closer to her as Jack placed the device beside her and retreated back. He released a soft whine when her hands stopped rubbing his back and tugged his arms. "Come on, you trust me right?"

He stared up at her, suddenly feeling tired from his earlier outburst, and allowed her to guide his hands into the slots of the device. "Just… release your energy. You know; like your energy blasts from your hands."

"Mm'kay…" Without giving it too much thought, Danny charged his fists and released the energy, but the power of the blast he was releasing proved to be too powerful for the device to handle. The device shrieked and trembled before it exploded with a terrific bang, sending Danny back into the wall and Jazz to the middle of the room.

"Jazz!"

Immediately his mind snapped back to attention and adrenaline pumped in his veins again. A trap! He went intangible and escaped from the lab, not hearing his friends' cries for him. He could hear his heart thumping against his chest as he shot out of Fenton Works, but slammed into the ghost shield surrounding it.

Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide; the sick feeling in his stomach wasn't helping him and he was bleeding all over the place. He fearfully looked back and went invisible, hoping to turn back to his human form to get through the shield and disappear, until he heard Jazz screaming for him.

"Phantom! Phantom wait!"

"Where is he?"

"The scanner says he's still inside the perimeter of the shield and I'm guessing that he's flying."

"Please, come back!" The pleading in her voice made him hesitant, but his mind was screaming that it was a trap; it wasn't Jazz! Someone who just took her image and voice, trying to lure him back in! Just as he began the transformation, he looked down and flinched when he saw the scratch marks and blood splatters on her. Her head whipped around, searching for him, and continued to call out for him. "Phantom!"

"Jazz… he can't go anywhere with the shield up."

"He got through the shield a few days ago when he got beaten up by that… that… monster!" The transformation halted and he went back to his ghost form. Monster…? "You can't tell me that he won't get through this one!"

A wave of dizziness washed over him and Danny slowly descended to the ground, heaving as his stomach churned but remained invisible. Blearily he looked up, identifying the figures of his friends and sister before landing on the white floating figure.

'_She's safe…'_ Relief flooded through him but it was short lived when he began to hack and cough. The nausea hit him hard and he vomited blood, unable to feel his body liquefy as his invisibility flickered on and off.

"Phantom!" Hands grasped his shoulders and shook him, but all he could see was red. "Quick, just discharge your energy!"

"Let it out Phantom, let it out!"

'_Dis…c__harge...'_ and his world faded to black.

-------

He opened his eyes and stared at the blank ceiling. His body felt heavy and weak, his eyes wanted to close and go back to sleep, and his head was pounding. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Welcome back Phantom." Danny's eyes flew open and he stared blearily at the white furred creature looming. "That was quite a scare you gave us; the young miss Fenton hasn't left your side since you collapsed."

He turned his head to the side and caught sight of the mop of red, snoozing softly by the bedside. He stared at her for a while before looking up again, blinking to clear the blur in his eyes.

"Who…what…"

"My name is Frostbite and don't worry; you are perfectly safe here." Danny watched Frostbite curiously as the creature checked over his body, careful not to disturb Jazz's slumber. "You seem to be doing well enough; looking a little disoriented and a little unhealthy, but considering that you almost got de-molecularized, I'd say you're in quite a good condition."

"De… molec..?"

"You almost died." He stared at Frostbite incredulously, feeling a little bit more awake although his muscles were screaming for him to go back to sleep. "But you've survived. The power that you hold is rather startling, if I may add."

"Go back to sleep; you'll need the rest." The wakefulness was gone and Danny's eyes drooped, his hand shifting slightly to rest on top of Jazz's. Frostbite gentle smile faded as he dropped back to sleep.

-------

When he woke up again, the room was dark and he could hear slow breaths (and a snore) echoing around. He blinked and shifted slightly, careful not to wake Jazz who was sleeping at his bedside, and propped himself up on his elbows. He then saw Lee float into and across the room and idly wondered why she was floating around (and why she was in her ghost form in the first place). "Lee?"

She squeaked and tumbled from the air, and then the room burst into a whirlwind of activity as yelps sounded from the floor.

"I'm sorry!"

"Ow! Get off me!"

"Your foot's in my stomach!"

"Hey! Whose hand is that?!"

"Danny?" Jazz loomed over him with her brows knitted into a worried frown. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit." She chuckled and rested her hand on his forehead as the shuffling and squawking noises dimmed down. Soon, Tucker, Sam, Brad and Lee were peering at him from the foot of the bed. "Uh… what are you guys doing on the floor?"

"The floor's the bed, since you've taken this one."

"Kids, what's going on?" Danny flinched and dove under the covers as Maddie peered in from the door. "Oh… is he awake?"

"Yea he— oh for crying out loud, get out from there." Jazz peeled the blankets off him and he promptly went invisible. She released an exasperated sigh and scowled at the spot where he was. "Phantom!"

"Excuse me for not wanting to be ripped apart molecule by molecule."

"I'll go back downstairs then." He eyed Maddie warily and hovered above the bed so that he didn't give away where he was. "Don't stay up too late, ok kids?"

"How late is it right now anyway?" He returned back visible once Maddie left the room and yelped when Jazz smacked his shoulder. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"For being a stupid jerk. And this—" She smacked the back of his head. "Is for scaring the shit out of us, and its three in the morning you dork."

"And uh…" He eyed his friends warily and blinked, feeling around his body to find out that he was no longer wearing his uniform. Suspicion crept up his spine. "What day is it?"

"Five days since you went up against that… thing." The room stilled as Danny frowned, trying to recall exactly what happened. Once it hit him, his hands flew to his back and felt his spine to find it in one piece. "All your injuries are healed, but you've got a few scars here and there; nothing your clothes can't hide."

"My… back—"

"Totally healed, we checked and you can move your legs can't you?" He swung his legs up and down, twisted his body and arched backwards until a small pop sounded. He frowned when Lee fidgeted nervously beside Sam, but dismissed it. "See?"

Danny clenched his fist and stared at it; flashes of the fight ran through his mind as he flexed his fingers and looked up to his friends.

"Tell me everything."

* * *

"Good morning dears!" Maddie's lips quirked into a small smile that was hidden by her teacup, at Edna's cheerful greeting. The teens, minus Casse and Valerie, trooped into the kitchen and returned the greeting with half-heartedness and yawns. She watched each of them carefully as they settled on the spare table that had been set up. "What would you like for breakfast?"

Edna had Box Lunch secured in a baby carrier, an old one Maddie dug up from storage, the infant already alert and watching her surroundings with rapt attention. A chubby hand reached out towards the pan but was gently pushed back to her chest as Edna cooked eggs and bacon. Maddie studied the kids closely and frowned at the dark rings around their eyes; the frown deepened when Phantom rested his chin on top of Jazz's and seemingly nodded off, until she pushed him off and made him tumble onto the ground.

"You're mean." He whined from the floor, rubbing his bruised posterior as Jazz sent him a lazy smirk. He got up and slithered over to Angel, who rubbed her bleary eyes and blinked up at him when he rested his chin on her head. She reached up and patted his cheek before pointing to the chair beside her. "Ange's so much nicer than you are; at least she doesn't shove me onto the floor."

"You deserved it, you dork." The banter felt familiar, yet she couldn't help but feel that their bantering was too casual, as if they had done it many times before. Maddie wondered just how close Jazz was to Phantom and continued to study them as Edna set the plates of food in front of them. "Thanks Edna."

"I see a baby, a ghost baby." Phantom deadpanned as he stared at Box Lunch and leaned forward until the tip of his nose bumped against hers; Box Lunch returned the stare and went crossed eyed to look at his nose. "She wouldn't happen to be… Box Lunch would she?"

"I'm afraid she is dear, but as long as I've got her, she won't be going around making trouble."

"Oh good, less for me to worry about." He wiggled a finger in front of Box Lunch, whose eyes watched them with rapt attention before her hands shot up to seize it. He retracted his finger and wiggled it in front of her again, grinning as Box Lunch continued to try grabbing his finger. "She's cute though."

"All babies are cute." Edna smiled, tickling Box Lunch behind the ears and winked at the teens. "Until they grow up of course."

Tucker and Phantom protested against Edna, who chuckled and retreated back to the stove while the girls and Brad started eating. Maddie continued to watch them quietly until her tea was gone. Her eyes drifted between the teens and, for some reason she didn't know, kept on focusing on Phantom. She outlined him in her mind and marveled at the resemblance he shared with Danny; idly she wonder if Danny had influenced Phantom's birth, after all, she had learnt enough in the past five days to have it cemented in her mind that ghosts were not spirits of the dead.

'_Maybe that's why he trusts Jazz so much.'_ It was chilling to see the similarities between her son and a ghost, but it made more sense as to why Phantom was usually sighted hanging out with Danny's friends and with Jazz. It almost seemed as if Danny and Phantom were one the same, but Maddie squashed the thought down; no, her son wasn't a ghost, she was certain of it. Everything between them had to be a coincidence.

"Kids, come downstairs to the lab after you finish eating ok?"

"You're not going to strap me down and cut me open are you?" Jazz leaned behind Angel and smacked the back of Phantom's head soundly. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"Stop being a jerk."

"It's not easy to push aside the fact that I'm sitting in the kitchen of ghost hunters who have been wanting to capture me and rip me apart molecule by molecule and then study my remains!"

"You can stop repeating yourself to us." Sam flung a piece of bread that hit Phantom square in the forehead. "You've mentioned the last bit fourteen times already."

"Well excuse me for being a paranoid freak." Maddie hid the smile at Phantom's scowl and spoke up.

"No, there won't be any experiments on you; we just want to have a discussion and do a test run with a device that should help you."

"No scalpels?" The wary glance he sent in her direction was strangely cute and again, the similarities between him and Danny jumped out at her. Maddie had to force the thoughts down as she shook her head to answer Phantom's question.

"No scalpels." She confirmed and paused before adding, "Or any other of our devices that are used to hurt ghosts."

"Whoopee." Once she was out of the kitchen, she released a belated chuckle at his sarcastic response; he was definitely a teenager, and certainly no different from any other human teenager. As she went through the corridor, Casse and Valerie trooped down the stairs.

'_Danny… please be safe.'_ The lab was bustling with activity, and the other adults and ghosts wisely stepped aside as Nicolai and Jack continued their work. "How's the amplifier?"

"It's looking good." Jack looked up and gave her an excited boyish grin. "We should be done after we do a test run and do the final tweaking; I still don't get why we couldn't use the initial design though."

"Because it would make him look like some retarded muscle man in metal." Nicolai quipped from the other side of the armor. "The initial design looked more suited to your size Jack, but if we made it for Phantom it would take too much time to teach him the controls because we'd have to change it from armor to weaponry."

"Not to mention the adjustments you'd have to make for him to reach the controls." Maurice grinned and peered into the armor. "Sorry Jack, but he's a stick compared you; you could probably fit five or six of him in that armor if it were your size."

"Humph. Everyone's a critic." Her husband faked a pompous sniff and exchanged grins with Maurice and Nicolai. Maddie shook her head in amusement and shared a smile with Amanda; men.

"Where are the kids?"

"Jazz, Sam, Tucker and Brad are eating breakfast with Phantom and Angel and I think I saw Casse and Valerie head to the kitchen when I was coming down here."

Time seemed to crawl from that moment and the longer it took for the kids to come down, the more Maddie felt jittery. She couldn't help with the rest of the armor to waste the time away; she had done as much as she could and she didn't want to crowd Jack or Nicolai. The other adults and ghosts were keeping themselves busy and out of the way, but Shayera seemed to share her sentiments, pacing in the corner of the lab with her wings flapping lightly. When the sound of footsteps began to echo from the stairway, Maddie hopped off her perch on the work bench and waited at the door.

"Ah, there they are." Frostbite slid over to her side and scrutinized Phantom from head to toe. "I hope you're feeling better than yesterday young one; as much as I would prefer that you rest more, we need you here today."

"As flattering as 'we need you' sounds," Maddie saw Brad and Tucker exchange a look before turning their heads to the other side and mock gagged; Sam, Jazz and Angel giggled beside them. Phantom obviously heard them with the scowl that crossed his face at the noise, but pointedly ignored them and continued. "Why not try asking Ange or any of the other ghosts, to test it out?"

"It's specifically for you; designed and tailored to your size."

Phantom tugged Angel's sleeve, pulled her out from behind Jazz and spread her arms out, measuring her against himself. Maddie could see his lips pucker from the side before he turned to face them. "But Ange's practically the same size as I am."

"Specifically for you." Nicolai repeated, pointing a screwdriver at Phantom. "Now stop dawdling and get over here."

Phantom pouted but obeyed, warily floating towards the two men and inspected the armor between them. "Hey, this looks like it came out from Tron! Only in green though…"

"Teenagers." Nicolai smacked the back of Phantom's head with a shake of his head and shifted the armor over; Phantom stuck his tongue out at Nicolai in retaliation. "Just put it on."

The test went on, surprisingly without incident. Damon had his hands clapped on Valerie's shoulders and trained a stern look on her that prevented her from making any snide remarks. Casse had gone wandering around the lab until Bruce caught hold of her and clamped his arms around her; the other teens conversed quietly in the other side of the room while playing with the ghost pup and Wulf.

Though she noted that Angel seemed disturbed and wary of Vlad; but then again, Maddie scowled inwardly, the scheming rat was always diverting his eyes to Angel. She was sure that Vlad was up to something, but there wasn't enough evidence for her to act on.

Once the testing was over, Frostbite chased Phantom back up to bed despite the boy's insistence that he was fine. Brad and Tucker teased him mercilessly when Frostbite shook his head amusement and hoisted Phantom over his shoulder and proceeded to phase through the ceiling. Maddie took the opportunity to step over to the teens and rested a hand on Angel's shoulder. The girl jumped slightly and turned to face her.

"Is there something bothering you?"

"N-no. Nothing's wrong." She squeaked out nervously, but the alarm and fear in her eyes were enough to tell Maddie otherwise. She pursed her lips and didn't pursue the matter further, catching sight of an unpleasant smirk on Vlad's face from the corner of her eye. Moments later, Frostbite descended from the ceiling, obviously having won against Phantom and forced him into bed if the smug smile on his face wasn't enough to give it away, and exchanged a look with Sage who stepped forward.

"If it would be alright, I would like to tutor young Angel in the use of basic powers." Angel's head shot up and her face went red in embarrassment, spluttering that she wasn't _that_ terrible with invisibility and intangibility, until Sage shook his head and released a laugh. "No, no; I meant the other basic powers you have. I'll be tutoring Phantom once Frostbite deems that he has rested enough."

"What other basic powers?!" The frightened girl flapped her arms about, her voice rising in pitch as she continued spouting. She rambled at an alarmingly fast rate, reminding Maddie of Lee in full blown panic mode. "T-t-t-there's only flight, invisibility and intangibility isn't it?!"

"Would you rather go and fight in… that?" Sage gestured to her clothes and his lips quirked into a smile as Angel peered down and yelped, pulling the shirt as low as she could. "What I want to teach you is to materialize your own clothes."

"…We can do that?"

"You have much to learn." Sage chuckled and patted her shoulder before turning to Maddie. "I hope you don't mind if we use one of the rooms on the upper floor for privacy reasons."

"Can't… can't Edna teach me?" Maddie felt a pang of pity for Angel as she looked at everyone else with pleading looks. "Or maybe you can teach Phantom first."

"Edna doesn't have the knowledge Sage has to teach you." The squeal of a screw being taken out sounded and Nicolai fished it out before pointing a finger at Angel. "You're better off with Sage teaching you than any one of us. If you're worried about him looking at you when you're bare, don't worry, he's practically asexual."

"You know I can make you die a very gruesome and painful death, right Nicolai?" A dangerous glint appeared in Sage's eye and the people standing close to him slowly inched away.

"Bah, stop the empty threats Sage." Nicolai dismissed Sage's words with a wave of his hand and went back to work. "The worst you've ever done to me was stick me into a pot of lava for an hour and that was forty years ago; you're not that malicious to torture or kill anyone."

Sage snorted and rolled his eyes before turning to the rest of the room. "And for the record, the privacy reasons are so that if she materializes something hideous, no one will see and tease her about it and she will still have that shirt and shorts on at least, so she won't be bare."

"Oh thank god." Maddie covered her chuckle at Angel's sigh of relief and couldn't help but feel that finally, everything was moving forward.

* * *

"It's time." Danny flexed his fingers as he stared at the observatory in the distance. Behind him stood their motley army of ghosts, prepping themselves for the impending fight. He stared down at the armor and idle thoughts crossed his mind until a hand touched his shoulder.

"Danny?"

"You don't have to come along you know." Clad in their new uniform (_"What was Zeraphina thinking about with those old ones…?"_), Lee hovered next to him with her lips pursed in a line. He frowned at the troubled look in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Just… thinking." Her eyes drifted to the observatory and they lapsed in silence until she spoke up again. "How are we going to swap back without getting noticed?"

Danny knew that her question wasn't the main issue in her mind; with her being distant in the past two days, it was enough to tell him that something was up. He knew that their identities that were at stake wasn't what was truly bothering her, but he let it slide. "We'll manage; just like we always do."

"Are you two ready?" They turned as Sage and the army came forward. He noted Sage giving Lee a look, which she acknowledge with a nod. "I know that two days of rest is hardly enough after the injuries you sustained, but if we don't strike now, Pariah will."

"Yea, we are." Danny looked at their group and frowned. "Where's Tech- I mean, Nicolai?"

"He's gone to try to persuade the other ghosts lingering around the town to join the fight; he'll join us once he's finished passing the word around." He nodded curtly to Frostbite and returned to staring at the observatory. The ghosts remained silent until he spoke up again.

"Alright, let's go."

"Remember the plan everyone." Sage warned as the ghosts took off into the sky and halted at the shield surrounding the observatory. Danny looked down and below them were many humans standing a safe distance away from the shield, but close enough to be able to see everything. He spotted the Fenton RV parked in the corner and the small group of people right at the device that produced the shield.

Valerie wasn't there, and Danny was positive that her earlier crocodile tears of wanting to stay behind in Fenton Works was an excuse to give her enough time to change into her Red Huntress persona. What irked him was that Vlad decided to stay behind with her. There was something about having those two alone that sounded alarms in Danny's head, but there wasn't anything he could do about it; this fight had to come first.

The crowd's whispers echoed in the air and Danny raised a hand, tapping the control on his wrist and spoke into it.

"We're ready."

"_Right; the shield will drop in 5…4…3…2…1…"_

"_Please, bring my son back to me."_

Once the shield dropped, the ghosts raced forward and Danny tried to ignore the echo of his mother's words in his head; Frostbite's people quickly lined themselves, along with Wulf, Cujo, Dora and Johnny, and took the place of the shield while the rest went in closer to the observatory. Lee shot forward a little and pulled up a shield to surround Danny just as a mob of skeleton ghosts burst out from the hole in the observatory.

Sage whipped out his keyboard and his hands flew across it, forcing the skeleton ghosts to plunge to the ground to give them a clear flight path. As they neared the observatory, Fright Knight appeared, brandishing his sword about and shot up at them.

"For our king's glory, we will—"

"FRIGHT KNIGHT!" Fright Knight was cut off by the Headless Horseman, who shot forward to intercept him and swung his sword, clashing against his and pushed him back. "Your opponent shall be me!"

"So, losing your head wasn't enough, was it brother?" The two ghosts clashed, exchanging taunts and roars, and the group took the chance to advance to the observatory. Danny stole a look back to see Ember, Skulker, Sidney Pointdexter and many of the other ghosts he had seen run loose days before join in the battle; Valerie too, had arrived to fight. He turned back to the front, face determined to end Pariah's reign.

They burst through the observatory walls and the yellow shield dissipated. Just as his foot landed on the ground, a powerful blast hurtled through the cloud of dust and sent him flying backwards into the wall. Lee and Frostbite quickly flew to his side as rumbling footsteps headed their way.

"So… you've survived." Pariah loomed over them, the dark smirk playing on his lips as his tongue darted out. "Do you honestly believe that you stand a chance against me after that beating I gave you days ago?"

"Go get the hostages out."

"What about—"

"We'll manage." He reached up and grasped her hand that rested on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly before giving her a firm sideways glance. Danny saw her bite her lip and the troubled look was back, as if she was going to regret what she was going to do.

"Stay safe." She whispered before following behind Frostbite to the central room. Danny shot forward and disrupted Pariah's concentration on charging an energy blast at their retreating backs, letting his limbs lash out at the ghost king. He quickly tapped the console and activated the armor, smashing a charged fist into Pariah's chest that pushed him back.

"Interesting." Pariah drawled and rubbed the spot where Danny's fist had hit. "Your power has increased significantly in the past few days… now how is that possible…?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." He cracked his knuckles and smirked, eyes darting to the side of the visor to check his power levels. _'Good, haven't wasted any yet.'_

Danny ducked the energy beam and flipped upwards into the air. He dodged Pariah's fist and twisted his body to avoid the energy blasts before bringing his hands together and shot a powerful beam back at him in retaliation. Pariah flew back and slammed through the wall to the central room.

**_9****7%_ **

'_Oh shit!'_ He quickly burst through the hole and slammed his feet against Pariah's chest to keep him down. Lee's head jerked up, startled at their sudden entrance but Frostbite continued grab as many people as he could and flew out of the observatory.

Pariah roared and swung his fist, catching Danny in the gut that made him fly into the adjacent wall. He groaned and looked up, catching sight of the large green portal that swirled in the middle of the room. _'That's got to be it…'_

Lee's yelp broke him out of his thoughts and Danny gasped as Pariah shot an energy beam at her and the remaining civilians. Her shield went up but cracked immediately upon impact and shattered moments later, sending her flying back into a wall. He shot up and dove straight at Pariah, hollering.

"Get away from her!" He clenched his teeth and charged his fist before thrusting it into Pariah's face, making him stumble backwards, howling in pain.

**_****89%_**

"Hurry! Get them out of here!"

"Wait!" The black-haired woman shouted, beating her fists against the shield Lee had just made. "There's supposed to be two more kids here!"

"I'll come back to find them!" Lee's voice faded as she bolted from the observatory, leaving Danny to wonder who exactly the woman was talking about. The moment his mind wandered off, Pariah attacked; the ghost king drove his elbow into Danny's gut and slammed his fist on the side of his face.

Dazed with the blows, Danny couldn't dodge the barrage of energy blasts that hurtled his way after he stumbled away from Pariah. He grunted and raised a shield, wincing as each blast pushed him backwards even though the shield held on strong.

**_****72%_**

Once his daze cleared, Danny shifted his weight and braced himself for his next move. They circled each other warily until he saw his chance; he dove forward, dodging Pariah's blasts as he charged his hands. He rested his hands against Pariah's gut and released a powerful blast that sent Pariah flying into the portal.

**_****68%_**

"Danny!" He risked a glance back as Lee shot through the hole in the wall.

"Stay here until Sage and Nicolai come!"

"But—"

"We don't have time!" He shot forward into the portal and found himself in a throne room of a castle where a sarcophagus towered at the top of a flight of stairs. _'Bingo!'_

"YOU LITTLE WHELP!" Danny cried out in pain as a blast smashed into the back of his neck, sending in face first into the ground. He could feel the sparks flying from the loose wires of the armor and grimaced at the shocks of electricity that ran into his body. A shadow loomed over his body and a heavy boot crunched on his back.

**_****50%_**

"I'll kill you." Pariah grinned madly as he dug his foot further into Danny's back. "But first I'll make you suffer."

He groaned and struggled, twisting about to break free until his concentration broke off when Pariah released an enraged roar.

"NO! Give that back you little wrench!"

"Danny! Push him off!" He thrust his hands up and blasted Pariah beneath the chin, sending him straight up into the ceiling. Danny rolled away from spot, cursing at the shock of electricity that coursed through his body as his eyes darted around to look for Lee.

**_****44%_**

But she wasn't there. Only when Pariah landed back on the ground did he realized what had happened; the Crown of Fire wasn't on his head anymore and he was radiated pissed off vibes. Internally, he congratulated her for the steal and dodged the punch Pariah sent his way.

Danny ducked, twisted and jumped away from the flurry of punches and kicks, curving his lips into a smirk as he taunted Pariah. "What's the matter? Gone weaker?"

"I'll make you wish that you never crossed my path!"

"What'cha gonna do?" He leaned back and the fist swung past him harmlessly; Danny continued his taunting as he waited for a chance to attack. "Face it, you're too old to get back at me without your little toy, so why don't you go back to sleep old man?"

Pariah released another enraged roar and he took the opportunity to send a vicious sidekick to the ghost king's exposed crotch. With Pariah preoccupied with the pain at his genitals, Danny retaliated; he sent a kick to Pariah's throat and dug his elbow into his face with a satisfying crack. He delivered a punch to the side of Pariah's stomach before flying behind him, the energy that charged in his hands glowed brightly and he clapped his hands, releasing another powerful beam that sent Pariah flying into the flight of stairs.

**_36%_**

Another beam blasted through the rubble and slammed into his chest. Danny grunted as he impacted against the wall and his hand flew to his shoulder.

'_Crap… dislocated again.'_ He gritted his teeth and tried to ease the pain. Pariah burst out from the rubble at the stairs and glared menacingly up at him. _'Looks like I've got to give it a shot at least.'_

He closed his eyes and concentrated, willfully separating his power and created three duplicates of himself. He opened his eyes and clenched his remaining fist.

"Let's end this."

**_25%_**

Danny surged forward, sending two of his duplicates to restrain Pariah and attacked with the remaining duplicate. His dislocated shoulder tingled and exploded with pain as he forced the duplicates to use both their arms to fight. _'Damnit, why do my injuries have to transfer to the duplicates?! It makes it so much harder to fight!'_

His duplicate blocked an energy blast Pariah sent after he broke free of one of the other duplicates. The remaining duplicate that was holding onto Pariah received an energy beam in the face and dissipated, leaving Danny with the jolt of pain that was left behind. _'That's it, I'm never duplicating ever again if I have to suffer the pain off my duplicates when they get hit!'_

Another duplicate bit the dust when Pariah grabbed its head and slammed it against his knee before sending it flying backwards with the swing of his hand. Danny and his remaining duplicates sent simultaneous blasts of energy at Pariah, knocking him back closer to the sarcophagus, but Pariah retaliated with another beam that made another duplicate dissolve. Danny grunted as the pain surged through his veins and cursed inwardly.

**_13%_**

"Danny!" His last duplicate dissolved just as Lee reappeared, her uniform once again ripped apart with multiple injuries decorating her body, and he noticed that she was clutching something firmly in her hand. He didn't have time to think about it further when Pariah shot up and barreled headfirst into his stomach, pushing him into the ceiling. The armor cracked and began sparking, the wires dangled and curled dangerously around his body as it spluttered. Portions of the armor fell apart and left him exposed, but he glared back at Pariah who's mad grin had returned.

"Did you really think, you could stop me whelp?"

"Let him go!" Pariah screamed when Lee leapt up from behind him and latched her legs over his neck, pounding her fists on his head and pulling whatever facial hair he had. He released Danny, who gasped for air, and tried to fling her off from his shoulders.

Pariah grabbed a hold of Lee's wrists and broke her legs' hold on his neck. She shrieked as Pariah swung her against the ceiling and sent an energy blast in her face before throwing her to the ground. She slammed against the floor face first and her fist came loose to release a green key.

"NO!" Danny slammed his shoulder to the middle of Pariah's chest, sending him down to the base of the sarcophagus and braced himself as he descended down to its level. "This ends now!"

He released a wail that resounded in the room, cracking the walls and crumbled the pillars. Pariah roared and tried to push the wail back with his own power, but was soon overwhelmed. He flew backwards into the sarcophagus as his armor crack and broke away into pieces. Danny surged forward, grabbed the door of the sarcophagus and slammed it shut. He dug his heel into the ground as Pariah pounded and pushed against him to open the sarcophagus.

'_Fuck, of all the things I had to forget! We __don't have the damn key!'_

**_1%_**

The number in the visor flashed in his eye and he could feel his body weakening. Pariah pushed the door and he could feel his feet slipping and sliding against the floor. _'I can't… hold… on…'_

Suddenly, a pale hand gently pressed on top of his and the door pushed shut; Pariah howled and continued to bang from within the sarcophagus. Blearily, Danny could see another hand reach forward with a key that slipped into the hole and clicked the lock shut. He could barely feel the armor on his body crumble as he looked up to see…

Himself.

His _human_ self.

The apparition of his human form smiled and rested a hand on his head, leaning forward to whisper into his ear.

"Rest." He whispered, and the last thing Danny saw as the visor shattered was light that brushed past his eyes from below before everything faded to black.

**_0%_**

**

* * *

**

He was hugging something soft and comfortably warm, his nose brushed against it before snuggling closer and released a small contented noise. A sound buzzed in his ears and frowned when it began to sound strangely like laughter. Then, something started to poke him; goddamnit, he was tired and he just wanted continue snuggling up against this warmth and sleep!

"Danny…" _'Aw… go away mom!'_ He groused internally as he shifted away from the hand that had rested on his shoulder and buried his nose into the warm thing. His sleep fuzzed brain didn't comprehend the shaky chuckle but the hand was back to shake him. "Danny, sweetheart, you have to get up."

"G'way." He grunted, pulling whatever it was he was hugging closer.

"He looks like an affectionate puppy."

"A little _too_ affectionate."

"Danny." He groaned and grumbled as she persisted. "If you don't get up, Lee can't get up."

"Buwah?" Danny forced his eyes open, wincing at the light that suddenly entered in eyes, and saw his mother's relieved face looming above him. "…Mom?"

"Welcome back sweetheart." Her hands cupped his cheeks and she kissed his forehead. "Come on, you can let Lee go."

"…Wha?" He turned his head and blinked when blonde filled his vision. He stared at the hair for a moment before it hit him and his face flushed red. He jumped backwards and fell off the bed with a loud crash. "UWAAH!"

"Uugh." Danny heard Lee groan and saw the mattress shift. "G'way…"

"We have to get you two checked up." Gentle but firm, Maddie shook Lee up before hoisting Danny back up to the bed. "Stay awake for a while, I'll get something for you two to eat."

"You ok Danny?" Jazz immediately flitted to his side once their mother left the room. "Nicolai and Sage said that they found you two in Pariah's castle."

"Whut?"

"Here." Sam walked in with damp towels and flung one in Danny's face and stuck onto his skin with a splat. "Wipe your face and wake up."

"Thanks for the wake up slap." He grunted, rubbing his face furiously with the towel. "Can anyone tell me what happened?"

"Us tell you what happened?" Tucker raised a brow at him as he lowered the towel from his face and looked at each one of them. "Shouldn't it be the other way round?"

"Jog my memory; I'm still a little fuzzy." He watched as they exchanged looks with each other, noting that Casse wasn't around with them again, and Lee sat up beside him, rubbing her face with a towel. Sam then started the explanation.

"Well, it was pretty chaotic, but Frostbite's people did a really good job at keeping the ghost army away and the other ghosts fended off the other skeletons that came from outside of the town."

"Tech- Nicolai managed to break the sword that was keeping us here." Tucker carried on, folding his arms over his chest. "The whole town was brought back to our realm, but the army came along with us, so we had to boot up the portal to send them all back."

"Both of you didn't come back." Jazz's arm wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him close. "I mean, Lee did come back after saving the hostages, but then when she went back to help you…"

"The portal in the observatory didn't close when we got back to our realm." Danny shifted slightly in Jazz's arms to look at Brad. "So Sage and Nicolai went in to find you two, but you were in your human form when they found you and they said that Pariah was locked back in his sarcophagus. The weirdest thing is, Lois and Clark say that they've seen you guys around in the observatory hiding from Pariah in the past week."

"But that's—"

"Impossible, right? Because you guys were here the whole time." Danny looked at each of his friends as they stared at Lee and himself. "But whatever it is, your identities are safe."

"How did you find the key?" His neck cracked when he turned to face Jazz and winced. "Sage said that they didn't have it or knew where it was, so how could you have locked Pariah back in the sarcophagus when you didn't have the key?"

He closed his eyes and tried to recall; the fight against Pariah, the throne room, the remaining percentage of power he had left, Lee, the green key that dropped from her hand… Danny stopped his train of thought and stole a quick glance to Lee who was rubbing her eyes with the towel.

"I'm… not sure about that."

"So, how did you transform back then?" Sam leaned over Lee and poked his cheek. "You guys stayed in your ghost forms, even when you were unconscious the first time round, but this time you guys went back to human. It doesn't make sense."

"Ask the god who likes screwing with us." He deadpanned and Sam rolled her eyes.

"Maybe I will, and you're lucky that you're injured or else I'd give you a good smack for that."

"Hallelujah." Danny dramatically raised his hands to the sky before bringing a hand to gesture to Sam. "As if concussions are so much better than your smacks."

After they were fed, Danny caught Jazz's eye and discreetly pointed to the door as he flicked his head in Lee's direction. Catching what he was saying, Jazz herded the other teens out of the room to give them privacy. Without them in the room, Danny could feel the tension radiating her.

"How did you get the key?" He watched as she fiddled with her hands for a while and waited patiently for her to respond.

"I… made a deal with Vlad." Danny frowned as she poked her fingers together. "He wanted me to get the Crown of Fire for him in exchange for the key."

The pieces fell into place. _'Of course… If he had the key, he must've been the one who woke Pariah up; he must've taken the Ring of Rage since Sage said that the ring was stored in the castle Pariah was locked in and couldn't match up to him to get the Crown of Fire…'_ "That sonofabitch."

"If I told anyone about it, he would hurt them." She whispered quietly, diverting her eyes away from his. He watched as she clenched her fists tightly. "But if I didn't do it…"

"Wonderful." Danny sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Great. Their next big problem would be Vlad trying to become Pariah the second, and this time he had both items to make him invincible. "Looks like we have to keep our eyes out for him if he has both the crown and ring."

"Well…" There was a hint of mischief glinting in her eye and Danny raised a brow at her as a giggle escaped her lips. "I wouldn't be so sure about that; you see… Sage figured out what was going on and when he was helping me with that clothes materialization, cooked up a plan. He did something with his keyboard, but the crown I gave to Vlad was a fake."

----

**(Back in Wisconsin, Vlad released a shriek of rage as the fake crown dissolved into a flimsy paper hat ****with an obnoxious smiley face scribbled on its front.)**

----**  
**

"There _is_ a streak of evil in you."

"It was Sage's idea; besides, he knows the background of all the ghosts." She locked gazes with him, the mirth having subsided from her eyes. "Every single one of us."

"I kind of figured as much; he _is_ the information broker." They lapsed into silence and Danny's mind drifted to the period before he blacked out. "Hey… did you happen to see… someone who looked like my human self around?"

"No I didn't. But…" She hesitated and bit her lip. "I thought I saw someone who looked like me around before I blacked out."

Danny frowned and sank into his thoughts. _'Someone went around masquerading as us to make it look like we were separate beings…? Who'd go through all that crap for?'_

_

* * *

_

"The price for the marionettes… I'll gladly accept it." A ball of green fire with a small crown-like figure flickered in her hand before a bubble surrounded it and floated into a cabinet. She faced her client with a smile and rested her chin on her hand. "Are you satisfied?"

"Of course; those two children need protection and I know that both you and Clockwork are bound by rules that prevent you from giving it."

"And perhaps… they have carved their own niche in your heart." Sage Ghostwriter released a chuckle and ran a hand through his hair.

"Sharp as always Zeraphina." The Sorceress's smile grew wider. "But yes… I believe you are right. Even though I've only come in contact with them for this short period of time…"

"You wish to protect them with all that you have." Zeraphina unfolded her legs and regarded Sage coolly, the smile dropping from her lips. "However, you must remember that they cannot replace the ones you once held dear to your heart; you paid the price to cross timelines because you felt that this timeline needed the Ghostwriter."

"I know." Sage bowed to her before turning away. "And I don't regret making that wish."

As Sage disappeared through the green portal, Zeraphina sighed and rested her cheek on her knuckles.

"But yet you still yearn for the children who were just like your own."

* * *

**Authoress's Ending Notes:**

1) I'm pretty sure I left a lot of things open here, but I'll leave it to your imagination.  
2) Thank you to **cyanbilbo**, **Enchanting Elf**, **Berry-Chan97**, **Ambiance23**, **Shiningheart of ThunderClan**, **Eidorian999**, **Scorpius02** and **berrycherry9** for reviewing the last chapter(s) (I FINALLY REMEMBERED TO THANK THE dA REVIEWERS.)  
3) **Ambiance23**: I usually take reviewers words down and look back at the chapter to see what might have made them not like it. But then again, it's difficult to please every single reader out there. I like to hear what they like and don't like about the story so that I can try to improve myself. You're right though, about the over development of the characters, I'll make sure not to do the same thing in my other works. And no don't worry, your review wasn't what caused me to speed things up; I guess I believed that I was dragging this story a little too far off and wanted to give it some closure until the sequel. I'm really thankful for your comments and I appreciate that you take your time to leave the review.  
4) I'm sorry if there was anyone I missed out in replying to; I guess I like a little bit of intimacy with readers to get a feel of what you like to read and what doesn't please you in the writing.  
5) My dA gallery has many new works for **Inevitable Crisis**, check it out if you want and there's a piece of the gang from **Chapter 6: Hollow Hearts** in their halloween costumes. :)  
6) Thank you to the folks who have placed this fic in their favorites/alerts list.  
7) Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and do drop a review if you have the time.

****

Cheers  
Kenzy-Chan


	24. IMPT Authoress note

**Important authoress note:**

Alternate Timeline: Phantom and Angel will be undergoing heavy revision and rewriting starting from the 16th chapter. Please be advised that this story will, most likely, not be updated for a few months in light of this revision and rewriting.

Also, the previous chapters, starting from the 16th chapter, will be likely to be deleted from the story when the time comes.

Thank you for understanding! :)

Cheers  
Kenzy-Chan


	25. Authoress Note II

**Important authoress note II:**

You must be wondering what this crazy woman's doing. I went back to read this fic from the beginning and you know, it became one helluva train wreck. I've started to rethink how to approach my ideas and stop my grabby little hands from going into character brains and making the chapters disgustingly long.

So, I am rewriting P&A from the beginning, giving it a new title as well although the 'Alternate Timeline' will remain the same. I'll keep this train wreck up then return to point and laugh at my naivety and terrible storytelling. I apologize for leaving this hanging (even though I will reuse some ideas, just rewrite them). If you'd like more updates, I'll be musing now and then on my deviantART account.

Thank you for sticking with this train wreck- I will push myself to make the rewrite a better piece!

Sincerely,  
Kenzy-Chan


End file.
